Good day to you! Today in the spotlight is a plant that can help you sleep: Purple Passionflower.
The botanical name for this plant is Passiflora Incarnata.
While the whole plant is edible, the aerial parts of passionflower (the leaves, stems, and flowers) are where the medicinal properties are most highly concentrated. Passionflower is primary good for calming the mind and easing anxiety, which makes it a widely recognized natural way to improve sleep quality and promote relaxation. How it does this is by increasing levels of gamma-aminobutyric acid in the brain, which lowers central nervous system activity to help you feel drowsy. If you're looking to get your nervous system aligned and are looking for some outside assistance, passionflower is a plant to keep in mind.
An interesting thing: The popular and delicious passion fruit comes from a species of passionflower! There are apparently many species of passionflower out there, so all I'll say is it comes from *A* species. But you'll see lots of drinks and teas in stores with passion fruit in them.
Have a magical day,
Jenny
PLANT INGESTION WARNING!
As with all herbs and plants you plan to ingest, never ingest them before doing your own research and/or talking with your doctor - it’s possible that medications you take or health conditions you have could have a negative effect if paired with purple passionflower. Better safe than sorry!
Photo credit goes to Maracock.de
