What do the states mean?+
- Solid: well studied, and it works.
- Half-there: the science is still forming.
- A ghost: almost no real studies.
- Hollow: well studied, and it does not work.
- A cord: the pair itself has been tested together.
- Air: nobody has ever tested this pair.
The full scoring method: How we score
Valerian benefits: where the science stands
For sleep: not settled yet.
Sleep is what most people take valerian root for, and the best studies disagree: one found it helps, one found no effect. As of August 2026, the verdict on this page rests on evidence from 4 trials, drawn from the strongest research among the 26 papers on PubMed that mention valerian root. Every claim is checked below.
26 papers on PubMed · evidence from 4 trials
Claim by claim
- SleepThe science is still forming. The best studies disagree.
Pairs people ask about
The two sources we read
- 2005Randomized trial · 391 people · no clear effect on sleepsource
- 2024Randomized trial · 80 people · moderate benefit for sleepsource
Chosen as the strongest evidence out of 26 papers on PubMed. Every row links to its paper.
Fair questions
Does valerian root work?+
For sleep, it is not settled. The best studies disagree.
Is valerian root safe?+
No caution is recorded on this page. That is not a safety guarantee; the studies we read were not safety trials.
Why only 2 sources, when PubMed lists 26?+
The 26 is every paper that mentions valerian root in any way: animal studies, blood measurements, papers where it is a side note. The strongest sources are combined reviews, and each one already gathers every trial its authors could find. Our 2 cover 4 trials between them, and every one is linked above. Both counts are measured, not estimated.