Tuesday Nov 2016 (foodconsumer.org) -- Postpartum women may lose quality sleep and even suffer depression.  Chamomile tea is commonly used as a folk remedy to treat the conditions because of its sedative-hypnotic effect.

A study released in JAN confirms that drinking Chamomile tea improves sleep quality and depression in postnatal women.

For the study, 80 postnatal women with poor sleep quality were assigned to drink chamomile tea or a placebo for two weeks and then assessed for their sleep quality, depression and fatigue.

The study shows that women drinking chamomile tea had lower scores of sleep inefficiency and the symptoms of depression.  But the benefits disappeared four weeks after the end of the trial.

Authors conclude that "Chamomile tea may be recommended to postpartum women as a supplementary approach to alleviating depression and sleep quality problems." (David Liu)

Shao-Min Chang and Chung-Hey Chen, Effects of an intervention with drinking chamomile tea on sleep quality and depression in sleep disturbed postnatal women: a randomized controlled trial, JAN, first published: 20 October 2015

Photo credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kamomillasaunio_(Matricaria_recutita).JPG