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Valerian
A root with an EMA monograph for mild nervous tension and sleep, based on well-established use, and no authorised food claim. It sits in one formula, Relax & fast sleep, at 600 mg. It is also the slowest ingredient in that formula: the monograph says it is not suitable for acute use and needs two to four weeks of continued use for its optimal effect.
WHAT WE ARE ALLOWED TO SAY
Nothing. There is no authorised claim.
Valerian has no authorised health claim under Regulation (EU) 432/2012. Most botanical claims sit on the European Commission's on-hold list, where they have waited since 2010 for an EFSA assessment. Until something is authorised, we make no health claim for valerian, and you will not find one on this page.Valerian has no authorised health claim under Regulation (EU) 432/2012. Until something is authorised, we make no health claim for it.
Valerian has no authorised claim for sleep or for anxiety, however often you read otherwise. The EMA monograph on file assesses it on well-established use, for mild nervous tension and sleep disorders. That is a medicines assessment, not a food claim, and we do not borrow its wording for a food supplement. Our file rates the evidence B: clinical trials that differ from one another but point the same way in sleep and mild anxiety. One of the reviews we cite is titled, in full, "A systematic review of valerian as a sleep aid: safe but not effective". In Relax & fast sleep, the sleep claim comes from the melatonin next to it, not from the valerian. That is a reason to include it, not a permission to promise anything.
WHAT WE USE
A dry extract, measured by its valerenic acid.
Valerian is a plant, and the part used is the root and rhizome, so the choice is not between salts but between preparations. Our file credits its action to valerenic acid, which acts on the brain's GABA-A receptors at a site different from the one benzodiazepines use. It also describes a slower breakdown of GABA and a mild action on one serotonin receptor, 5-HT5A. The valepotriates, another group of compounds in the root, are unstable and were ruled out as the main actives because of toxicity seen in laboratory tests.
A dry extract standardised to 0.8% valerenic acid, the preferred form in our file and the one named in the EU status we hold on file for valerian. Our ingredient file describes extracts at ratios of 4:1 to 7:1.
Our form record lists it as stable in liquid and soluble in water, best kept between pH 5 and 7 and sensitive to light. The drawback on file is the taste, which is bitter, and the smell: its characteristic odour, from isovaleric acid, can make some people feel sick.
The EMA monograph on file also covers tinctures made with ethanol, which have to declare it on the label. None of them is what we serve.
There is no authorised claim for any form of valerian, so the form is not a claim argument and we do not use it as one. Our records do not describe the extract in quite the same words: the form record and the EU status say 0.8% valerenic acid, the ingredient file at least 0.8%. The ingredient file gives valerenic acid a half-life of about 1.1 hours, from a study in healthy volunteers, and says it is cleared through the liver and kidneys, but it cites no source for the second point and our pharmacokinetic record could not confirm it. We have no figure for how much of it you absorb. The file is still a draft, pending review by a clinical professional.There is no authorised claim for any form of valerian. Our records describe the extract as 0.8% or at least 0.8% valerenic acid, and how you absorb and clear it is not confirmed. The file is still pending clinical review.
WHERE IT APPEARS
One of the twenty-nine carries valerian.
It appears only in Relax & fast sleep, a BOOST formula served at night, 30 minutes before sleep and away from your meal, next to melatonin, GABA and magnesium. The 600 mg it carries is the lowest effective dose on our dose record, which pairs it with 14 to 28 days of use. It is also the ingredient that limits that formula: because the EMA monograph asks for two to four weeks of continued use, the formula runs as a course of up to 28 days and is reviewed at two weeks. The fast part of that formula is the melatonin, not the valerian.
THE CEILING
No official limit. So the cap is ours: 900 mg a day.
EFSA has not set a tolerable upper intake level for valerian, and the EMA monograph gives a dose, not a limit. Our file's rule is to work to the monograph dose and add the warnings specific to valerian, and the engine keeps your total at or under 900 mg of extract a day, across everything you take. Our records do not state the dose the same way: the monograph on file gives 400 to 600 mg of dry extract as a single dose, up to three times a day; the ingredient file gives 300 to 900 mg of extract a day, typically 450 mg 30 to 60 minutes before sleep, from a meta-analysis; and our dose record puts the lowest effective dose at 600 mg, where an earlier version said 300 to 600 mg. We have written them all down rather than pick one. Relax & fast sleep carries 600 mg, and it is the only formula that carries any. No limit is not the same as no risk.EFSA has not set an upper limit for valerian. The engine keeps your total at or under 900 mg of extract a day, and only one formula carries it, at 600 mg. No limit is not the same as no risk.
As a sedative, it never shares an eight-hour window with a stimulant such as caffeine, guarana, yerba mate, synephrine or yohimbine: the engine separates them by at least eight hours, or keeps only one if both need the same time of day. Its calming role overlaps with passionflower, hops, lemon balm, chamomile, lavender and linden, which our file flags for the engine. And if your symptoms persist or get worse after two weeks of continued use, the EMA monograph says to see a doctor or a pharmacist.
Pregnancy and breastfeeding: avoid, because there is not enough data. Children under 12: not recommended, and the EMA monograph limits its use to 12 and over; our file says to avoid it entirely under 3. Never with benzodiazepines, other sedatives or alcohol. Relax & fast sleep, the formula that carries it, also excludes autoimmune conditions such as lupus and, because of the melatonin next to it, anticoagulant treatment with a vitamin K antagonist.
Liver disease: caution, because of occasional reports of liver damage, which our file links to contaminated products. Kidney disease and heart disease: no contraindication. Anticoagulants: no significant risk from the valerian itself. Cancer: there is no data. Side effects on file: drowsiness the next morning, headache, digestive upset and vivid dreams. The label warnings on file: it may cause drowsiness, so do not drive or use heavy machinery after taking it; not recommended in pregnancy, breastfeeding or under 12; stop it at least two weeks before surgery; do not combine it with sedatives, alcohol or benzodiazepines. It contains none of the allergens the EU requires on a label.
WHAT IT REACTS WITH
Eleven documented pairs. Seven of them are complementary.
Valerian is one of the 140 ingredients in our library, so it has 139 possible partners. We have documented 11 of them so far, out of the 443 pairs on file. Seven are complementary: melatonin and GABA, which it shares a formula with, plus passionflower, hops, lemon balm, lavender and 5-HTP. Four come down to your gut: charcoal, clay and fibre reduce how much of it you absorb. Caffeine and other stimulants fall under a separate rule: never within eight hours of a sedative. And one medication pair is in our drug table: benzodiazepines.
Activated charcoal binds its active compounds and is rated high severity: never in the same dose, at least 3 hours apart, and at night the charcoal goes at least 3 hours before. White clay, konjac glucomannan and psyllium husk can reduce how much of it you absorb, rated medium, so they are kept at least 2 hours apart; the psyllium pair rests on weaker evidence.
Our table marks all seven as combinable, at low severity. With melatonin the routes differ, one on the calming receptors and the other on the body clock, and the effects on sleep add up. With GABA, passionflower and hops, the effects on the same calming receptors add up; the pairing with hops is a traditional one covered by the EMA. The lemon balm pairing rests on clinical trials cited in our file, lavender works by a different mechanism, and 5-HTP by a separate serotonin route. Magnesium, which shares Relax & fast sleep with it, is not entered as a pair yet, and nor are L-theanine, glycine, chamomile or linden, which our file also flags as complementary.
Benzodiazepines such as diazepam, alprazolam or lorazepam are the one medication pair in our drug table, rated high: both act on the same calming receptors, so the sedation adds up and could slow your breathing. Avoid the combination; if it cannot be avoided, only under medical supervision. Our ingredient file rates the same group moderate and also flags Z-drug sleeping pills, opioids, barbiturates, alcohol, older sedating antihistamines, St John's wort and other depressants. If you have surgery coming, tell your doctor: the label warning on file says to stop it at least two weeks before, the ingredient file one to two weeks before a general anaesthetic.
Only one of valerian's medication interactions is in our drug table, benzodiazepines; the rest of the warnings above come from its own file, not from a checked pair. Our pharmacokinetic record lists it as an inhibitor of CYP3A4, a liver enzyme that clears many medicines, but the same record notes that the EMA monograph reports no clinical interaction and that the inhibition seen in the lab is modest. Our file still asks for caution if you take several medicines. Across the library, 443 of the 9,730 possible pairs are documented, which is 4.55%, and eleven of them involve valerian. The rest are not "safe", they are simply unchecked, and we would rather write that down than let the number look like a badge.Only one of valerian's medication interactions, benzodiazepines, is in our drug table. 443 of the 9,730 possible pairs are documented, which is 4.55%, and eleven involve valerian. The rest are not safe, they are simply unchecked.
SOURCES
Everything on this page, with its reference.
Reviewed by VION nutrition team · last reviewed 16 September 2026Read the introduction to Valerian root extract →
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