What effect does the passion flower have?
The Native Americans already used the flesh-colored passion flower (Passiflora incarnata) as a sedative. They also used it to treat boils, wounds, earaches and liver complaints.
Even today, the healing power of the plant is still valued in various areas: the passion flower is said to have a tension and anxiety-relieving, mildly calming, sleep-promoting, slightly antispasmodic and blood pressure-lowering effect.
Studies in recent years have shown that passionflower intervenes in the metabolism of the neurotransmitter GABA. Experts believe that low GABA levels are associated with symptoms such as nervous agitation, anxiety, depression and insomnia.
Recognized medical use
The medicinal use of passionflower is recognized for certain areas of application:
An expert committee of the European Medicines Agency – the HMPC (Herbal Medicinal Product Committee) – has classified passionflower herb as a herbal medicinal product that can be used traditionally to improve the condition of nervous stress (e.g. nervousness, restlessness, agitation) and to support sleep.
The HMPC’s assessment is based on many years of safe use of the medicinal plant for nervous stress and sleep problems. Its use for nervous restlessness is also approved on the basis of clinical data.
Tension, restlessness, excitability
Another international expert committee, the ESCOP (European Scientific Cooperative on Phytotherapy), has recognized the medicinal use of passionflower for tension, restlessness and excitability with sleep disorders.
Other uses of passion flower
Many people also use passion flower for complaints such as
- anxiety, anxiety disorders
- pain
- Cardiac arrhythmia
- menopausal symptoms
- ADHS
- Burns and hemorrhoids (external use)
Some areas of application are or have been researched in studies, in some cases with positive results – for example with regard to the anxiety-relieving effect of passion flower (e.g. fear of visiting the dentist and dental procedures, exam anxiety).
Passionflower is also said to help prevent weight gain. However, this effect is indirect at best: stressed people often have fluctuating blood sugar levels, which leads to increased food cravings. Many gain weight as a result.
Do not try to treat serious illnesses such as depression or anxiety disorders on your own with medicinal plants such as passionflower! Always seek professional help first and discuss a suitable therapy with an expert.
Ingredients of passion flower
The main ingredients of passionflower are flavonoids (including so-called C-glycosides of apigenin and luteolin). Exactly which components are responsible for the various therapeutic effects is still unclear.
What side effects can passionflower cause?
The use of passionflower preparations in the recommended dosage is generally considered safe. Sometimes you become drowsy or dizzy after taking it. This should be borne in mind if you are not taking passionflower as a sleep aid.
Allergic reactions have rarely been described.
For more information on the side effects of ready-to-use preparations containing passionflower, please refer to the package leaflet or ask your pharmacist.
How is passionflower used?
The aerial parts of the passionflower, i.e. the passionflower herb (Passiflora herba), are used medicinally. Dry extracts (e.g. for tablets, capsules) and liquid extracts (for drops) can be obtained from it. Passionflower herb can also be used to make tea.
Ready-made preparations with passionflower
Pharmacies sell ready-made preparations containing passionflower and often other medicinal plants such as valerian, hops or lemon balm. Herbal medicines (phytopharmaceuticals) have a controlled content of active ingredients and are officially approved as medicines.
Passion flower as a tea
For a passion flower tea, you can buy the finely chopped herb from the pharmacy. How to make tea for adults:
- Pour 150 milliliters of boiling water over about two grams (1 teaspoon) of passion flower herb.
- Allow the infusion to infuse for five to ten minutes and then strain.
You can drink a cup of the warm tea two to four times a day. The average daily dose is four to eight grams of passionflower herb.
If you want to benefit from the sleep-promoting effect of the medicinal plant, you should drink the last cup half an hour before going to bed.
Passionflower herb can also be combined with other medicinal plants (such as lemon balm) to make tea. Ready-made medicinal teas in filter bags are also practical.
What you should bear in mind when using passionflower
There are a few things to bear in mind when using preparations containing passionflower:
- Pregnant and breastfeeding women should not take preparations containing passionflower.
- Use in children under the age of 12 is generally not recommended.
- If you become drowsy or dizzy after taking it, you should not drive or operate machinery (this also applies in particular to combination preparations with valerian, hops etc.).
- It is not known whether passionflower interacts with other medications. As a precaution, inform your doctor or pharmacist about all the medicines you are taking.
- The onset of action of passionflower depends, among other things, on the form in which you take the medicinal plant. In some cases, it may take some time for the full effect to unfold.
How to obtain passionflower and its products
You can obtain passionflower preparations such as tea preparations, capsules, tablets and drops from pharmacies and drugstores. You can find out how to use and dose the preparations correctly from the relevant package leaflet and from your doctor or pharmacist.
What is passionflower?
There are several hundred different types of passion flower. Most are native to the tropical and subtropical rainforests of Central, North and South America, but some species are also found in Australia, New Zealand and Asia.
Due to their unusual flowers, they were popular collector’s items for botanists in the 18th and 19th centuries. Even today, passion flowers are still valued as ornamental plants, for example the blue passion flower (Passiflora caerulea).
From the many leaf axils, corkscrew-like twisted tendrils and flower stalks up to eight centimetres long sprout, each bearing a flower up to nine centimetres in size. Their striking structure was seen as a symbol of the Passion of Christ, which gave the plant its name. Accordingly, the crown-like, whitish-blue calyx, for example, symbolizes Jesus’ crown of thorns and the color of innocence, while the thread-like petals stand for Christ’s torn clothes.
The three stigmas of the ovary are seen as the nails, the five stamens as the five wounds and the anthers as the striking instruments with which Jesus was nailed to the cross.
