Lemon Balm

[salymap]

As a chronic insomniac I will try a drink ofthis at bedtime with my BP tablet, which is so powerful one falls over once it is swallowed so must be taken last thing, according to my practice Nurse .

[Serial_Apologist]

As a cronic insomniac I will try a drink ofthis at bedtime with my BP tablet, which is so powerful one falls over once it is swallowed so must be taken last thing, according to my practice Nurse.

And definitely in a prone position, I would have thought!

[marthe]

Plenty of Lemon Balm in my garden! Is it good for blood pressure? If so, I shall be making copious amounts of Lemon Balm tea for the HH!

[Thropplenoggin]

'Welcome to Radio Three, the new home of Gardeners' Question Time...today in the potting shed...'

Soz, Saly.

[MrGongGong]

Plenty of Lemon Balm in my garden! Is it good for blood pressure? If so, I shall be making copious amounts of Lemon Balm tea for the HH!

It's only really suitable for Marxists to drink as tea
as they don't drink the other sort

[Pabmusic]

You can use lemon balm to flavour milk puddings (no danger of curdling) or plain cakes such as fairy cakes. The flavour is not that strong and can be overwhelmed in the wrong combination. Fresh leaves are good in salads (I used to make unusual salads with lemon balm, nasturtiums, marigolds and other herbal plants added to lettuce and rocket).

As a drink it has similar properties to other mints - mainly soothing (balm) and digestive.

[jayne lee wilson]

Somewhat despairing of prescription-based antidepressants and tranquillisers, (I've tried at least 3 from the Prozac group - all awful, they mess with the mind - and some made me physically sick) I have for some years used Valerian and Lemon Balm in tablet form, from outlets like Holland&Barrett and Boots. I take 1 to 3 capsules of Lemon Balm extract, each capsule giving ca. 171mg of dry extract, per night. Valerian varies a bit, from 400mg - 600mg per night. Broadly, Valerian is more soporific, very good as an aid to sleep, Lemon Balm lighter, more of a mood lifting drug, but still notably relaxing. In combination they work for me!

I wouldn't usually take Valerian in the daytime as the effect can be too heavy, but Lemon Balm can be good in anxious times (always remembering that the only real cure for anxiety is to remove the source of it - often easier said etc...) You have to experiment to find your own dosages, reading the notes carefully (the "root" amount is always more than the "dry extract"). I use H&B's own Lemon Balm, and the "Valdrian" and the stronger "Kira" (Klosterfrau) Valerian preparations.

But they certainly work - their physical effects are obvious, and their use goes back for centuries. It really is a question of effective personal dosage.

[salymap]

Thanks a lot for that Jayne. I shall look into all that tomorrow, I need something like that.

[amateur51]

It can be used in Roast Chicken either placed a few sprigs inside the bird on its own or with other herbs or under the skin.

Like cloughie I've used lemon balm in stuffing for a chook - I use great handsful roughly chopped and stirred into breadcrumb & onion mix. It give the stuffing a lemony lift rather than citric intensity - I like both but this way you have a choice

[LeMartinPecheur]

And definitely in a prone position, I would have thought!

Very dangerous - risk of drowning in the infusion Supine better!

[salymap]

Very dangerous - risk of drowning in the infusion Supine better!

I prefer to drink it standing up, then collapse straight into nearby bed.

[Nick Armstrong]

I prefer to drink it standing up, then collapse straight into nearby bed.

It's a great image!

[gradus]

Ever tried Lemon Verbena a much stronger sherbet-lemon sort of smell and would I imagine make a stronger infusion/flavouring than Lemon Balm which can, I find, be a bit invasive in the garden

[teamsaint]

I prefer to drink it standing up, then collapse straight into nearby bed.

Sounds great

[LeMartinPecheur]

Somewhat despairing of prescription-based antidepressants and tranquillisers, (I've tried at least 3 from the Prozac group - all awful, they mess with the mind - and some made me physically sick) I have for some years used Valerian and Lemon Balm in tablet form, from outlets like Holland&Barrett and Boots. I take 1 to 3 capsules of Lemon Balm extract, each capsule giving ca. 171mg of dry extract, per night. Valerian varies a bit, from 400mg - 600mg per night. Broadly, Valerian is more soporific, very good as an aid to sleep, Lemon Balm lighter, more of a mood lifting drug, but still notably relaxing. In combination they work for me!

I wouldn't usually take Valerian in the daytime as the effect can be too heavy, but Lemon Balm can be good in anxious times (always remembering that the only real cure for anxiety is to remove the source of it - often easier said etc...) You have to experiment to find your own dosages, reading the notes carefully (the "root" amount is always more than the "dry extract"). I use H&B's own Lemon Balm, and the "Valdrian" and the stronger "Kira" (Klosterfrau) Valerian preparations.

But they certainly work - their physical effects are obvious, and their use goes back for centuries. It really is a question of effective personal dosage.

Ever tried St John's Wort jlw? I use it to keep tolerably un-depressed. Thought I'd been on it a bit long a while back and gave up taking it. OK for some weeks then, once I'd forgotten what I'd done, started feeling dreadful. OK, there were things in my life which kinda justified feeling pretty cr*p so I hoped it would go away. It didn't and eventually I had the wit to resume the SJW. Bliss!

Only snag with it is that it's far more than doubled in price in the last year: something to do with gov't-imposed tests/ certification of traditional medicines I believe. No doubt it'll save lotsa lives...