Lavender: What Do We Really Know?

Lavender is one of the herbs for which its familiar reputation as a calming plant has received meaningful attention in modern clinical research.

The strongest evidence relates to lavender essential oil rather than ordinary lavender extracts. Standardized oral lavender oil has been studied for anxiety, while inhaled lavender oil has produced encouraging results for both anxiety and sleep.

This distinction is important. A clinical result obtained with a precisely standardized lavender oil capsule does not automatically mean that lavender tea, an extract, a few drops of essential oil or simply smelling lavender will produce the same effect.

The evidence for non-volatile lavender extracts remains much more limited. Although laboratory research suggests antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties, considerably more human research is needed before these findings can be translated into broad health claims.

So when we hear that “lavender has been clinically studied,” there is an important question to ask: Which lavender preparation was actually used?