Camomile Tea

Camomile is a daisy-like plant belonging to the Compositae family. Camomile is commonly decocted into water to create a tea that has relaxing properties. Camomile contains a complex mixture of chemicals including the flavonoids, sesqiterpenes, terpenoids, phenylpropanoids and coumarins. Although not fully characterised, it is known that certain chemicals within camomile bind to GABA receptors in the brain. These receptors decrease the excitatory neuronal pathways in the brain, and this explains the calmative effect reported following consumption of camomile.