A systematic review of valerian as a sleep aid: safe but not effective.
The best-designed valerian studies all found no effect on sleep — what treatment for my insomnia actually has evidence behind it?
Well-supported by good-quality research. how we score evidence
Caveat on this rating: This review reaches the opposite conclusion to Bent 2006 from overlapping trials, and the difference is instructive: Taibi weighted trial quality and recency, and found that the better and newer the study, the smaller the effect. That pattern is the signature of a treatment whose apparent benefit comes from weak methods.
Valerian is sold in the United States as a dietary supplement under DSHEA, so it needs no FDA review of efficacy, safety, or potency before sale, and it has never been FDA-approved to treat insomnia, anxiety, or anything else. Valerian oil and extract are separately listed as generally recognised as safe for use as food flavourings, which is a statement about flavouring quantities and not an endorsement of therapeutic doses. In Europe the EMA has issued a herbal monograph covering traditional use for mild nervous tension and sleep, a category based on longstanding use rather than proof of efficacy. Because it is a supplement, no authority verifies what is in the bottle: preparations differ enormously between whole root or rhizome and alcoholic or aqueous extracts, several of the active constituents (notably the valepotriates and valerenic acid) are chemically unstable and degrade on the shelf, and the published trials used doses, extracts, and treatment lengths that vary so widely they cannot be compared cleanly.
Reviewing 37 studies — 29 controlled trials assessed for efficacy and safety plus eight open-label trials assessed for safety — the authors found that most studies showed no significant difference between valerian and placebo, in healthy sleepers and in people with insomnia alike. Critically, none of the most recent studies, which were also the most methodologically rigorous, found any effect on sleep. The evidence supports valerian being safe with only rare adverse events; it does not support its efficacy as a sleep aid.
Worth asking
The best-designed valerian studies all found no effect on sleep — what treatment for my insomnia actually has evidence behind it?
What to watch for
Evidence quality tells you whether to trust the finding — not whether the treatment is safe. These are the risks this research reports.
- Liver injury
- Withdrawal & dependence
- Interactions with other medicines
- Stomach & digestion
- Sedation & cognitive dulling
Source
A systematic review of valerian as a sleep aid: safe but not effective. — Taibi DM, Landis CA, Petry H, Vitiello MV. (2007)
Reputable peer-reviewed journal
Read the source: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2007.03.002
DOI: 10.1016/j.smrv.2007.03.002
How this was scored
- Study design
- Systematic review of randomised trials
- Funding
- Independently funded
- Published in
- Reputable peer-reviewed journal
- Sample size
- not recorded
- Preregistered
- No
- Conflicts disclosed
- No
- Independent of proponent
- Yes
- Retracted
- No
Read the full scoring rubric, including what it can't tell you.
Published August 19, 2026. Last verified September 10, 2026.
Where we put this study in context
Questions
How strong is the evidence behind this?
veisund rates this source "strong evidence". Well-supported by good-quality research. It scores 79 out of 100 on our published rubric. One caveat travels with that badge: This review reaches the opposite conclusion to Bent 2006 from overlapping trials, and the difference is instructive: Taibi weighted trial quality and recency, and found that the better and newer the study, the smaller the effect. That pattern is the signature of a treatment whose apparent benefit comes from weak methods. The score is calculated from recorded facts about the source — study design, funding, publication venue, sample size, preregistration — not typed in by an editor.
What is the source for this?
A systematic review of valerian as a sleep aid: safe but not effective. — Taibi DM, Landis CA, Petry H, Vitiello MV. (2007). Published in: Reputable peer-reviewed journal. DOI: 10.1016/j.smrv.2007.03.002. The full source is linked on this page so you can read it yourself.
Who paid for this research, and does that matter?
Study design: Systematic review of randomised trials. Funding: Independently funded. The researchers were independent of whoever benefits from the result. Industry sponsorship is one of the most reliably measured biases in medicine, which is why funding carries real weight in the score rather than sitting in a footnote.
Is valerian, valeriana officinalis, valerian root, all-heal, garden heliotrope, setwall, li 156, sedonium FDA approved for this use?
No. Its current status is: Not FDA-evaluated for this use. Valerian is sold in the United States as a dietary supplement under DSHEA, so it needs no FDA review of efficacy, safety, or potency before sale, and it has never been FDA-approved to treat insomnia, anxiety, or anything else. Valerian oil and extract are separately listed as generally recognised as safe for use as food flavourings, which is a statement about flavouring quantities and not an endorsement of therapeutic doses. In Europe the EMA has issued a herbal monograph covering traditional use for mild nervous tension and sleep, a category based on longstanding use rather than proof of efficacy. Because it is a supplement, no authority verifies what is in the bottle: preparations differ enormously between whole root or rhizome and alcoholic or aqueous extracts, several of the active constituents (notably the valepotriates and valerenic acid) are chemically unstable and degrade on the shelf, and the published trials used doses, extracts, and treatment lengths that vary so widely they cannot be compared cleanly.
Is this medical advice?
This is information to bring to your prescriber, not medical advice and not a reason to change anything on your own. Nothing here is an instruction to stop or reduce a medication. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.
This is information to bring to your prescriber, not medical advice and not a reason to change anything on your own. Nothing here is an instruction to stop or reduce a medication. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.