What Is Passiflora?

Passiflora Incarnata, or Passionflower, is a type of climbing vine found mostly in tropical and semi-tropical climates in the Western Hemisphere. It’s use as a sedative plant medicine dates back to the Aztec empire and was discovered by the Spanish conquerors of Mexico and Peru. The plant was carried back to Europe and widely cultivated there until it was re-introduced to North American medicine in the 1800’s.

Sleep Aid

Passiflora’s medicinal qualities are both hypnotic and antispasmodic. In Insomnia cases, Passiflora may not induce sleep but does encourage normal sleep patterns without the common side effects of dullness, inefficient thought processing or memory loss.

Recent Italian studies found that the introduction of Passiflora extract induced a reduction in physical activity due to its sedative effects, but did not produce an equal reduction in brain function. Researchers found that Passiflora can promote natural sleep in which patients fall asleep naturally, can be woken up normally at any time and do not experience any dulling of cerebral function.

Initial indications support the use of Passiflora by patients experiencing restless or wakeful sleep due to exhaustion. Less effective results are generally observed when a subject has normal strength and is not suffering from some kind of chronic fatigue or other weakened condition. Those who have trouble sleeping because they suffer from some kind of muscular twitching or spasms also reported calming effects tied to Passiflora and its ability to reduce motor activity.

Other Uses

Passiflora’s antispasmodic properties are useful for sleep deprivation but can also be used to counteract the symptoms of certain diseases or to calm the effects of convulsant drugs. Many practitioners of holistic medicine use Passiflora to treat convulsions resulting from a variety of diseases from Tetanus to Epilepsy. It can also be effective for temporary spasmodic problems as common as a chronic hiccough.

How It Works

Although natural plant medications are not always subjected to the same kind of clinical research prescription drugs are, numerous studies have been performed using Passiflora. In addition, close to a century of anecdotal evidence from human and animal experimentation has been recorded. Many such studies conclude the active agents in the plant have a sedative effect on the reflex activity of the spinal cord. It can also reduce pulse and arterial tension temporarily which leads some researchers to believe the plant can alter the vasomotor properties of the medulla oblongata.

Benefits

I’m happy to see the use of natural herbal treatments for common ailments like insomnia gaining notoriety and credibility in the medical community. After reviewing so many sleep medications and their long list of side effects, I find it refreshing to discover ingredients like Passiflora that can have the same sedative effects without the risks inherent in taking a pharmaceutical medication. No such side effects have been reported in connection with Passiflora when taken in normal doses. More studies should be done to further prove, or disprove, the medicinal properties of Passiflora but it is worth considering when investigating the ingredients in an herbal sleep aid.