Q. I bought a bottle of herbal sleep medicine. The reviews say this product does help people sleep.
I wonder, though, if these pills are safe to take and not habit forming? The three main ingredients are fresh flowering California poppy, valerian root and passionflower. Isn’t poppy the plant that opium and other narcotics are made from?
A. Although California poppies are in the same family as the opium poppy, the plant contains a different set of chemicals. The California poppy has a reputation as a mild sedative. Probably most of the power of this herbal sleep medicine is from the valerian root, which has been shown to help people get to sleep faster.
Passionflower also has a strong reputation as a sleep aid. If you are looking for natural ways to get the sleep you need, consider our Guide to Getting a Good Night’s Sleep. In it, we discuss the pros and cons of many sleeping pills, and we also offer a variety of natural tactics. None of the natural approaches are habit forming, but some of the medications lead to rebound insomnia if they are stopped suddenly.
