I've been using Lemon Balm tea for over a month now. I started it on a suggestion from a friend who uses it for its calming qualities.

But what really turned out to be the most useful for me, was it calmed by GI cramping issues that I have had all my life.

So I looked it up more thoroughly... It has been used for hundreds of years for colic. And to help with viral illnesses.

I skipped one day by mistake, and my cramping returned!

I am now convinced it is calming my GI issues which I have from HAE and my congenital malrotation.

This is how I take it: in tea form. One large mug about 10oz...of hot water, steeped from 5-10 minutes with a little honey added for flavor. It is fairly pleasant and not offensive in any way. It is not lemon flavored, only a bit lemony in a vague sense.

This is the brand I am using. I found it at Whole Foods and a local grocery too. Less $$ than Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Traditional-Me...Lemon+balm+tea

I have one mug of this in the morning. I tried 2 a day and that made me too tired. This does not have caffeine and so therefore it can make one drowsy. It took about a week to start working on the GI pain and cramping. But the calming aspects were immediate.

For those here with IBS type symptoms, you might find it works to quell them for you, as it is doing for me. Sometimes it seems to be like a mild diuretic for me too...but not always.

Lemon balm tea is not the same as Lemon teas. So be careful about what you buy. This one I am using is only lemon balm with no other ingredients.

I've sent for some seeds of this herb to try this spring to grow my own, but they haven't arrived yet. Lemon balm is easy to grow as I recall and can take over in the garden quickly.

Thank you for this, Mrs.D. The brand you use is excellent and we have a cupboard full of their teas, and funny enough my wife swears by the lemon balm. I haven't tried it myself, but will check it out. I use all sorts of tea with and after meals to calm things down. Most recently fennel and peppermint have been very helpful. I'll give this one a try tonight.

MrsD., do you know anything about the VDR issue that Ragtop mentions? Thanks in advance.

Sorry, no I don't. But I did find this:

http://resqua.com/702188759/what-is-...a-vdr-taq-gene

It explains it pretty well.

There's also this: http://ihateticks.me/2014/08/25/vdr-...ey-do-and-how/

At the end it links to a study on the subject, but it's behind a paywall. It seems from the little out there that I've now read that we just don't know enough about what the three mutations or polymorphisms mean. Does that sound right? I'm not an expert on this stuff, not even close. Perhaps Kiwi can say a thing or two. Here is the article we can't access btw: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...78111904003075

DavidHC, annoyingly the article that you linked is behind a paywall for me as well - my host institution does not have an e-subscription to Gene.

The Vitamin D Receptor (VDR) is a transcription factor. What that means is that when it binds the active form of Vitamin D (1,25-D) it moves from the cytoplasm to the nucleus where it can potentially switch on the expression of many hundreds of different genes. There is an account of this here; http://mpkb.org/home/pathogenesis/vitamind/metabolism.

This whole field is very complex - switching on or off the expression of a given gene is rarely controlled by a single transcription factor - they work in "teams". Hypothetically, switching on expression of gene A might need VDR as well as transcription factors X and Y but this could be blocked by transcription factor Z.

Many Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNP) in the VDR gene have been identified. The Taq1 SNP, mentioned above, formally Rs731236, has been linked to many health conditions (https://www.snpedia.com/index.php/Rs731236).

As far I can see, to date these are just correlations. More work will be needed before we understand the mechanisms which are involved and then figure out how to intervene in a clinically helpful way.

David:
As you can see from the replies here, the whole genetic aspect of diseases is very complex and frustrating to understand. I had the genetic testing done by 23andme - it costs about $100. You can then run the raw data through various sites to get information on the mutations. The genes related to methylation seem to be of some significance in relation to neurological and digestive issues.
In my case I am +/+ for the VDR taq gene and +/- for the two of the three COMT genes. (I also have a +/+ mutation on the A1298C MTHFR gene) So, I do take supplements and eat foods that contain a lot of methyl donors. Seems to help, but its no magic bullet.
The problem is that there are so many variables, positive and inverse interactions between genes, things that "switch" genes on or off, etc., etc. When I look at all the diseases that are associated with the various mutations I have - I wonder how I even made it the age of 53...........

Mrs.D, we had some lemon balm tea last night after dinner, and it was very soothing and nice. I wasn't surprised to find out that it's part of the mint family. Peppermint is very soothing and wonderful for the digestive system.

No kidding. Complex indeed. Thanks, I appreciate your help with all this. And we're only just learning about all of it. Though I work in the sciences at a research level, my field is not biology, certainly not cellular biology or genetics, so I'm new to all this. I'm reading and absorbing as much information as I can, but it'll take some time to get to an advanced level, or even basic competence

Thanks, Ragtop.

This, very much this!

"The problem is that there are so many variables, positive and inverse interactions between genes, things that "switch" genes on or off, etc., etc. When I look at all the diseases that are associated with the various mutations I have - I wonder how I even made it the age of 53."

It's fascinating but so complex, in great part due to the fact that we know so little about the complex interactions/operations at that level.

You know, I was avoiding it, but I may actually go ahead and get the test done. At the same time, I think well I've survived so far, and considering it could be much worse. In fact, if I took better care of myself, I don't think anything genetic would have done me in. The genetics of my family is very good, so clearly I screwed with something on the way...