St. John’s wort or valerian – What is the difference?

Both St. John’s wort and valerian are naturally occurring remedies used for nervous and psychological disorders of various kinds. Valerian is mainly used as a sedative and sleeping aid. It is available over the counter in pharmacies.

The valerian preparations on offer are often supplemented with hops, balm or hawthorn. Nevertheless, valerian usually has only a weak effect in the treatment of sleep disorders. Valerian is also approved for the treatment of anxiety disorders.

These can also occur in the context of mild and moderate depressions, which are treated with St. John’s wort. For this reason, St. John’s wort is often combined with valerian in mild depressions to have an effect against depression as well as anxiety and sleep disorders. Especially at the beginning of the therapy, a high-dose treatment with valerian shows a quick anxiety-relieving and relaxing effect, whereas the effect of St. John’s wort is delayed for at least two weeks.

Plant description

St. John’s wort is an upright, branched plant with 20 to 100 cm high, double-edged, reddish coated stems, which grows herbaceously in the upper part. When viewed against the light, the oval leaves of St. John’s wort contain a pale liquid of essential oils that appear as black dots. The small dots give the impression that the plant is perforated.

The golden-yellow, asymmetrical flowers are pentate and have a diameter of about 2 cm. They are conspicuous by their numerous long stamens. The stamens in turn form a cluster of cones. The flowering time of St. John’s wort is from the middle of June.

History of St. John’s wort as medicine

On St. John’s Day, June 24, St. John’s wort is found in abundant bloom in many gardens. If you pick the flowers and grind them, a blood-red sap emerges of which many legends are told. The red color is said to symbolize the blood of Christ.

There is also a story that St. John’s wort is made from the blood of John the Baptist who was beheaded. Already 2000 years ago the ancient doctors of Greece and Rome used St. John’s wort as a remedy. It was also highly appreciated in the Middle Ages.

Already around 1525 the renowned physician and naturalist Paracelsus (1493 to 1541) wrote enthusiastically about St. John’s wort as a medicinal plant.It was not until the 18th century that the nerve-strengthening and antidepressant effect was discovered. Only since the thirties did people start to remember the medicinal plant again in the context of orthodox medicine. St. John’s wort is collected during the flowering period for the production of medicines.

To achieve high quality, good growing conditions must be available. Locations and climatic conditions, as well as soil conditions, are decisive for a good quality of St. John’s wort. The plants must have a high active ingredient content.

The St. John’s wort used for extraction is high quality plant material. Compared to wild herbs (devil’s claw), it can be extracted more easily and of a higher quality. One harvests from St. John’s wort only the flower horizon, from the upper 20 cm of the plant, which consists of stems, leaves and flowers.

In a gentle process the medicinal plants are dried and tested for their ingredients and active substances. They are dried, crushed and mixed with a methanol-water mixture (alcohol). In this way the final extract is obtained.

The following preparations of St. John’s wort are still possible:

Johanniskraut tea: 2 heaped teaspoons of dried cabbage are poured over with 1⁄4 l boiling water, one lets pull 5 minutes and strains then off. Two to three times daily a cup. When used as a cure over several weeks, the patient should not be exposed to the sun, the high-altitude sun or a solarium because Hypericum makes the skin sensitive to light.
In most cases, tea contains too small a dosage, so that the effect usually does not occur.
St. John’s wort oil: 150 g of fresh flowers are crushed in a mortar and poured over 1⁄2 l olive oil. Place in a well-sealed container (milk glass) in the sun.
Shake once a day. The contents take on a bright red color. After about 3 weeks, filter through a linen cloth and squeeze it out. Store in a cool and closed place, limited shelf life.