Summary: Plants in the mint family tend to be rich with medicinal components, and are especially great at supporting our immune and nervous systems. They can do everything from cure a cold to kill cancer cells and improve memory. Many cultures place a strong emphasis on mint family plants, from Za’atar (Origanum syriacum) in Palestine to the Italian classic basil. (Perhaps a reason the Mediterranean diet is so healthy?)

One of the most fascinating chemicals in these mint family plants is rosmarinic acid. It has been widely studied for a variety of ailments, and is especially interesting for its beneficial impact on the immune and the nervous systems. There are lots of other beneficial chemicals in these plants as well, especially the aromatic ones, and they often work in synergy with the rosmarinic acid to provide powerful medicine! While herbalists generally don’t reduce plants to isolated chemicals (that’s a pharmacist’s job) it can be interesting and helpful to see how families of plants are linked by common chemicals.

Here’s a list of mint-family plants that grow well here that are rich in rosmarinic acid, starting with the plants that have it in the highest concentrations (source: Duke’s Phytochemical database1). Make it a point to eat and drink them!

• Self-heal/heal-all - Prunella vulgaris**

• Oregano - Origanum vulgare

• Garden Sage - Salvia officinalis

• Lemon balm - Melissa officinalis

• Spearmint - Metha spicata**

• Rosemary - Rosmarinus officinalis

• Clary sage - Salvia scalarea

• Marjoram - Origanum majorana

• Apple mint Mentha x rotundifolia**

• Peppermint Mentha x piperita

• Thyme Thymus vulgaris

• Summer Savory Satureja hortensis

• Ground ivy - Glechoma hederacea**

• Bee balm -Monarda fistulosa*

• Basil - Ocimum basilicum

• Bee balm - Monarda didyma*

• Lavender - Lavandula angustifolia

• Korean mint: Agastache rugosa

• Hyssop - Hyssopus officinalis

• Perilla/Shiso - Perilla frutescens**

• Catnip - Nepeta cataria

*native

**Can naturalize in KY and be found growing in the wild (so be careful where you plant it!), weedy, may be invasive

Deeper Dive

Rosmarinic acid is a badass chemical. Here’s some of what we know about it, based on scientific research:

• Strong antioxidant activity

• Inhibits the death of neuronal cells/neuroprotective

• Antidepressant

• Protects against Alzheimer’s amyloid-β peptide induced neurotoxicity in cell cultures

• Limits the production of pro-inflammatory chemicals

• Anti-inflammatory

• Reduces pain

• Interacts with T cells to improve immune response to cancer, infection, allergy and autoimmunity, in a way that may be safer than immunosuppressive drugs

• May positively affect sleep by modulating GABA and acetylcholine

• Antimicrobial

• Protects against mitochondrial dysfunction

• Anti-wrinkle effect/promotes collagen production in skin

Let’s dig a little deeper into some of the common mint family plants that are rich in beneficial chemicals:

In a study on common sage (Salvia officinalis) in people with Alzheimer’s disease, the research subjects were given 60 drops / day of a sage extract or a placebo. After 4 months, the people taking sage had significantly better outcomes on cognitive functions than the placebo group (Akhondzadeh et al., 2003). In other words, there’s a reason the plant is called “sage.”

Similarly, lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) has both a long history of use for memory and nervous system support as well as modern research to support its efficacy in these areas. Maude Grieve (1931) reports:

John Hussey, of Sydenham, who lived to the age of 116, breakfasted for fifty years on [lemon] Balm tea sweetened with honey, and herb teas were the usual breakfasts of Llewelyn Prince of Glamorgan, who died in his 108th year. Carmelite water, of which [lemon] Balm was the chief ingredient, was drunk daily by the Emperor Charles V.

Grieve also references an excerpt from The London Dispensary (1696): “An essence of [lemon] Balm, given in Canary wine, every morning will renew youth, strengthen the brain, relieve languishing nature and prevent baldness.”

We’ve known for hundreds of years that lemon balm is good for the brain and nervous system, but what does the research say?

A randomized controlled trial of Iranian high school girls with PMS found a significant decrease in symptoms in the girls taking lemon balm, with further decrease in symptoms after three months (Akbarzadeh et al., 2015). Likewise, Scholey et al. (2014) conducted a study on the mood and cognitive effects of food that contained lemon balm and found that the herb significantly improved the subjects' mood, including lowering anxiety levels.

Several studies have been conducted on lemon balm that show positive improvements in cognitive function in people with Alzheimer’s (Noguchi-Shinohara et al., 2020). While the sample sizes in these studies have been relatively small, when this research is coupled with a long history of use for lemon balm (and similar mint family plants high in rosmarinic acid) for memory improvement, we can conclude that lemon balm is an incredibly useful herb for brain health.

There’s plenty more to say, and lots more research to support using these mint-family plants as daily health tonics. We have just scratched the surface, but hopefully it’s enough to encourage you to make a place for these herbs in your life!

How to use?

All the herbs in the list above can be tinctured or used in tea. Many of them also make excellent glycerin extracts. Many plants that you might typically use as a spice also make a great tea. Experiment - try a cup of rosemary tea and see what you think!

References:

• Akbarzadeh, M., Dehghani, M., Moshfeghy, Z., Emamghoreishi, M., Tavakoli, P., & Zare, N. (2015). Effect of Melissa officinalis Capsule on the Intensity of Premenstrual Syndrome Symptoms in High School Girl Students. Nursing and Midwifery Studies, 4(2), e27001. https://doi.org/10.17795/nmsjournal27001

• Akhondzadeh, S., Noroozian, M., Mohammadi, M., Ohadinia, S., Jamshidi, A. H., & Khani, M. (2003). Salvia officinalis extract in the treatment of patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease: a double blind, randomized and placebo-controlled trial. Journal of clinical pharmacy and therapeutics, 28(1), 53–59. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2710.2003.00463.x

• Connelly, A. E., Tucker, A. J., Tulk, H., Catapang, M., Chapman, L., Sheikh, N., Yurchenko, S., Fletcher, R., Kott, L. S., Duncan, A. M., & Wright, A. J. (2014). High-rosmarinic acid spearmint tea in the management of knee osteoarthritis symptoms. Journal of medicinal food, 17(12), 1361–1367. https://doi.org/10.1089/jmf.2013.0189

• Girgenti, A., Picone, P., Buttacavoli, M., Palumbo, L., Naselli, F., Presti, E. L., Pecora, D., Cipollina, C., Annunziata, F., Pinto, A., Tamborini, L., & Nuzzo, D. (2025). Mitochondria-targeted rosmarinic acid: Its role against oxidative damage. Biomedicine & pharmacotherapy = Biomedecine & pharmacotherapie, 187, 118114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopha.2025.118114

• Grieve, M. (1931). Lemon Balm. A Modern Herbal. Retrieved from https://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/b/balm--02.html

• Iwahashi, H., Kawashima, Y., Masaki, H., & Taga, A. (2025). Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis L.) Leaf Extract Promotes Endo180 Production in Dermal Fibroblasts and has Antiwrinkle Effect on Human Skin. Photodermatology, photoimmunology & photomedicine, 41(2), e70006. https://doi.org/10.1111/phpp.70006

• Lee et al. Rosemary (rosmarinic acid) In Aggarwal BB, Kunnumakkara AB. (2009). Molecular targets and therapeutic uses of spices. World Scientific, Singapore.

• Luo, C., Zou, L., Sun, H., Peng, J., Gao, C., Bao, L., Ji, R., Jin, Y., & Sun, S. (2020). A Review of the Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Rosmarinic Acid on Inflammatory Diseases. Frontiers in pharmacology, 11, 153. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2020.00153

• Medicine From the Earth 2020 Conference, Lecture notes.

• Noguchi-Shinohara, M., Ono, K., Hamaguchi, T., Nagai, T., Kobayashi, S., Komatsu, J., Samuraki-Yokohama, M., Iwasa, K., Yokoyama, K., Nakamura, H., & Yamada, M. (2020). Safety and efficacy of Melissa officinalis extract containing rosmarinic acid in the prevention of Alzheimer's disease progression. Scientific reports, 10(1), 18627. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-73729-2

• Scholey, A., Gibbs, A., Neale, C., Perry, N., Ossoukhova, A., Bilog, V., … Buchwald-Werner, S. (2014). Anti-Stress Effects of Lemon Balm-Containing Foods. Nutrients, 6(11), 4805–4821. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu6114805

• Tubbs, A. S., Kennedy, K. E. R., Alfonso-Miller, P., Wills, C. C. A., & Grandner, M. A. (2021). A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial of a Polyphenol Botanical Blend on Sleep and Daytime Functioning. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(6), 3044. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18063044

If you store upright and out of heat and sun, your tinctures will last many years, although the rubber top of the dropper bottle may degrade in 2-3 years, depending on care.

TAKING TINCTURES

Dosage/Dropperfuls: Squeeze the rubber bulb as much as possible to squeeze the air/liquid out of it, insert the tip into the bottle well beneath the liquid level, and release. This creates a “dropperful”, (even though the dropper is only half full). The “dropperful” measurement we use is approximately 20 drops, which is also the equivalent of approximately 1 ml. 5 ml = 1 tsp

Ingestion Methods: Some of the tinctures we make have grain alcohol as a base (it helps extract the most medicine from the plants), so be prepared for this on your tissues. Try a few drops on the tongue, or underneath it. This will give you a better sense of the herb, both in taste and effect. The longer you hold the alcohol in your mouth, the faster the herbs will find your blood. This method of direct to the tongue and holding/swishing is best for acute or immediate needs like headaches and emotional distress.

Most folks get their tincture dose by diluting it into water or another liquid. A shot glass is easy way to take them.

This is a short research summary on passionflower and chamomile that I originally wrote for my University’s newsletter.

(TLDR? Chamomile and passionflower have both been studied with positive results for acute and generalized anxiety.)

Herbs for anxiety – the possibilities are endless! 

Anxiety is one of the most common mental disorders in the United States. An estimated 31% of U.S. adults experience an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives (Harvard Medical School, 2007), and that does not take into account anxiety not categorized as a “disorder,” such as temporary or situational anxiety or PMS-related anxiety. Antidepressants are a common class of pharmaceutical drugs used to treat anxiety (ADAA, 2016), and their use has increased 65% from 1999 to 2014 (Pratt et al., 2017). Unfortunately, antidepressants can have side effects as severe as suicide, but more common effects include sexual dysfunction, weight gain, and sleep interference (Ferguson, 2001). Due to the range of side effects, the discontinuation rate is as high as 70% for some antidepressant medications (Ferguson, 2001). Benzodiazepines, another common class of drugs used to treat anxiety, are often sedating and can have dependence issues over the long term (ADAA, 2016). Fortunately, herbs can offer a safer alternative to pharmaceuticals with similar, if not greater effectiveness (Sarris, 2018; Savage et al., 2017).  Recent studies on chamomile (Matricaria recutita) and passionflower (Passiflora incarnata) offer compelling evidence for use of herbs in two different anxiety-related contexts.  

Mao et al. (2016) conducted a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) to assess the impact of a chamomile extract on people who were diagnosed with moderate to severe Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). Ninety-three study participants took 1500 mg (500 mg three times/day) of chamomile extract for 12 weeks. Participants who had a reduction in their anxiety measurements over the initial 12 weeks were then were randomly assigned to continue taking the chamomile or a placebo for an additional 26 weeks (continuation therapy), for a total study duration of 38 weeks. The researcher’s primary outcome measure was the time to relapse during continuation therapy, which was evaluated by measuring anxiety scores at regular intervals. While the chamomile group had less relapses than the placebo group, the difference was not statistically significant.  However, secondary outcomes measures related to symptoms of GAD demonstrated that people taking chamomile had a statistically significant reduction in anxiety symptoms and overall better psychological wellbeing compared to placebo.  

The chamomile group also had an added bonus of significant reductions in body weight and blood pressure. In addition to these positive findings, this research is also notable because the 38-week duration of the study is much longer than most herb/anxiety studies, which usually range from 4 to 12 weeks (Sarris, 2018). Longer studies are more clinically useful to confirm safety and evaluate ongoing impact on health. Finally, this study is unique because human studies on chamomile are rare. This same group of researchers completed the only other RCT in 2009 (Amsterdam et al., 2009, as cited in Mao et al., 2016). Taken as a whole, this research offers support for herbalism’s traditional use of chamomile as a calming agent.

Like chamomile, passionflower is another herb with a long history of use by traditional herbalists to calm and ease tension. Several studies have demonstrated its usefulness in GAD compared to placebo and pharmaceuticals (Sarris, 2018), and a recent study by Dantas et al. (2017) has demonstrated benefit on par with the pharmaceutical midazolam when used in the dentist’s office – a common site of situational anxiety. The RCT conducted by Dantas et al. assessed 40 dental surgery patients who took either 260 mg passionflower extract or 15 mg midazolam 30 minutes before the surgery. Anxiety was measured through subjective questionnaires and physical measurements of heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen saturation. Results showed that there were no significant differences in measures of anxiety for the herb group vs. the pharmaceutical group, except that 20% of people taking midazolam reported amnesia, whereas the passionflower did not have this effect.

These two studies represent recent research, but they are just the tip of the iceberg. Herbs with positive research showing anti-anxiety effects include bacopa (Bacopa monniera), gotu kola (Centella asiatica), lemon balm (Melissa officinalis), kava (Piper methysticum), skullcap (Scutellaria laterifolia), ginko (Ginkgo biloba), rhodiola (Rhodiola rosea) and ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) (Sarris, 2018). 

Needless to say, these herbs provide the herbalist with a lot of “tools in the toolbox,” and the herbalist-client consultation also offers benefit. Herbalists typically spend more time with their clients than a typical medical doctor visit, allowing the person to tell their health story while the herbalist gets a more complete picture of the client’s health. This allows the herbalist to create an herbal formula and dosing regimen that is customized to the individual – something that is not typical in conventional medicine. When an herbalist’s knowledge and skills are combined with recent scientific research, herbal medicine emerges as a powerful tool for support. 

References1