Full profile
| Also known as | Matricaria recutita, Matricaria chamomilla, Apigenin |
|---|---|
| Best for | Occasional nervous tension and evening wind-down · Subjective sleep quality · A low-risk calm-slot botanical |
| Evidence grade | Grade C — Limited — early or small human trials |
| Studied dose range | 220–1500 mg/day of a standardized extract (often 500 mg of a 1.2% apigenin extract, 1–3× daily); tea is the traditional, lower-and-more-variable-dose form. |
| Time to effect | The anxiety signal builds over roughly 2–4 weeks; sleep effects are modest and gradual. |
| Best form | Standardized extract (≈1.2% apigenin) matches the trial material; tea is traditional but under-dosed by comparison. |
| Food sources | Chamomile tea (traditional, lower dose than studied extracts) |
Evidence, honestly graded
Limited. Chamomile has the cleanest evidence of the common calm botanicals because its core trials are NIH-funded rather than sponsor-run: an 8-week RCT improved generalized-anxiety scores versus placebo (Amsterdam 2009), and a 2024 meta-analysis found a small improvement in sleep quality (Kazemi 2024) — but the sleep trials are methodologically weak, and a standardized chronic-insomnia pilot missed its primary sleep-diary endpoints (Zick 2011). A longer-term anxiety trial (Mao 2016) missed its primary relapse-prevention endpoint while showing positive secondary outcomes. Real but small and early — a C.
See the full grading rubric — study type, replication, population match, and dose adequacy — in The Evidence Standard.
705 licensed natural health products in Health Canada's LNHPD list Chamomile as a medicinal ingredient.
That makes Chamomile a recognized, licensable medicinal ingredient in Canada — regulated by Health Canada's Natural and Non-prescription Health Products Directorate, which issues each licensed natural health product a Natural Product Number (NPN). Search the LNHPD to verify.
Side effects
- Generally mild and placebo-comparable
- Occasional GI upset or drowsiness
- Rare hypersensitivity, including anaphylaxis in ragweed-allergic people
Who should avoid it or check first
- Allergy to ragweed, daisy, marigold, or other Asteraceae/Compositae plants
- Pregnancy without clinician guidance (traditional emmenagogue caution)
Interactions
- May add to the effect of sedatives and other CNS depressants
- Coumarin content — caution with anticoagulants/antiplatelets (isolated INR case reports)
Stacks well with
Use caution stacking with
- Stacking multiple sedating botanicals without guidance
What to look for on a label
- Carry an Asteraceae-allergy caution (ragweed cross-reactivity).
- Health Canada's German Chamomile monograph permits sleep/calmative claims on a TRADITIONAL herbal basis — history of use, not a finding of clinical efficacy. Keep "traditionally used" wording distinct from a proof-of-effect claim.
References
- Amsterdam JD, Li Y, Soeller I, Rockwell K, Mao JJ, Shults J (2009). Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, 29(4):378–382Greater reduction in anxiety scores than placebo.
- Kazemi A, Shojaei-Zarghani S, Eskandarzadeh P, Hashempur MH (2024). Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 84:103071Small improvement in sleep quality; low methodological quality.
- Zick et al. (2011) — standardized chamomile for chronic insomnia (null primary). 270 mg twice daily; no significant benefit on the primary sleep-diary endpoints — the honest counterweight to the softer sleep-quality data. PMID 21939549. Educational, not a product claim.
Grades and studied doses are our conservative reading of the human research, shown for education. They are not product claims, and a studied dose is not a recommended dose.
Revision history
Every change to this ingredient's evidence status, dated and explained. The full cross-library log lives at Evidence Updates.
- 2026-07-12New profile
New profile at Grade C for sleep/relaxation, on limited human data.
See how Chamomile compares on grade, dose, and goal in the Evidence Explorer.
