Is Lemon Balm Tea Good for Gut Health?

Partly: lemon balm tea may support gut health when it helps you stay hydrated, because adequate fluid helps keep stools soft. Whether lemon balm itself improves digestion or gut bacteria is not established. You can enjoy lemon balm tea as a beverage, but it should not replace care for persistent digestive symptoms.

Can lemon balm tea help your gut?

Lemon balm tea can contribute fluid to your day, which is useful for normal digestion. If you are not drinking enough, getting adequate fluid may help with hard stools. It is not a guaranteed remedy for constipation, bloating or other digestive complaints.

The evidence is much less clear for effects specific to lemon balm. A soothing drink may feel comfortable to sip, but feeling better after a cup does not establish that the herb has changed your gut microbiome or treated the cause of symptoms.

For a broader look at hydration and digestive habits, see the best drinks for gut health.

How might lemon balm tea work?

The most certain contribution is the water in lemon balm tea. Fluid helps the digestive system process food and can help keep stools from becoming hard, particularly when fluid intake would otherwise be inadequate.

Lemon balm leaves also contain plant compounds that can enter an infusion. Researchers have examined what happens to compounds in a mixture containing lemon balm during simulated digestion, but that work does not show what a cup of lemon balm tea does in a person's gut.

In particular, there is not enough evidence from the available study to say that lemon balm tea increases beneficial bacteria, repairs the gut lining or reliably reduces inflammation. Lemon balm tea is not a substitute for a varied diet, adequate fluids or medical evaluation when symptoms persist.

What does the research show?

The available evidence is limited and does not directly test lemon balm tea for gut health. A 2020 laboratory study of an herbal extract combination looked at how its compounds changed during simulated digestion. The combination contained lemon balm and eight other plants.

The researchers found that many constituents remained detectable after the simulated digestive stages. This helps researchers understand the mixture's chemistry, but the experiment did not measure digestive symptoms or gut bacteria in people.

The findings also cannot be attributed to lemon balm alone: the product contained multiple herbs, and an extract combination is different from tea steeped from lemon balm leaves. It would be misleading to use this study as proof that lemon balm tea improves gut health or to infer an effective amount for people.

How can you use lemon balm tea?

A chilled lemon balm tea is a simple way to enjoy the herb as part of your fluid intake. There is no established tea dose for improving gut health, so treat this as a beverage recipe rather than a treatment.

Ingredients

• 1 litre water, about 4 1/4 US cups
• 8–12 fresh lemon balm leaves, about 5 g

Steps

1. Wash the lemon balm leaves under running water.
2. Place the leaves in a clean, covered container with the water.
3. Refrigerate for 2–4 hours to infuse, then strain if desired.
4. Drink the chilled lemon balm tea within 24 hours for the best flavour.

Keep the tea refrigerated. Discard it after 2–3 days, or sooner if it becomes cloudy, slimy or sour-smelling; do not leave it at room temperature for more than a few hours.

You can have a serving with or after a meal if you enjoy it. If it seems to make your symptoms worse, stop drinking it and consider discussing the symptoms with a healthcare professional.

Who should be careful with lemon balm tea?

If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, ask a healthcare professional before using lemon balm tea regularly; safety information is limited. Ask a child's clinician before giving it to a child as a digestive remedy.

Check with a clinician or pharmacist if you have thyroid disease, take thyroid medication, or use sleep medicines or other medicines that cause drowsiness. Potential interactions are not well established, especially at typical tea amounts, but caution is sensible. Do not stop prescribed medication to use lemon balm tea.

Seek medical advice for digestive symptoms that persist, recur or worsen, or for unexplained weight loss. Get urgent medical help for severe abdominal pain, bloody or black stools, or signs of a serious allergic reaction such as trouble breathing or swelling of the lips or tongue.