Struggling with sleep is all too common: As many as 1 in 3 American adults report regularly failing to get enough rest, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Fortunately, there are steps you can take to improve your sleep, such as adjusting your bedtime routine and trying supplements.
If you’re having difficulty falling or staying asleep and are interested in supplementation, you’ve probably heard about two of the most popular sleep aids, melatonin and magnesium. But are supplements really the way to go—and if so, which might be better for you?
As it turns out, there are a few factors to consider when weighing the potential benefits of melatonin vs. magnesium. Here, two sleep experts and a dietitian break down how the two may support sleep, when each might be helpful, and when it may be worth trying other science-backed strategies.
Meet the experts: Kenneth Lee, M.D., medical director of the Sleep Disorders Center at UChicago Medicine; Stephanie Crabtree, M.S., R.D., functionally minded dietitian; and John Saito, M.D., pediatric pulmonologist and American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) spokesperson.
How might melatonin aid sleep?
“Melatonin is a hormone that promotes sleep initiation and maintenance, and is naturally produced by the body,” says Kenneth Lee, M.D., the medical director of the Sleep Disorders Center at UChicago Medicine. The brain’s release of melatonin is tied to the time of day, increasing when the sun begins to set and decreasing when the sun begins to rise, per the Mayo Clinic.
“Overall, melatonin can be helpful in regulating your sleep cycle,” Dr. Lee says. “This can be especially helpful in things such as shift work disorder, jet lag, and what’s called circadian rhythm disorders. This is where your natural clock is not aligned with what your schedule needs to be.” For example, if you need to be at work at 5 a.m. but can’t fall asleep until 1 a.m. no matter how hard you try, melatonin may help.
“Melatonin at very specific timing could help shift your sleep schedule so that you fall asleep earlier and therefore you can wake up earlier as well,” Dr. Lee adds. A review published in Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews backs this up, concluding that melatonin helped people with neurodevelopmental and sleep disorders fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer.
Still, melatonin has its limits. “In terms of the use of melatonin as a sleep aid, i.e., to help you fall asleep faster after you take it, the results are very mixed,” says Dr. Lee. (Research in Sleep Medicine Reviews that analyzed 24 randomized controlled trials studying melatonin for chronic insomnia found that it may be effective in some age groups and for certain types of insomnia, but not for others.)
Dr. Saito agrees, saying he’ll often ask for patients to keep a two-week sleep log to help determine if their circadian rhythms are contributing to the problem. “If so, I would use melatonin at night and bright light therapy upon waking to entrain and adjust their circadian rhythm accordingly.” Part of the problem may be environmental, Dr. Saito explains: Because our circadian rhythms are regulated by light, and we’re exposed to bright, artificial light, both in our homes and through our screens, our melatonin levels may be “chronically suppressed,” which can contribute to chronic insomnia.
Additionally, older adults might benefit from melatonin, as the levels of melatonin in your body begin to decline after age 40, according to the Cleveland Clinic. “As we get older, our hormone production capacity, including melatonin, declines across the board. As a result, the signal to go to sleep may be weak and therefore, supplementation of exogenous melatonin (at the proper time) may be useful,” Dr. Saito says.
What are the potential drawbacks of melatonin?
“There are inherent side effect risks with melatonin which should be taken into account,” Dr. Lee says. Per the Mayo Clinic, oral melatonin may cause headache, dizziness, or nausea, as well as some less common side effects like mild tremors, anxiety, and confusion. Melatonin may also alter the efficacy of a variety of prescription medications—including blood thinners, anticonvulsants, blood pressure drugs, central nervous system depressants, diabetes medications, contraceptives, and immunosuppressants—making it important to consult with your doctor before trying it. This is especially true for children and teens, Dr. Saito adds, pointing to an AASM health advisory that says as much.
One more thing to consider: “Supplemental dietary melatonin is not FDA regulated, and therefore, the dosage on the label may be entirely inaccurate,” Dr. Saito warns. Taking excess melatonin can cause melatonin toxicity, which in turn can cause “excessive daytime sleepiness, headaches, dizziness, nausea, vivid dreams, nightmares, irritability, or anxiety,” he adds.
How might magnesium aid sleep?
Magnesium is an essential mineral that plays a role in hundreds of bodily processes, including some that impact your sleep. “Magnesium supports sleep by relaxing muscles, reducing nervous system excitability, regulating neurotransmitters, and lowering anxiety,” says Stephanie Crabtree, M.S., R.D., a functionally minded dietitian based in Sarasota, Florida. “It also plays a role in the production of your body’s own melatonin from the pineal gland, helping maintain a natural sleep-wake cycle.”
While magnesium doesn’t affect sleep as directly as melatonin, it may support the processes that help relax and prepare the body for rest. Specifically, Dr. Lee says that magnesium is thought to influence the regulation of the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which slows activity in the brain and produces a calming effect.
However, the jury’s out on whether magnesium supplementation is beneficial for sleep. “Generally speaking, there is no clear evidence as to whether magnesium helps with sleep substantially. But it may work in some people,” says Dr. Lee. “With my patients, I also have similar findings where some patients find it somewhat helpful, but others don’t find it to help very much at all.”
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Dr. Saito has found magnesium supplementation to be useful in patients who have an actual dietary magnesium deficiency, but is otherwise cautious. “Researchers agree that more studies are needed to determine whether magnesium helps with sleep. Given the limitations of findings, magnesium should not be used blindly to ‘treat’ sleep issues,” he says.
What are the potential drawbacks of magnesium?
“Magnesium can have side effects such as nausea, diarrhea, stomach pain, and potentially more serious complications with high doses,” Dr. Lee says. (Notably, side effects may vary based on the type of magnesium you are taking.)
And for some, magnesium can cause real harm. “Magnesium supplementation should not be used by people with severe kidney disease, heart block, or myasthenia gravis,” Dr. Saito warns. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), magnesium can also interact with several medications, including osteoporosis drugs, antibiotics, diuretics, and proton pump inhibitors.
Melatonin vs. magnesium: Which is best for sleep?
Further research is needed to determine how effective melatonin and magnesium are as sleep aids, and who exactly might benefit from each. And regardless of which one you’d like to try, you should be sure to consult with your doctor beforehand.
However, if you’ve gotten the OK from your healthcare provider and you’re having trouble deciding which supplement to try, it may be helpful to consider your symptoms. “Melatonin may be best for difficulty falling asleep, jet lag, or adjusting your sleep schedule. But it doesn’t necessarily improve the depth or restorative quality of sleep,” Crabtree says. “Magnesium may be more helpful for insomnia or restless sleep because it promotes relaxation and reduces nighttime tension or anxiety. Magnesium is my first choice since it can aid in getting deep, restorative sleep, and it has a strong safety profile for long-term use.”
Additional natural strategies for getting better sleep
If you’re having trouble sleeping, remember that supplements aren’t the only course of treatment. Dr. Saito and Dr. Lee also recommended trying the following strategies:
Sleep hygiene and stimulus control: “These are basic tips that can help make the bed or sleep environment as optimized and inviting for sleep as possible while also reducing any sorts of ‘distractions’ away from sleep,” Dr. Lee says. He suggests only using your bed for sleep and intimacy, avoiding exercise and eating before bedtime, and setting aside “relaxation time” in the 30 minutes to an hour before sleep, and getting up if you haven’t fallen asleep within 30 minutes and returning to bed when you feel sleepier.
Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I): “Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, or CBT-I, is the AASM-recommended first-line treatment for those with chronic insomnia,” Dr. Saito says. “CBT-I helps those struggling to sleep change their actions or thoughts that keep them from sleeping well and develop healthy sleep patterns. It combines stimulus control, sleep restriction, relaxation training, biofeedback, cognitive control, psychotherapy, and sleep hygiene education for a cohesive, behavioral, and psychological treatment.”
Testing for sleep disorders: If the above solutions aren’t working, you may need to be tested for a sleep disorder. “If there is snoring or you’ve been told you stop breathing, these could be signs of sleep apnea,” Dr. Lee says. “Things such as leg kicks could be a sign of periodic limb movements, which have been related to things such as restless legs syndrome. A consultation with a sleep doctor may reveal these things and help with sleep in general.”
Dietary supplements are products intended to supplement the diet. They are not medicines and are not intended to treat, diagnose, mitigate, prevent, or cure diseases. Be cautious about taking dietary supplements if you are pregnant or nursing. Also, be careful about giving supplements to a child, unless recommended by their healthcare provider.
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