Benefits
Stress and Emotional Calm
Lemon balm is traditionally used to ease nervous tension and promote a sense of calm. In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 100 healthy adults took Relissa™ 200 mg twice daily for three weeks and reported lower stress and better mood and affect scores than the placebo group. These were self-reported questionnaires, not physical measurements, and this is the only trial of the branded product.
Mild Anxiousness Support
Melissa officinalis may help soothe everyday feelings of anxiousness and support a relaxed mood. Anxiety scores improved versus placebo in the one three-week trial, in 100 healthy adults who were not being treated for an anxiety disorder. Ideas about GABA and antioxidants are proposed explanations from laboratory work that this trial did not test.
Sleep: Screened For, Not Measured
The one Relissa™ trial enrolled people who scored poorly on a sleep questionnaire, but that score was only used to decide who could take part. Sleep was not one of the measured outcomes and no sleep result was reported, so this trial does not show that Relissa™ improves sleep. The study authors still mention poor sleep in their conclusion, but there is no sleep finding behind it. Any sleep expectation for lemon balm rests on traditional use, not on this research.
Absorption Claim (Manufacturer's Rationale)
The phospholipid (phytosome-style) carrier is the maker's reason for offering this branded form instead of plain lemon balm. No absorption or blood-level study of Relissa™ is cited on this page, and the trial did not compare it against ordinary lemon balm, so better absorption is a claim rather than a demonstrated result.
Mental Wellbeing and Quality of Life
Self-reported mental wellbeing and quality of life questionnaires improved more than placebo in the same three-week trial of 100 healthy adults. These are subjective scores gathered over a short period and have not been confirmed in a second trial.
Mechanism of action
GABA System Modulation
Lemon balm constituents, including rosmarinic acid, have been reported in laboratory work to slow the breakdown of GABA, a calming brain chemical. This is a proposed explanation only. It was not measured in the human trial, and it does not show any effect on sleep.
Antioxidant Rosmarinic Acid Activity
Rosmarinic acid and related polyphenols show antioxidant activity in laboratory tests and have been proposed to influence stress-related brain chemistry. This is background theory rather than something the human trial measured.
Phospholipid Delivery for Absorption
Combining the extract with phospholipids makes it more fat-soluble, which the maker expects will improve absorption in the gut compared with standard extracts. No published absorption study for this product is cited here, so treat this as the manufacturer's reasoning.
Clinical trials
Prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group trial in 100 healthy adults with emotional distress who also scored poorly on a sleep questionnaire, testing Relissa™ at 200 mg twice daily (400 mg/day) for three weeks. Every outcome was a self-reported questionnaire (DASS-42, WEMWBS, PANAS and WHO-QoL-BREF); no sleep questionnaire was among the outcomes.
100 healthy adults. A poor sleep score (PSQI above 5) was one of the requirements for joining, not something the study tracked.
Compared with placebo, the formulation improved self-reported depressive mood, anxiety, stress, positive and negative affect, mental wellbeing and quality of life, all at p < 0.001, and it was well tolerated with no serious adverse events. Sleep was not measured, so this trial supports the stress and mood claims and says nothing about sleep.
An older open-label report on a plain lemon balm extract, not on Relissa™. No reference for it is listed on this page, so readers cannot check it, and everyone taking part knew they were getting the herb.
Adults reporting anxiety and sleep complaints; the number of participants is not reported on this page.
Participants said they felt less anxious and slept better, but with no placebo group, no blinding and no citation given here, those reports could just as easily reflect expectation or normal ups and downs. This is general background about lemon balm and is not evidence for Relissa™ or for a sleep benefit.