Does Chamomile Tea Help You Sleep? What the Trials Show

What the trials found

The evidence is real but modest, and it splits along one line: sleep quality improves, insomnia does not.

The best summary is a 2019 systematic review of 12 randomized trials (Hieu et al.). Pooling the sleep studies, it found a significant improvement in sleep quality with chamomile. It also found only one trial that tested chamomile against diagnosed insomnia, and that trial showed no significant change. The authors' conclusion was that chamomile looks effective and safe for sleep quality, with little evidence for insomnia.

Study	Who	What they took	Result
Adib-Hajbaghery and Mousavi, 2017	60 adults aged 60 or older, poor sleep at baseline	Chamomile extract capsules, 200 mg twice a day for 28 days, versus wheat-flour placebo capsules	Sleep quality significantly better than placebo after 28 days
Zick et al., 2011	34 adults with chronic primary insomnia (pilot)	Standardized chamomile extract, 270 mg twice a day for 28 days, versus placebo	No significant differences in sleep diary measures
Chang and Chen, 2016	80 postnatal women with poor sleep	Chamomile tea for two weeks versus a control group	Fewer sleep-related physical symptoms at two weeks; the difference was gone at four weeks
Hieu et al., 2019	12 randomized trials reviewed	Chamomile in various forms	Significant improvement in sleep quality; one insomnia trial, no benefit

Notice who was studied. None of these trials was run in men specifically. The participants were older adults, new mothers and insomnia patients. The findings are the best available guide, not a direct test of a 45-year-old man with a busy head at midnight.

Tea versus extract

The clearest positive trial used capsules, and a cup of tea is a less standardized dose. The 2017 trial used 400 mg of extract a day. The only trial of the tea itself, in postnatal women, found a short-term benefit that did not last to four weeks.

That does not make the tea pointless. It means the honest claim for a cup is smaller: a warm, caffeine-free drink at a fixed time is a useful part of winding down, and chamomile is one of the few herbs with sleep trials behind it. Expect a nudge, not a knockout.

Who it is likely to help

Chamomile fits men whose sleep is light or restless, not men with long-standing insomnia. If you fall asleep eventually but the quality is poor, that is the outcome the trials improved. If you lie awake for hours most nights and have for months, the one insomnia trial found nothing, and a doctor is a better next step than a tea.

Restless sleep is common in our own audience. In our Ritual Quiz, 45% of 825 quiz takers said their sleep is restless because their mind will not shut off. The full breakdown is in our quiz results.

How to brew it for the evening

These are our brewing suggestions, not trial protocols.

• Timing: 30 to 60 minutes before bed, at the same time each night.
• Strength: one heaped teaspoon or one bag per cup, covered, steeped five minutes or longer. Covering the cup keeps the aromatic oils in.
• Water: just off the boil.
• Test period: every night for two weeks before you judge it. The trials ran two to four weeks.
• Keep it plain: no sugar late at night.

Safety and who should skip it

Chamomile is likely safe for most adults in the amounts used in tea, and the 2019 review found only mild adverse events reported. The US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health flags these cautions, among others:

• Allergy: reactions are more likely if you are allergic to ragweed, chrysanthemums, marigolds or daisies.
• Blood thinners: interactions with warfarin have been reported. Check with your pharmacist first.
• Sedatives: there are theoretical reasons to expect an interaction, so be cautious if you take sleep medication.

Where it fits in a sleep routine

Chamomile is one of six herbs in our Nighttime Blend, with hops, skullcap, passionflower, damiana and rooibos. The blend is caffeine-free. It does not contain magnesium or valerian, so if you have been reading about magnesium and sleep, that is a separate tool. For what chamomile does beyond sleep, see our guide to chamomile tea benefits for men.

The herb matters less than the routine around it. A fixed bedtime, a dark room and caffeine kept to the first half of the day do more than any cup, which is the argument of our sleep guide. For the other herbs in the blend, see passionflower tea for sleep, hops for sleep and skullcap for calm and sleep. If sore muscles are what keep you up after training, teas for muscle recovery covers the evening options.

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