Calming and Hormonal Herbs
The Herbs (24)
Jasmine
The small white flower that scents jasmine tea, studied in small aromatherapy experiments on mood and nervous-system arousal.
Read the deep dive →Passionflower
Climbing American vine traditionally used to quiet anxiety and aid sleep, with clinical trials on calming the nervous system.
Read the deep dive →Lavender
Fragrant mint-family shrub whose oil is among the best-studied herbal remedies for anxiety, restlessness and sleep.
Read the deep dive →Chrysanthemum
Dried flower heads brewed as a daily tea across East Asia, traditionally for tired eyes and headache; modern human evidence is thin.
Read the deep dive →Kava
Pacific Island root brewed as a ceremonial calming drink, studied for anxiety and sleep, with past liver-toxicity concerns.
Read the deep dive →Chasteberry
Peppery Mediterranean berry that nudges the pituitary to lower prolactin, best studied for PMS and cyclical breast pain.
Read the deep dive →Motherwort
Bitter mint-family plant named for the heart, traditionally used for stress-driven palpitations and in women's and postpartum care.
Read the deep dive →Sacred Lotus
Aquatic plant whose seed, embryo, leaf and root serve as separate Asian medicines; studied for calm, blood fats and blood sugar.
Read the deep dive →Chamomile
Apple-scented daisy flower brewed for centuries as a gentle tea to settle the stomach, soothe skin and ease into sleep.
Read the deep dive →Black Cohosh
Woodland root of eastern North America, long used by Native American nations and now heavily studied for menopausal hot flashes and mood.
Read the deep dive →Valerian
Pungent root used for centuries as a settling remedy, today best known as a gentle natural sleep aid and nerve calmer.
Read the deep dive →Dong Quai
Celery-scented Chinese root prized as a blood tonic; trials for hot flashes disappoint, and it can dangerously boost warfarin bleeding.
Read the deep dive →Kacip Fatimah
Malaysian forest-floor herb taken by women around childbirth and menopause; its estrogen-like action remains genuinely unresolved.
Read the deep dive →Mugwort
Silvery-leaved roadside Artemisia burned as moxa in acupuncture practice and long used as a bitter, women's and dream herb.
Read the deep dive →Soursop Leaf
Tropical tree leaf brewed as a bedtime tea; no human evidence it treats cancer, and its acetogenins carry a parkinsonism warning.
Read the deep dive →Lemon Balm
Lemon-scented mint-family herb used for two thousand years to calm the nerves, lift low spirits and settle digestion.
Read the deep dive →Red Clover
Pink meadow legume whose isoflavones faintly mimic estrogen, now studied mainly for menopausal hot flashes and bone density.
Read the deep dive →Vervain
Slender lilac-flowered wayside herb of ancient legend, traditionally used as a gentle nervine for tension and as a digestive bitter.
Read the deep dive →Wood Betony
Purple-flowered mint-family herb once among Europe's most celebrated remedies, now used as a calming tea for tension headaches.
Read the deep dive →Skullcap
American mint-family herb of damp meadows, a classic Western nervine for anxious tension and restless sleep, not to be confused with Chinese skullcap.
Read the deep dive →St Johns Wort
Midsummer-blooming yellow flower widely studied for depression, but it weakens many medicines including birth control.
Read the deep dive →Red Raspberry Leaf
Leaf of the raspberry plant, brewed as a traditional pregnancy and menstrual-cramp tea; its labor benefits are still debated.
Read the deep dive →Shatavari
Ayurvedic wild-asparagus root traditionally used for women's health and breast milk; human evidence is small and most research is in animals.
Read the deep dive →Hops
The flowers that bitter beer, studied for sleep almost always alongside valerian, and source of one of the strongest known plant oestrogens.
Read the deep dive →Nervines for sleep and anxiety, and the herbs traditionally used across the menstrual cycle, pregnancy and menopause. Several carry real interaction risks — St John’s wort with prescription drugs, kava with the liver — and those warnings sit on the pages, not here.
A herb is filed here by what it is traditionally used for, not by a claim that it works. Each herb page states its own evidence tier, its documented harms and its drug interactions — read those before the category name.