Herbs are amazing! Their ability to protect themselves against the environment they live in is due to their anti-viral, anti-microbial and antioxidant properties. These health protective benefits can be extracted from the herb and taken to your advantage! Case in point is valerian, a medicinal plant with a long history of use, especially for sleep, pain and anxiety.
How does valerian do that? Valerian is a calmative herb, meaning it has the ability to “calm down” the nervous system.
Your body sends signals via certain neurotransmitters that either excite or quiet nervous activity. One of the neurotransmitters that valerian affects is GABA, which gives you a state of relaxation. Valerian performs this action without causing drowsiness so the mind can still function. Interestingly, it is why this herb is shown to be effective for those with anxiety, obsessive-compulsive behavior and ADHD.
Many with sleep disorders have low serotonin and/or a malfunction in that neurotransmitter pathway. Valerian has a positive effect on serotonin which in turn results in less night time wakening and an ability to reach stage IV, restful sleep. Getting adequate sleep for anyone with chronic pain, especially fibromyalgia, resulted in less next day soreness and pain per research studies.
A 6-month trial on tension type headaches resulted in a favorable response after only one month of taking 540 mg of valerian root extract daily. According to researchers, the impact of headache on daily living performance “significantly reduced”, resulting in less disability.
In fibromyalgia, multiple neurotransmitters appear to be “not working” properly, including the 5-HT serotonin and GABA pathways. Another neurotransmitter substance-P is found at higher levels, which could contribute to the amplification of pain felt in fibro. Although the exact mechanism of how or why the nervous system is affected is unclear at this time, some of the proposed treatments include drugs which try to control those specific neurotransmitters. Drugs like selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs) or serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) are prescribed but typically help about 30% of the fibro population and for a limited time. These drugs may also cause undesirable side effects such as tiredness, more brain fog and weight gain.
If you have a chronic condition that causes pain (like fibromyalgia), valerian gives you a non-drug option to quiet the nervous system without adding symptoms that make you sleepy, dopey or worse.
There are facts you need to know about valerian though if you want it to “work” for you!
One of the medical criticisms of using herbs is the inconsistency of how the products are made. To be effective, a product must be made to be effective all the time. In studying valerian, scientists found that one of the oils from the root of the plant specifically contains valerian’s medicinal power, valerenic acid. By standardizing valerenic acid to 0.3-0.8%, they could replicate research results time after time. Using the the leaves, powder and other parts of the plant did not guarantee the same health benefits. So you need to take the valerian root extract that “works”!
TyH’s Valerian Rest™ is specifically formulated to include 0.8% valerenic acid. We also added lemon balm extract, another nervous system helper that enhances the positive effect of Valerian Rest™. Plus, Valerian Rest™ was part of a double-blind, placebo-controlled effective study for fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, a study which included TyH’s Fibro-Care™. In fact, many of TyH customers feel taking Valerian Rest™ and Fibro-Care™ together eases their pain and anxiety better than either one alone. The special combination of magnesium and cofactors in Fibro-Care™ have the ability to both improve energy levels while mollifying muscle and nerve pain.
According to the Center for Disease Control 2021 statistics,, an estimated 51.5 million U.S. adults experience chronic pain. That’s 20% of the population! Of those, 17.1 million or 6.9% of the population have “high impact” chronic pain. In an age when pain medications are highly restricted and people are looking for non-drug options, you have choices. Valerian Rest™ may not cure your pain but it can help provide relief by lowering the pain threshold, improving quality sleep and calming the nervous system through its amazing herbal properties.
READ MORE IN THE TyH HEALTH LIBRARY
- Valerian, the not just for sleep herb
- Valerian Root Extract, Relax, De-Stress, Sleep
- Valerian, Sleep on it!