Apigenin

Every graded outcome below rests on chamomile extract or tea, not isolated apigenin. Each study's form is named in the text. Grades follow our evidence grading method, and the outcomes belong to the sleep and mood and stress goals.

Does chamomile improve sleep quality?

A 2024 systematic review included 10 clinical trials (772 participants) of chamomile in healthy or diseased adults [5]. Pooling 5 trials, chamomile reduced Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) scores, where lower is better, by 1.88 points compared with control (95% CI -3.46 to -0.31), with very high heterogeneity (I2 88.4%) [5]. Awakenings or staying asleep improved in 2 of 3 studies, but daytime functioning did not change in any of the 3 that measured it [5]. Only one included study checked blinding and tested the purity or potency of its product [5].

A 2019 meta-analysis of 12 randomized and quasi-randomized trials also found better sleep quality after chamomile (standardized mean difference -0.73, 95% CI -1.23 to -0.23) [6]. Its summary does not say how many trials or which populations this estimate pooled, and some trials may overlap with the 2024 review. Its authors called for larger trials [6].

The individual trials are small. In 60 adults aged 60 or over at a nursing-home day-care center in Iran, chamomile extract capsules (200 mg twice daily for 28 days) improved PSQI scores compared with wheat-flour capsules in a single-blind trial [8]. In 80 postnatal women with poor sleep in Taiwan, assigned systematically with a random start rather than fully at random, 2 weeks of chamomile tea lowered one sleep subscale, physical-symptom sleep inefficiency, compared with usual care, with no placebo, and the groups no longer differed at the 4-week follow-up [9]. In a double-blind pilot of 34 adults with chronic insomnia (a clinical population), the trial found no significant difference between chamomile extract and placebo in diary sleep quality [7]. That trial used tablets provided by the manufacturer, MediHerb [7]. Results from older adults, postnatal women and clinical groups may not apply to healthy adults.

Does chamomile help you fall asleep faster?

The time it takes to fall asleep is called sleep latency. Among the trials cited here, the only double-blind, placebo-controlled one that measured it was the 34-person insomnia pilot, which gave 270 mg of chamomile extract twice daily for 28 days [7]. It found no significant difference from placebo in diary sleep latency, although the effect size for latency favored chamomile [7]. The study tablets were provided by the manufacturer, MediHerb [7].

The 2024 review reported that sleep onset latency or ease of getting to sleep improved in 3 of 4 studies, but it did not pool them [5]. Evidence is mixed, because the studies are few, small and differ in product, population and blinding. NCCIH says there is very little information on chamomile in people with insomnia, a clinical population [20].

Does chamomile increase total sleep time?

The 2024 meta-analysis concluded that chamomile did not improve the duration of sleep or sleep efficiency [5]. Sleep efficiency did not change in 2 studies and got worse in 1 [5]. In the insomnia pilot, which used tablets provided by the manufacturer, MediHerb, total sleep time did not differ significantly between groups, and its effect size favored placebo [7]. The review authors call for future studies to use objective sleep measures [5].

Does chamomile affect calm and anxiety ratings?

For state anxiety, the pooled evidence is null. The 2019 meta-analysis pooled 3 randomized trials of state anxiety and found no difference from control (standardized mean difference -0.15, 95% CI -0.46 to 0.16) [6]. Its summary does not say who took part in those trials.

The clearest positive results come from placebo-controlled trials in adults with diagnosed generalized anxiety disorder, a clinical population. In an 8-week trial, 57 outpatients with mild to moderate symptoms were randomized to chamomile extract standardized to 1.2% apigenin or placebo, and Hamilton Anxiety Rating scores fell more with chamomile (P = 0.047) [10]. The authors wrote that chamomile may have modest anti-anxiety activity in people with mild to moderate generalized anxiety disorder [10]. In a longer trial, 179 adults took 1500 mg a day of a chamomile extract for 12 weeks, and the 93 responders were then randomized to continue chamomile or switch to placebo for 26 weeks [11]. The primary outcome, time to relapse, did not differ significantly (hazard ratio 0.52, 95% CI 0.20-1.33), though symptom scores stayed lower with chamomile (P = 0.0032) [11]. That extract was provided by the Swedish Herbal Institute, and the trial was funded by NIH [11].

A 2024 systematic review of 10 trials of oral chamomile found that 9 concluded it reduced anxiety, without pooling results, and said the mechanism is not well understood [12]. That review covered mixed populations, and the positive trials above were in clinical groups, so these results may not apply to healthy adults.

What the evidence does not show

As of November 11, 2026, we found no randomized trials of isolated apigenin on sleep, mood or anxiety in people (PubMed and Europe PMC search, November 11, 2026). The human studies that measured apigenin directly were absorption and food studies using pure apigenin, chamomile tea and parsley [4][14][15]; the one randomized trial that gave apigenin tested it in a combination (below). A 2024 review by two Tally Health employees reports that dietary apigenin intake correlated with sleep quality in a large cohort, which is an observational link and cannot show cause [13]. A 2006 review found no clinical trials of chamomile tea's sedative properties at that time [2].

One randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in 103 healthy, physically active adults gave an evening combination of 2 g magnesium L-threonate, 200 mg L-theanine and 50 mg apigenin for 2 weeks [19]. The evening combination did not differ from placebo on perceived stress (P = 0.684) or reported sleep disturbance (P = 0.478), and wearable measures of total sleep time and sleep efficiency showed no group effects [19]. The authors credited the improvements they found to a separate morning blend of ashwagandha and rhodiola [19]. The trial was funded by Momentous LLC, which made the study products [19]. As of November 12, 2026, we found no trials of apigenin combined with melatonin or glycine in people (PubMed search, November 12, 2026); the other magnesium combination data come from mice [18].

Form changes how much apigenin reaches the blood. In healthy men, apigenin from chamomile tea peaked at about 2 h, consistent with absorption in the upper gut, while a parsley drink peaked at 4 h [4]. In a parsley trial in 18 healthy volunteers, plasma apigenin could not be measured [15].

Studies standardized their chamomile products differently. One trial used an extract standardized to 1.2% apigenin [10], another a 500 mg extract with 6 mg of apigenin-7-glycosides per capsule [11], and the insomnia pilot reported 3.9 mg of apigenin per 90 mg of its extract [7]. The 2024 review notes that only one study tested the purity or potency of its product [5]. None of the studies cited here compared bedtime with daytime dosing.

A 2025 systematic review of 72 trials and 11 case reports found that, among 2,896 people given chamomile, 65 adverse events were reported across 10 trials [17]. The most common were gastrointestinal complaints and drowsiness, which were self-limiting and not serious [17]. Reporting was incomplete, and 28 trials gave no adverse event data [17]. In the 2024 sleep review, no adverse events were reported, though most trials relied on passive surveillance [5].

Allergy is the reaction sources single out. Six of the 11 case reports in the 2025 review described allergic reactions, three of them anaphylactic [17]. NCCIH lists nausea, dizziness and allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis, as uncommon side effects [20]. Health Canada requires chamomile products to tell users to stop if hypersensitivity or allergy occurs, and to warn about drowsiness when driving or using machinery [24].

NCCIH says chamomile is likely safe in amounts found in teas and foods and possibly safe for short-term medicinal use by mouth [20]. LiverTox, the NIH liver injury database, says chamomile has not been convincingly linked to clinically apparent liver injury and rates it an unlikely cause [26]. It also says chamomile might have some effects like estrogen [20]. In trials, adverse events were similar with chamomile and placebo in the insomnia pilot [7], the 8-week anxiety trial [10] and the 26-week continuation trial [11]. The insomnia pilot and the 26-week trial used products provided by MediHerb and the Swedish Herbal Institute [7][11].

We found no human safety data for isolated apigenin supplements. In a food study, 18 healthy volunteers ate 5 g of dried parsley a day (84 mg of apigenin) for 7 days, with no significant effect on platelet aggregation or other clotting measures [15]. In the 2-week combination trial funded by Momentous LLC, the only possibly product-related adverse events, in 2 people, were in the morning-blend group, which did not take apigenin [19]. A review of apigenin pharmacokinetics says its drug interactions need more research [1].

Warfarin is a blood thinner with a narrow safe range. NCCIH reports that interactions between chamomile and warfarin have been reported, as have interactions with some drugs metabolized by the liver [20]. It adds that there are theoretical reasons to suspect interactions with sedatives [20]. NCCIH also says preliminary studies suggest chamomile might reduce the effect of birth control pills [20].

One small trial tested clotting directly. In 12 healthy volunteers not taking anticoagulants, 7 days of chamomile tea (9 bags a day) or chamomile extract capsules did not prolong prothrombin time compared with placebo [16]. The authors note that the bleeding precaution rests largely on one case report, and their result applies to people not taking warfarin [16]. The trial was funded by a university anesthesiology department [16]. In laboratory tests, apigenin inhibited platelet clumping only at concentrations far above those reached in the body [15].

If you take any of these medicines, talk to your doctor or pharmacist before combining them with apigenin or chamomile.