The Best Supplements for Better Sleep - Ask a Nutritionist

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Transcript

Amy: Welcome to “Ask a Nutritionist”, our weekly mini episode of Dishing Up Nutrition. I'm Amy Crum, a Registered Dietitian with Nutritional Weight & Wellness, and today we're talking about one of the most common questions I hear from clients. What supplements can I take to help me sleep? Maybe you fall asleep just fine, but wake up at two o'clock or three o'clock in the morning and can't get back to sleep.

Maybe your brain won't shut off at bedtime, or maybe you've tried every sleep trick without much success. As a dietitian, I talk about sleep with each of my clients because it affects all aspects of your health, and it's so common to have sleep troubles.

When our clients are able to improve their sleep, it can improve so many parts of their health that they have been struggling with. It's amazing the things that I've seen improvements in sleep help with from improving brain fog, immune health, mood, and energy levels, to weight loss.

Everything seems to get better when you're able to get a good night's sleep. The good news is there are several helpful supplement options to improve sleep quality. And during the month of August, our Nutrikey sleep supplements are 15% off, including our NutriKey Magnesiums, 5-HTP, and L-Theanine.

Shop Sleep Supplements 

I'll be going over those options and more. But the best supplement for your needs depends on why you're not sleeping in the first place. And as always, supplements work best when they're part of a healthy sleep routine, not a replacement for good sleep habits. And if you're taking medications or have a medical condition, be sure to discuss new supplements with your dietitian or healthcare provider.

Sleep supplements to support natural sleep chemistry 

Now let's dive in. When it comes to sleep supplements, we want to support the body's natural sleep chemistry. The nutrients with the strongest evidence to improve sleep include magnesium, L-theanine, 5-HTP, melatonin, vitamin D when deficient, and iron if you're deficient.

Magnesium Glycinate 

Let's start with Magnesium Glycinate because it's our go-to foundational supplement for sleep support. When a client comes into my office with sleep troubles, magnesium is usually my first go-to in their diet and supplement plan. Magnesium is involved in more than three hundred enzymatic reactions throughout the body.

It helps regulate muscle relaxation, nerve signaling, stress hormones, and neurotransmitters involved in sleep. Most people don't get enough magnesium from their diet alone, and stress can even further deplete magnesium stores. Among all the different forms of magnesium, magnesium glycinate is the preferred choice for sleep.

Here's why. The magnesium itself supports relaxation of muscles and the nervous system. The glycinate portion is bound to the amino acid glycine, which also has a calming effect and may promote deeper sleep. Research has found magnesium supplementation may reduce the time it takes to fall asleep, improve REM sleep, and increase total sleep time.

A typical supplemental dosage of magnesium glycinate ranges from two hundred milligrams to four hundred milligrams in the evening or right before bed. One additional benefit of magnesium glycinate form is that it's gentle on the stomach compared to other forms. So if you've had GI side effects from other types of magnesium, give the glycinate form a try.

It shouldn't have those same side effects. Magnesium glycinate also helps muscles relax, so it's a great option if the reason you're waking up is due to charley horses or restless legs.

Iron deficiency: the restless leg connection

Restless legs are also commonly caused by an iron deficiency. Low iron can also affect neurotransmitters that can make it hard to fall asleep or to stay asleep and can cause restless sleep. I wouldn't supplement with iron unless you know your blood levels are low.

So having your doctor test your iron level, preferably with a hemoglobin and a ferritin blood test, could be a good idea if you aren't finding answers for your sleep issues, and then working with your doctor or dietician on supplementing with iron if those levels do come back low.

L-Theanine 

Next supplement I want to talk about is L-theanine. L-theanine is an amino acid naturally found in green tea. What's interesting is that unlike many sleep aids, it doesn't make you feel sedated or drowsy. Instead, it helps to quiet a busy mind. Research suggests L-theanine increases alpha brainwaves, the same brainwave pattern associated with relaxed wakefulness and meditation.

Many people describe it as taking the edge off an anxious brain. If you have ever laid in bed replaying conversations from earlier in the day or mentally planning tomorrow's schedule, L-theanine might be especially helpful to calm the mind for you. I like to recommend taking both L-theanine and magnesium together.

The two work through different mechanisms. Magnesium helps relax the body, while L-theanine helps relax the mind. That combination can be especially helpful for people who say, "I'm exhausted, but my brain just won't shut off."

5-HTP 

Now let's talk about 5-HTP. 5-HTP stands for five-hydroxytryptophan. It's a naturally occurring compound made from the amino acid tryptophan. Your body converts 5-HTP into serotonin, the neurotransmitter that makes us feel calm and in a good mood. Serotonin then serves as the building block for melatonin, your body's primary sleep hormone.

Because of this pathway, 5-HTP supports both good moods and sleep. So this option is especially beneficial when poor sleep is associated with low mood or chronic stress. However, 5-HTP is inappropriate for someone taking an antidepressant, including SSRIs, SNRIs, MAO inhibitors, or certain migraine medications without medical supervision because the risk of excessive serotonin levels.

So if you're taking a prescription medication that affects serotonin, it's important to talk with your healthcare provider before trying 5-HTP. For otherwise healthy adults, though, it can be a useful option when difficulty sleeping seems tied to stress or low serotonin production.

Vitamin D3 

Another thing to think about is vitamin D3. Vitamin D deficiency is strongly linked to poor sleep. Vitamin D receptors are found throughout the brain, including areas involved in sleep regulation. And research has linked low vitamin D levels with shorter sleep duration, poor sleep quality, more nighttime awakenings, and an increased risk of insomnia. If blood testing shows you're deficient, meaning under thirty nanograms per milliliter, correcting vitamin D levels may improve sleep over time. Ideally, we want to see vitamin D levels above fifty.

Melatonin

Next is melatonin, which is one of the best-known sleep supplements. Let's talk about what melatonin actually does. Melatonin is a hormone your brain naturally produces in response to darkness. Its primary job is to signal that it's nighttime and prepare your body for sleep.

That's why limiting excessive lights and screens in the evening is helpful to encourage your brain's natural melatonin production. Melatonin is especially helpful option to have on hand for jet lag, shift workers, or occasional difficulty falling asleep.

Many people assume that more melatonin works better. Actually, higher doses often increase the likelihood of morning grogginess, vivid dreams, or nightmares without improving sleep quality. For many adults, one to five milligrams is sufficient. If you wake up during the night, melatonin may not help, depending on how much time remains before morning. Taking melatonin at three AM when your alarm goes off at six AM may actually increase that next day sleepiness.

Herbal supplement options for sleep

Another option worth considering is herbal supplements. Sometimes herbal blends like ashwagandha, lemon balm, and chamomile work great for sleep. As an example, we offer a supplement on our Nutrikey site called Night Rest by Source Naturals.

It combines magnesium, GABA, melatonin, and a blend of soothing herbs like lemon balm and chamomile. So it's a combination of the common sleep aids in one supplement, which can work better for some rather than taking several individual supplements.

It's important to remember that it may take some experimenting to find what works best for you, or even in different phases of life, one option might work better for you than the other. So it's worth experimenting with a variety of options and dosages to see what works best for your brain chemistry on any given night.

When you're not getting sleep, it can be tempting to throw everything you can at your body to help it improve, right? But I like just making one to two changes at a time to see what works. And if possible, track what you're taking and doing for sleep along with the quality and quantity of your sleep, so you can see what's working and what's not, and then you can adjust as needed.

Common underlying causes for trouble sleeping to consider addressing 

And if you're consistently waking up every night despite trying everything, it's worth asking why. Some common underlying causes are sleep apnea, chronic stress, anxiety, depression, hormonal changes, including menopause, restless leg syndrome, chronic pain, acid reflux, blood sugar fluctuation, medication side effects, and excessive caffeine or alcohol.

Supplements can work great to support better sleep, but untreated medical conditions still need to be addressed. I discuss sleep with every single one of my clients as a core foundation to good health, but it isn't always a simple fix.

So it's a good idea to work with a dietitian to see if diet or lifestyle could be contributing to your poor sleep. Then we can target your supplement protocol to your individual needs and address other contributing health factors as needed.

We have some great podcasts on sleep if you want to learn more about how diet and lifestyle can improve your sleep quality. I'd start with the Dishing Up Nutrition How to Improve Your Sleep from August of 2025. It has some great information.

Wrap up

So in wrapping up, what are my top supplements for better sleep? If your body feels tense and you struggle to relax, magnesium glycinate is an excellent place to start. If your biggest challenge is a racing mind, L-theanine may help quiet that mental chatter and promote a sense of calm.

If poor sleep seems to be tied to chronic stress or low mood, 5-HTP might be worth trying, particularly if you're not taking medications that affect serotonin.

If your sleep schedule is off because of travel or shift work, melatonin may help reset your internal clock. The key is matching the right supplement to your specific sleep challenge, and working with a dietitian can help to choose the right fit for your needs.

Thank you so much for joining me for this episode of “Ask a Nutritionist”. If you found today's conversation helpful, be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode. And if someone in your life is struggling with restless nights, share this episode with them. They might finally discover a supplement strategy that helps them get the restorative sleep they've been missing. Thanks again for listening, and I will talk to you next time.

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