Passionflower for Stress Resilience
Passionflower shows modest acute anxiolytic effects in small clinical settings.
Overview
Verdict
How It Works
Dosing & Protocol
Typical dose
- Recommended dose
- 300-800 mg/day standardised extract in divided doses, or 45 drops/day of tincture as used in the anxiety trial
- Expected timeframe
- 2-4 weeks
Protocol
- form
- Standardised Passiflora incarnata extract, tincture or tea. The best-known trial used 45 drops/day of tincture over four weeks
- duration
- 2-4 weeks for ongoing use; acute anxiolytic effects appear within 30-90 minutes
- co factor
- Take away from heavy meals for faster onset. Evidence is mixed. A four-week randomised trial in generalised anxiety disorder found passionflower tincture comparable to oxazepam for anxiety reduction, with less impairment of job performance - an interesting result but from one small study. Several trials of acute preoperative dosing show reduced anxiety before surgery or dental procedures without additional sedation. Against this, trials are small, brief, heterogeneous in preparation and dose, and mostly from single centres, and no trial has examined stress resilience as such. The proposed mechanism is flavonoid modulation of GABA-A receptors, consistent with a benzodiazepine-like but milder profile.
- titration
- Up to 800 mg/day in two or three divided doses; a single acute dose before a stressful event is also how preoperative trials used it
- starting dose
- 300 mg extract once daily, or one cup of tea from 2 g dried herb
Evidence
What the studies say
No studies are yet linked to both Passionflower and Stress Resilience.
Safety
Caveats
The benzodiazepine-like profile that makes passionflower useful also defines its risks. Do not combine with alcohol, benzodiazepines, Z-drugs such as zopiclone or zolpidem, opioids, sedating antihistamines, barbiturates or other sedative herbs including valerian and kava, since additive central nervous system depression can cause marked drowsiness and respiratory depression. Do not drive or operate machinery until you know how it affects you - the daytime doses used for anxiety can impair alertness. There are case reports of altered consciousness requiring hospitalisation, and of QT prolongation and vasculitis at high doses. Avoid in pregnancy - some Passiflora species have been reported to stimulate uterine contractions and safety data are inadequate - and avoid while breastfeeding. Stop at least two weeks before surgery because of additive sedation with anaesthetic agents. Use caution with anticoagulants, antiplatelet drugs and antihypertensives. For anxiety that is persistent or impairing, CBT and SSRIs have far stronger evidence; new anxiety with palpitations, weight loss or tremor should prompt thyroid testing, and anxiety with chest pain or breathlessness needs medical assessment.
Less likely to help if
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