Can Supplements Optimize Your Sleep Quality?
Sleep is crucial to good health yet insufficient sleep is a common issue today. At least 33% of US adults sleep less than the recommended 7-9 hours per night (Chaput JP, 2022).
Certain supplements can enhance sleep quality. In cases where someone has sleep issues, they can be a lifesaver. But even if you think you sleep well, adding a few well-chosen supplements can optimize your sleep quality even more.
In this blog you will learn:
- Why it is crucial to optimize your sleep
- Which are the best supplements for improving sleep
Why is it Important to Optimize your Sleep?
Getting optimal sleep makes you feel less tired and have more energy in day-to-day life. Optimal sleep is critically important for overall health. Did you know that the risk of serious or chronic disease is higher in people who do not sleep well? Over time too little sleep can lead to cardiovascular problems, metabolic issues, immune dysfunction, cancer and other chronic diseases.
- Poor sleep can lead to difficulty controlling appetite and obesity. Being overweight or obese increases the risk of sleep disorders and poor metabolic health (Lee JH, 2022).
- Too short sleep duration of less than 5-6 h per day is linked to a 38% increase in obesity compared with normal sleep duration in adults (Chaput JP, 2022).
- Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and high cholesterol are metabolic issues linked to insufficient sleep and/or circadian misalignment (Chaput JP, 2022).
- Sleep duration is associated with BMI (body mass index). People with the highest BMI slept less than 6 hours per day, which is not enough (Larsen SC, 2020). The lowest BMI was seen in people sleeping the recommended 8–9 hours/ day (Larsen SC, 2020).
- People with irregular or inconsistent sleep patterns have a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes (Kianersi S, 2024).
- Older adults with poor sleep quality were 60% more likely to develop cancer than people with good sleep quality, irrespective of a family history of cancer (Song C, 2021).
- People in their 50’s, 60’s and 70s who sleep too little (6 hours or less per night) are at 30% increased risk of dementia/ Alzheimer’s (Sabia S, 2021). People who have normal sleep duration (7-9 hours per night) do not have this risk (Sabia S, 2021).
Which Supplements can Help Optimize Sleep?
Given the huge importance of sleep on overall health, let’s look at the supplements that can help improve sleep.
Melatonin
Melatonin is the sleep hormone that regulates the circadian rhythm and sleep wake cycle. We wrote about melatonin and the circadian rhythm here. Melatonin increases as darkness sets in, to signal to the body it is time to sleep. Melatonin is produced by the pineal gland from the amino acid tryptophan (Minich DM, 2022). Tryptophan is transformed into serotonin, which is further transformed into melatonin. Getting tryptophan in the diet, especially in the evening, can help sleep. We talk more about this in our blog on the best diet for sleep here.
Should you Supplement Melatonin?
Melatonin has a significant positive effect on sleep quality (Fatemeh G, 2022). It naturally reinforces the signal that induces sleep. Taking melatonin before bed decreases sleep latency, or time to fall asleep, by 3 minutes, and increases total sleep time by 30 minutes (Fatemeh G, 2022). In people with sleep disorders, melatonin significantly reduced sleep disturbances and sleep latency while increasing sleep duration and quality (Fatemeh G, 2022).
Melatonin helps with jet lag when the circadian rhythm is out of sync with the new time zone. In people who traveled through 5 or more time zones, melatonin was effective at reducing the effects of jet lag (Poza JJ, 2022). Melatonin also helps shift workers who have jet lag-type symptoms due to working nights.
Melatonin has other health benefits. It is a strong antioxidant and mitochondrial regulator with immune-modulating and anti-inflammatory properties.
Dosing Melatonin
Start with a low dose of 0.5–1 mg 30 minutes before going to bed. If that doesn’t seem to help, try increasing the dose incrementally to maximum 3–5 mg. Taking melatonin in excess of 5 mg is unlikely to help you fall asleep faster. The goal is to find the lowest dose that helps you sleep. Prolonged-release melatonin supplements are better as they replicate the natural melatonin secretion pattern (Poza JJ, 2022).
Melatonin can have side effects, such as daytime sleepiness or nausea. This is especially true if too much is taken too late at night. It can also interact with medications so see a functional medicine practitioner to be clear on safely taking melatonin.
Magnesium
Magnesium (Mg) is a mineral with many functions in the body. Mg helps muscles relax, improves general relaxation, maintains normal nerve and muscle function and promotes sleep. It inhibits the neurotransmitter N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor, which promotes muscle relaxation (Arab A, 2023). Magnesium regulates the circadian clocks in cells (Feeney KA, 2016).
Mg also promotes melatonin production (Arab A, 2023). People low in magnesium tend to have low melatonin, which is needed for sleep. Mg decreases cortisol, the stress hormone involved in the fight or flight response. High cortisol encourages feeling awake and alert. Lowering cortisol boosts calmness and helps improve sleep. Mg also regulates GABA, a neurotransmitter in the brain. GABA calms the nervous system by stopping certain signals from transmitting. Magnesium helps to regulate GABA, promote calmness and sleep (Arab A, 2023). Magnesium in the glycinate form is best, 30 minutes before bed.
GABA
GABA is a neurotransmitter or chemical messenger in the brain. It reduces a nerve cell’s ability to receive, create or send chemical messages to other nerve cells. This slows down the brain by blocking specific signals in the central nervous system. GABA has a calming effect and helps control nerve cell hyperactivity associated with anxiety, stress and fear.
By helping the central nervous system to slow down, GABA increases relaxation and sleepiness. People with difficulty falling asleep often have lower GABA levels, in some cases by up to 30% (Byun JI, 2018). GABA (in the form of Pharma GABA) helps to fall asleep faster and have better quality sleep, after supplementing for 1 week (Byun JI, 2018).
100 milligrams of GABA help calm the nervous system, promote deeper relaxation and reduce chances of waking up in the night. Take 100 – 200 milligrams of GABA approximately 30 minutes to an hour before bed. It is ok to take every night, to improve sleep quality.
5HTP
The body makes 5HTP from tryptophan. It is a precursor to serotonin, a neurotransmitter involved in mood, anxiety and sleep. Serotonin regulates mood and helps to feel calm, emotionally stable and happy. 5HTP is also a precursor to melatonin, the sleep hormone that regulates the sleep wake cycle and promotes sleep. Supplementing with 5HTP improves sleep quality and increases serotonin levels.
In one study, after taking 5HTP for 12 weeks, people who were poor sleepers had significantly improved sleep quality (Sutanto CN, 2024). In another study, people who took 5HTP fell asleep quicker and slept more deeply than those who took a placebo (Sutanto CN, 2024). It can take 6 to 12 weeks to be fully effective (Sutanto CN, 2024).
Glycine
Glycine is a non-essential amino acid and a neurotransmitter. It has an inhibitory function and a calming effect on the brain. It can help to fall and stay asleep by lowering core body temperature, which is important for sleep. Glycine synchronizes circadian rhythms and influences phase resetting of the circadian clock (Kawai N, 2015). This helps to promote sleep.
Glycine improves subjective sleep quality and sleep efficacy (sleep time in bed). It shortens time to sleep onset and to slow wave sleep (Yamadera W, 2016). Glycine can lessen daytime sleepiness and improve cognitive performance (Yamadera W, 2016).
A low dose of glycine is 3 grams before bedtime. This can subjectively improve sleep quality and reduce daytime sleepiness in people with insomnia and short sleep times (Soh J, 2023). This dose shortens time to slow-wave sleep.
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CBD
CBD has become popular as a sleep aid. Unlike THC, CBD does not produce a “high” and is used to manage symptoms such as anxiety, pain and sleep disturbances.
Clear evidence is still lacking on CBD for sleep and the existing research on CBD is conflicting (Sideris A, 2024). Some people might benefit from CBD use (Sideris A, 2024):
- CBD has no effect on sleep quality and quantity in people with a healthy sleep pattern.
- Given its calming effect on the nervous system, CBD can reduce anxiety and promote relaxation which can improve sleep in people with anxiety.
- CBD increases sleeping time in people with insomnia.
- It improves REM sleep in Parkinson’s disease patients.
- Some reports show that CBD can increase wakefulness during sleep in young adults and even decreased REM sleep in rats (Schouten M, 2024).
Despite its popularity for sleep, it is not known precisely how CBD affects the architecture and memory functions of sleep in the brain (Samanta A, 2023).
One recent study in humans shows CBD positively lengthens non-REM sleep (Samanta A, 2023). This study also showed CBD changes the sleep architecture or basic pattern of sleep (Samanta A, 2023). This can negatively affect cumulative memory performance but leave simple memory intact. Sleep is critical for the consolidation of both simple and more complex memories. CBD may disrupt activity in the hippocampus of the brain which may affect the consolidation of memories during sleep (Samanta A, 2023). This means that CBD may negatively impact memory consolidation.
Forms of Cannabis
There are different types of cannabis. The best known is the psychotropic THC. Cannabidiol or CBD is the most common non-intoxicating cannabinoid. There are also cannabichromene (CBC) and cannabinol (CBN) which have therapeutic effects.
Research is looking at the different forms. In sleep studies, there are no significant differences in effect between CBD isolate and formulations containing CBD and cannabinol (CBN), alone or in combination with cannabichromene (CBC) (Saleska JL, 2024). However, a different study states that individual cannabinoids appear to have different effects on cognition and sleep (Miranda A, 2024). For example, THC alone decreased cognitive performance and increased daytime sleepiness, whereas CBD alone had no effect on sleep or cognition (Miranda A, 2024).
Given the lack of solid research and the risk of disrupting memory consolidation during sleep, try other sleep supplements before trying CBD.
L-Theanine
Theanine is an amino acid. It can help to relieve stress, promote relaxation, improve mood and cognition and maintain normal sleep (Baba Y, 2021). In one study, people had decreased sleep latency, sleep disturbance and used less sleep medication after using L-theanine, compared to placebo (Hidese S, 2019).
Supplementing 200 mg/day of L-theanine over 4 weeks can decrease depression and anxiety and improve sleep quality (Hidese S, 2019).
Lavender
Lavender is an herb that has sedative and sleep-promoting properties. It interacts with neurotransmitter systems in the brain. Through its interaction with GABA receptors, it modulates GABA signaling in the brain and has a hypnotic and anxiety-reducing effect. Active components of lavender promote calmness, reduce sleep latency and increase sleep quality (Bruni O, 2021).
Herbal Formulas
Herbs are used to decrease anxiety and insomnia. Different formulas or blends exist that combine sleep supplements. Herbal blends can decrease time to fall asleep, increase sleep duration and increase subjective and objective measures of sleep quality (Bruni O, 2021). There are various mechanisms of action. For example, ginseng, Ginkgo biloba and St John’s Wort influence neurotransmitters, such as norepinephrine, dopamine and serotonin (Bruni O, 2021). Jujube seeds and Valerian interact with serotonin receptors (Bruni O, 2021). Other herbs interact with or modulate GABA and serotonin receptors. Herbal formulas or blends are safe to experiment with, especially when compared with pharmaceutical meds for insomnia (Bruni O, 2021).
Probiotics
Good sleep quality and duration are important for a healthy gut microbiome. At the same time, a healthy gut supports good sleep (Matenchuk BA, 2020). Probiotics can improve subjective sleep quality (Santi D, 2023).
Some pro-, pre- and postbiotics, especially Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria strains, improve sleep and decrease stress (Haarhuis JE, 2022). They can improve sleep latency, sleep length, sleep quality and help manage stress and cortisol levels (Haarhuis JE, 2022).
- In people with chronic insomnia, L. plantarum PS128 can reduce waking up during REM sleep, compared with a placebo (Haarhuis JE, 2022).
- In a study in adults with depression or anxiety, Limosilactobacillus reuteri NK33 and Bifidobacterium adolescentis NK98 improved sleep after 8 weeks, compared with placebo.
- In a study in highly stressed IT workers, taking L. plantarum PS128 daily reduced both stress and insomnia symptoms after 8 weeks (Haarhuis JE, 2022).
- L. bacillus helps sleep quality. Taking L. bacillus improves self-reported sleep quality by 69%, energy levels by 31% and bowel movements by 37% (Bongiovanni T, 2023).
- A multi-strain Lactobacillus probiotic modulates sleep quality, exercise recovery and gut microbiome composition in both the general population and elite athletes (Bongiovanni T, 2023).
Taking a high-quality, high strength, multi strain probiotic is recommended for everyone for good gut health. Focusing on the strains Lactobacilli and Bifidobacterium gives the additional benefit of improving sleep.
As with any supplement, it is important to check how these sleep-supportive supplements may interact with any medications you are taking. For more individual advice on your sleep quality, medications and supplemental sleep support, get in touch with our clinic today.
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SUMMARY
- Optimizing sleep is critical for good health. People who do not sleep well are more likely to be obese, get type 2 diabetes, dementia, cancer and other serious chronic diseases. Adequate sleep per night is 7-9 hours yet 33% of Americans do not achieve this.
- There are numerous natural supplements that support good sleep. If you do not sleep adequately and deeply, talk to a functional medicine practitioner about improving sleep through supplementation or other means.
- Melatonin is the sleep hormone that regulates circadian rhythms and the sleep wake cycle. It positively affects sleep quality and helps with insomnia.
- Magnesium is a mineral. It helps muscles relax, improves general relaxation, regulates circadian clocks in cells and improves sleep.
- GABA calms the central nervous system, increases relaxation and sleepiness. It helps to fall asleep faster and have better quality sleep.
- 5HTP is a precursor to serotonin and melatonin. 5HTP significantly improves sleep quality and time to fall asleep.
- Glycine has a calming effect on the brain. It improves sleep quality and sleep efficacy (sleep time/in-bed time) and reduces daytime sleepiness.
- Research on CBD is conflicting. It can help some people with anxiety, sleep disorders and promote relaxation and sleep. But it may disrupt memory consolidation that occurs during sleep. Try other sleep supplements before resorting to CBD.
- L-theanine can help to relieve stress, promote relaxation, improve mood and cognition and maintain normal sleep.
- Lavender is an herb with sedative and sleep-promoting properties that can reduce sleep latency and increase sleep quality.
- Herbal blends can decrease time to fall asleep, increase sleep duration and improve sleep quality.
- Probiotics have sleep-improving and stress-reducing effects. They can improve sleep latency, sleep length, sleep quality and reduce stress and cortisol levels
As always, please get in touch with us. If you or someone you know is struggling with sleep issues, contact our clinic today. We can work on any issue(s) and improve your health. Book a free health evaluation call with us today. We can answer your questions and book an initial consult with a functional medicine doctor in our clinic.
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