Lemon Balm is one of the easiest plants you’ll ever grow with a bonus of the awesome lemony smell. It’s the Balm! (Yeah, that was a bad one I know, but I couldn’t resist).
The plant itself and the essential oil have many uses and all of them are enjoyable.
Lemon balm tea has a soothing, mild taste that I love. Because of this, I add lemon balm to a lot of my tea blends. Don’t miss my article on making your own homemade herbal teas here.
Another good way to enjoy the taste of lemon balm is to crush the leaves up, which releases the essential oils, then add them to your ice water. This gives the water an ever so slight lemon flavor that’s really good, plus you get the benefits of the herb too.
A little Lemon Balm history.
This herb dates back to the ancient Romans and Greeks, with one of its first recorded uses being a wine infused liniment.
The Swiss physician and alchemist Paracelsus (1493-1541) believed that Lemon Balm was the “Elixir of Life” and that it would increase strength and lengthen life.
The botanical name for Lemon Balm is Melissa Officinalis.
The word Melissa comes from the Greek word for honeybee. Lemon balm was given this name because bees love this plant.
“Melissai” was the name for a group of nymphs in ancient times, known as the nymphs of honey bees. They were credited with the discovery and use of honey and were believed to be able to morph into bees.
Lemon balm was traditionally used to uplift the spirits and used in spells to heal broken hearts and attract romantic love. It was said to balance feelings and emotions.
Ancient texts recount folk medicine practices using lemon balm tea as a support for heart health, and to promote healthy skin. It was common practice to use lemon balm externally or internally for it’s relaxing effects.
Today, many of its uses are the same.
Just running your hands through the plant and inhaling that scent will make any day more relaxing.
If you’re just looking at it, it looks like any mint plant. But run your hand through it and you’ll know the difference immediately.
Some of Lemon Balm’s relaxing qualities.
Once known as an herbal cure all, Lemon Balm supports the body in several different ways.
It’s most known for it’s relaxing properties. It’s used to help reduce stress, anxiety and depression because of its uplifting, yet calming tendencies.
It’ll help reduce anxiety and promote sleep when insomnia is an issue.
Of course, this virtue is also going to help the support the body in reducing all the effects of anxiety and stress like headaches and nervous stomach issues.
The vasodilating properties, properties that allow the relaxing of blood vessels, allows for good blood flow. Another reason it’s good for headaches and migraines. Constricted blood vessels are usually the root cause for throbbing headaches.
Some of Lemon Balm’s “anti” properties.
Lemon Balm has a lot of “anti” properties.
It’s known as a mild anti-spasmodic helping to reduce muscle spasms. This includes things like leg or stomach muscles as well as bronchial tubes where asthma is an issue.
It’s anti-viral properties are good for helping to heal or prevent cold sores, among other things. And it’s considered an anti-oxidant, helping to prevent free-radicals from floating around in your body.
Now, this isn’t to say that Lemon Balm is going to cure any of these issues. But what it does say is that it may lessen the affect of these issues in duration and intensity.
A few unusual uses I ran across.
One thing I found, that I HAVE to try is making jelly. I’m not sure why, but this is something I wouldn’t have thought of.
It sounds awesome. And after trying dandelion jelly, this is something I have to try. I also read you could use it as a substitute for lemon in jams and jellies. This would be for the flavor only as there is no citrus acid in Lemon Balm. I haven’t done this either, but I’m sure I will now.
It was used to polish furniture in Europe. I’m sure this was a long time ago. But, can you just imagine how good your house would smell? Not sure how they did that, but it might be worth a try just because it would smell so good. I can see making a tea from it and using it as an ingredient in a cleaner or freshener.
It was also tossed on the floors, in the old days, to help freshen rooms. Can’t say I blame them. I’m guessing you needed a lot of smell good to cover all the other everyday odors of yesteryear.
Pollination is another thing lemon balm is good for.
We read earlier how bees are really attracted to it. So plant it near where you need lots of pollinators, like a veggie garden or a flower garden.
BUT BEWARE–It is part of the mint family, so make sure you plant it in a container. As great as it is, it literally grows like a weed. So unless you have plenty of space for this plant to grow, you’ll want to contain it or it’ll take over everything.
I hope you found something useful and enjoyable here. Let me know if you’ve used lemon balm before. If you have, how did you use it? What did you think? Did you like it?
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Thanks for stopping by.
Until next time –
Health, Wealth & Blessings ~ Tracey
Disclaimer
The article above is written using my research and how I’ve seen this herb work for me. It is for informational purposes only.
As I said above, every person is different. So just like anything else, herbs will react differently from person to person. What works for one, will not necessarily work for another, or it will work to different degrees. So don’t relay just on what one person says. Try each herb in small amounts and give it time to work or give your body time to react. Make sure it’s doing what you want it to do. Also remember that herbs are not like modern medicine. It’s not an instant result. Some times it just takes time and for other herbs it takes several doses (or several cups of tea) before you will notice anything.
If you have any medical conditions, always check with your doctor before using herbs as a medicine.
Drinking herbal tea for the enjoyment of it, is generally no big deal, unless you have an allergy. But if you are attempting to get some kind of bodily reaction from it, you should do your own research. The FDA hasn’t approved any of these statements regarding the use of herbs as medicine. So it’s up to you as to how and when you use an herb(s) for a specific purpose.