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If restless nights have led you to Dr. Google or into the snooze-inducing aisle of the drugstore, you’re probably acquainted with two popular sleep supplements: melatonin and magnesium. They tend to get lumped together as they’re both natural, available OTC, and shrouded by a health halo of risk-free sleep support. But that’s where their similarities end. Each has distinct effects in the body, some of which may—or may not—help you conk out faster or doze more soundly, depending on your particular struggle.
“There aren’t any head-to-head studies weighing melatonin against magnesium,” Dennis Auckley, MD, a professor of medicine at Case Western Reserve University and director of the Center for Sleep Medicine at MetroHealth Medical Center, in Cleveland, tells SELF. And the research on what either can do for sleep, particularly in those with run-of-the-mill insomnia, is far from a slam dunk. Most of the studies are small and short-term, Dr. Auckley says. Still, it’s worth noting a few possible benefits and key differences if you’re curious whether either (or both) could help you.
How do melatonin and magnesium impact sleep?Melatonin
Melatonin is a hormone that your brain’s pineal gland naturally pumps out each night, when it gets dark, as part of your circadian rhythm (a.k.a. internal clock). It cues your body that it’s time to snooze, hence why melatonin supplements are often used to treat circadian rhythm disorders or resolve sleep struggles that occur with shift work or jet lag, when your body clock is out of sync with the day-night cycle, Dr. Auckley explains.
Outside of these scenarios, taking melatonin may not have as much upside—your brain is already making the melatonin that signals sleepy time each evening, and adding more simply presses the same button. Indeed, studies show taking melatonin helps people fall asleep just about seven minutes faster and increases sleep time by a meager eight minutes.
Other research shows that people taking melatonin do report better sleep quality. But it’s tough to rule out a placebo effect, “which is common with things that you anticipate will help you sleep,” Jennifer Martin, PhD, spokesperson for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and professor at Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine at Florida International University, tells SELF. That’s not bad per se, except that placebos tend to wear off with time.
Magnesium
Magnesium is an essential mineral that facilitates body processes like muscle and nerve function, energy production, and DNA repair. If you’re not getting enough via foods like leafy greens, grains, nuts, and fish—about 320 milligrams a day for women and 420 for men—you could wind up with a deficiency that raises your risk of poor sleep (and supplementing may help). But as SELF previously reported, your kidneys will latch onto magnesium if you’re running low, minimizing the chances that you feel any symptoms from a deficit.
So, can an extra hit of magnesium make you sleepy anyway? In theory, maybe. Magnesium can activate GABA, a neurotransmitter that prompts relaxation. It may also level up your natural melatonin production, though this is known to happen primarily in folks who are very low in magnesium, Dr. Auckley says. And finally, having ample levels of magnesium can keep calcium from building up inside your muscles, which may ward off cramps and tension.
In practice, though, studies exploring sleep health and magnesium are a mixed bag: Some suggest a tie with better sleep quality or minor improvements in insomnia; but a review of research on the topic says there’s not enough quality data to claim definitive benefits.
Should I take melatonin, magnesium, or both supplements for better sleep?
Remember that neither is a proven panacea for insomnia. Before reaching for either, Dr. Auckley suggests surveying your nighttime routine: If you’re glued to screens all night, drink alcohol or caffeine in the evening, or eat or exercise right before bedtime, “no supplement is going to make an impact,” he says. So consider tweaking lifestyle habits first.
While both supplements are generally safe, melatonin may worsen symptoms of autoimmune conditions, and magnesium could cause an unsafe buildup of the mineral or dangerous effects in folks with kidney disease, or a heart or neuromuscular condition. And then there are the drug interactions: Melatonin could lower the efficacy of diabetes meds and immunosuppressants, dangerously spike the effects of blood pressure meds, and cause daytime grogginess or headaches in combo with hormonal birth control. And magnesium can interfere with antibiotics and osteoporosis drugs, and prompt side effects with heart and blood-pressure meds. So it’s key to check in with your doctor, if any of these apply.
Otherwise, consider the root of your sleep struggles. You could find more benefit from melatonin if your main issue is timing—you’re a night owl and wish you could doze off earlier, or you have to work and sleep at odd hours. Generally, melatonin works better for difficulties with falling asleep, not staying asleep, Dr. Martin says. Whereas, magnesium may be the more relevant pick if it’s a racing mind or physical tension that keeps or wakes you up.
And if you’re in both camps, it typically doesn’t hurt to combine melatonin and magnesium, since, by and large, they work via different pathways, Dr. Auckley says. Whether it would offer any additional sleep support, however, is still up in the air. Only a couple studies have been done on this combo, and the results have shown modest improvements at best.
What to consider before taking melatonin, magnesium, or both
If you’ve decided to give either supplement a try, take note of a few factors:
1. The dose. Most melatonin studies have tested small amounts, from 0.5 to 2 milligrams, but many popular options contain 5 mg, 10 mg, or more per serving, Dr. Martin notes. Your brain releases about 0.1 mg nightly, so walloping it with that much extra could backfire by messing with your circadian rhythm, she says. Plus, you up your risk for side effects like daytime grogginess and nightmares. A recent analysis suggests the effect peaks at 4 mg, and experts recommend starting with 1- or 2-mg doses. As for magnesium, your supplement shouldn’t exceed 350 mg; going overboard increases your risk for GI upset or diarrhea.
2. The timing. You might think to pop melatonin right before bedtime, but as the analysis above also shows, it works best when taken three hours ahead of time. “Think of it like a rope that can pull your sleep schedule up, so you drift off earlier in the night,” Dr. Martin says. Ingesting it sooner lengthens the rope for more leverage. With magnesium, timing is less of a concern—you can take it 30 minutes to an hour before your ideal bedtime.
3. The credibility. As with all supplements, melatonin and magnesium don’t receive the FDA oversight that medications do, so there’s no guarantee that you’re getting what the label promises. (In one study, 25 melatonin supplements were shown to include anywhere from 74% to 347% of the amount of melatonin listed on the label.) Dr. Auckley recommends only buying a supplement that’s been quality-tested by a third party, which it’ll say on the package.
And keep in mind, if you’re taking one supplement for a couple weeks and not sleeping well, adding a second supplement is probably not the solution, Dr. Martin says. In this case, it’s best to reach out to a sleep specialist (or get a referral from your doctor). They can point you toward more effective solutions, like, for instance, a type of therapy often called “adult sleep training” that helps you unravel the thoughts and habits that make sleep so hard to get.
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Originally Appeared on Self
