The 8 best herbal teas to reduce stress and promote sleep

Ingredients: Organic passion flower.

Buddha Teas uses pure ingredients, unbleached tea bags, 100% recycled and recyclable cardboard boxes, no artificial flavors, colors, preservatives or GMOs. Its organic passion flower tea is also caffeine-free.

Passion flower is a powerful yet natural sleep aid. Recent studies suggest it has the potential to treat sleep disorders often associated with anxiety, such as insomnia. However, consult a doctor if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, as passionflower may not be suitable for you.

Each box of Buddha Teas comes with 18 tea bags.

• For the best drink: Boil the water, pour over the tea bag and let it steep for 3 to 5 minutes.

Ingredients: Ginger root, natural lemon and ginger flavors, blackberry leaves, sturgeon, lemon peel and lemon grass.

Twinings, a tea company based in London, has been offering tea products for over 300 years. Its quality teas are often moderately priced. Twinings Lemon Ginger Tea is described as delicious, warming and slightly spicy (due to the ginger).

Ginger root has many health benefits for the body. Ginger reduces anxiety – in one study, ginger extract seemed to treat anxiety as effectively as Diazepam. It also serves as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory and can even lower blood sugar in those with diabetes.

A large box comes with 100 tea bags.

• For the best drink: Boil the water, pour over the tea bag and let it boil for 4 minutes.

Ingredients: Organic Passion Flower Extract, Organic Valerian Root Extract, Organic Licorice Root, Organic Chamomile Flower, Organic Peppermint Leaf, Organic Skullcap Leaf, Organic Cardamom Pod, Organic Cinnamon Bark, Organic Rose Hip, Organic Lavender Flower , organic stevia leaves and organic orange flavoring.

The Yogi brand will be the most expensive on this list. Yogi Teas is all wellness-based – meaning its teas are made with your health in mind, using only organic ingredients – and offers products for the cold season, immune support, detoxification and sleep. Each tea is USDA certified organic, non-GMO, vegan, kosher, gluten-free, and free of artificial flavors and sweeteners. His bedtime tea is also caffeine-free.

Best enjoyed an hour before bed, Yogi Bedtime Tea relies on the natural sleep aids of passion flower, sedge root, chamomile, peppermint and cinnamon — cinnamon extract shown to increase melatonin levels.

This pack of four comes with 16 tea bags each for a total of 64 tea bags.

• For the best drink: Boil the water, pour it over the tea bag and let it boil for 7 minutes. Use two tea bags for a stronger cup.

Ingredients: Cut and strained lemon balm.

This large batch of loose leaf lemon balm is natural, organic and caffeine free. The leaves come from the Republic of Serbia and are packaged in the USA. Note that you will need a strainer to brew this tea, as it does not come in individual tea bags.

Lemon balm is very similar to mint leaves, but with a lemony smell and aroma. In addition to stress and anxiety, it is often used to relieve depression and sleep conditions. Lemon balm helps with depression and mood by increasing levels of GABA-T, the body’s calming neurotransmitter.

Plus, this is the best bang for your buck: One package is one pound of lemon balsa leaves. One packet can yield about 100 plus cups of tea, depending on how many teaspoons of herb you add to a cup of water.

For the best drink: Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of dried herbs to a sieve. Bring the water to a boil and add the strainer to the cup. Let it boil for 3 to 5 minutes.

Ingredients: Chamomile flowers.

Bigelow, like Twining and Tazo, is a big brand and has been making tea for over 75 years. Bigelow offers teas that are gluten-free, non-GMO, kosher, and packaged in the USA. Comforting Chamomile Tea is also naturally caffeine-free.

Not only is this tea known for its soothing properties, but chamomile also supports a healthy digestive system. It is an anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and research suggests it may help the systems of diarrhea, nausea, and stomach ulcers.

This tea comes in a pack of six and each pack contains 20 tea bags.

For the best drink: Boil a cup of water, pour over the tea bag and let it steep for 4 minutes.

Ingredients: Organic Chamomile Flower, Organic Peppermint Leaf, Organic Licorice Root, Organic Lavender Flower, Organic Ashwagandha Root and Organic Hemp Seed Oil Granules.

Pukka is a popular sustainable tea brand that specializes in organic blends. The box is made with plant-based inks and sustainably sourced recyclable cardboard. Its envelopes and tea strings are also recyclable. Each compostable tea bag is made with USDA certified organic and ethically sourced ingredients. They are also non-GMO, vegan and kosher.

Pukka’s Peace Tea is a blend of organic chamomile, lavender, peppermint, licorice root, hemp seed oil and ashwagandha. Chamomile, peppermint, lavender and ashwagandha, in particular, are used to promote sleep and relaxation. However, this brand is the most expensive on the list. This set of three comes with 20 tea bags in each box for a total of 50 tea bags.

For the best drink: Boil water, pour water over the tea bag and let it steep for 5 to 15 minutes.

Ingredients: Organic Rose, Organic Hibiscus Flower, Organic Chamomile Flower, Organic Lavender Flower, Organic Licorice Root, Organic Ginger Root, Organic Echinacea Leaf and Root, Organic Blackcurrant Fruit, Organic Elderberry, Organic Cranberry Flavor, Organic Sage Root and Flavor organic black grapes.

Similar to Yogi’s Bedtime Tea, Pukka also offers a tea blend that is supposed to brew overnight. Night Time Berry Tea combines elderberry, blackcurrant, echinacea, chamomile, lavender and sedge root. Elderberry, blackcurrant and echinacea support your immune system, especially during the cold season, and chamomile, lavender and valerian root help induce sleep before bed. This tea has a stronger flavor than Yogi Bedtime and is for those who especially enjoy berry flavors.

However, this brand is the most expensive on the list. This set of three comes with 20 tea bags in each box for a total of 50 tea bags.

For the best drink: Boil water, pour water over the tea bag and let it steep for 5 to 15 minutes.