Calm Blend

Calm Blend is level 0 on our caffeine scale: there is no Camellia sinensis in the cup, only lemon balm leaf, chamomile flower, lavender bud and passionflower. The catalog brews it at 95 °C for 5 minutes with 2 g per cup, describes the flavor as floral, citrusy, soft and lightly sweet, and places it in the afternoon, mid-afternoon or at any hour. Lavender is the loudest of the four, so a lid on the cup and a timer at five minutes keep it fragrant rather than soapy.

The European Medicines Agency's Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products lists lemon balm leaf as a traditional herbal medicinal product for the relief of mild symptoms of mental stress and to aid sleep, and for the symptomatic treatment of mild gastrointestinal complaints including bloating and flatulence — a status it grants exclusively on the basis of long-standing use, with a doctor consulted if the symptoms persist longer than two weeks. The monograph gives the herbal tea as 1.5–4.5 g of leaf in 150 ml of boiling water, one to three times daily; does not recommend it under 12 or during pregnancy and breastfeeding; records no known undesirable effects and no data on interactions; and notes it may impair the ability to drive. That is a description of a licensed product, not of this blend: a cup of Calm Blend is 2 g of four herbs together, not a measured dose of one.

Source: EMA/HMPC — Community herbal monograph on Melissa officinalis L., folium (2013)

The same committee lists lavender flower as a traditional herbal medicinal product for the relief of mild symptoms of mental stress and exhaustion and to aid sleep, again exclusively on the basis of long-standing use. Its monograph sets the herbal tea at 1–2 g of flowers in 150 ml of boiling water, three times daily; does not recommend it under 12 or during pregnancy and breastfeeding; records no known undesirable effects and no reported interactions; and notes it may impair the ability to drive. In Calm Blend, lavender is used sparingly — it is the perfume, not the base.

Source: EMA/HMPC — Community herbal monograph on Lavandula angustifolia Miller, flos (2012)

Passionflower herb has the same traditional indication on the European record — relief of mild symptoms of mental stress and to aid sleep, exclusively on the basis of long-standing use, with a doctor consulted if the symptoms persist longer than two weeks. The monograph gives the herbal tea as 1–2 g of the dried aerial parts in 150 ml of boiling water, one to four times daily; does not recommend it under 12 or during pregnancy and breastfeeding; records no known undesirable effects and no reported interactions; and notes it may impair the ability to drive. No agency has evaluated the four herbs together: each monograph describes one plant on its own, and a cup of this blend is not any of those products.

Source: EMA/HMPC — Community herbal monograph on Passiflora incarnata L., herba (2014)

Chamomile is the one herb in the blend whose European monograph says nothing about stress or sleep: the committee lists chamomile flower, exclusively on long-standing use, for minor gastrointestinal complaints such as bloating and minor spasms, for symptoms of the common cold, and for mouth, throat and skin preparations. Its contraindication is hypersensitivity to chamomile and to other plants of the daisy family (Asteraceae), and the monograph records hypersensitivity reactions, including severe allergic reactions, after mucosal contact with liquid chamomile preparations, with the frequency not known. In this cup chamomile is here for its apple-like softness; if other plants of the daisy family are a problem for you, this is the ingredient to ask about. This isn't medical advice — if you have a specific condition, check with a healthcare provider.

Source: EMA/HMPC — European Union herbal monograph on Matricaria recutita L., flos (2015)