Taking magnesium for sleep has become one of the biggest wellness trends of recent years. You can't read a newspaper, or scroll on socials without coming across ads promising you a great night's sleep if you take a magnesium tablet, or try rubbing magnesium cream into your feet!
Not a surprise when you consider millions of us – around 38% of people in the UK – regularly struggle to sleep. There's nothing worse than staring at the ceiling at 3am when you've got a busy day ahead and research shows one in six people get less than 6 hours sleep a night. It's not uncommon to try everything from herbal remedies and supplements, to prescription medication, hoping for a quick fix for restless nights.
But while some sleep aids can help in the short term, they don’t always tackle the underlying causes of poor sleep; which is why growing numbers of people are turning to magnesium for sleep, but does it actually work?
Why are more people are choosing magnesium for sleep over traditional sleep aids?
1 in 10 Britons say they use sleeping aids like pills (both over-the-counter and prescribed by the doctor), with women more likely to rely on them than men. While others reach for a nightly glass of wine to help them drift off. With research showing more than a third of the UK turns to a tipple before bed if they can't sleep. Pills or an alcoholic drink might provide short-term relief, they don’t always tackle the underlying issues that are making you restless and can even come with unwanted side effects (not keen on sleeping pills? Read: Hate Sleeping Tablets? Try these 5 Simple Sleep Routine Tips)
Prescription sleeping tablets can be effective for short-term insomnia, but they’re generally only recommended for a few days or weeks. Over time your body can get used to them, they can become less effective and some people develop a dependence, finding it increasingly difficult to fall asleep without them.
Over-the-counter sleep remedies also aren’t perfect. Many contain first generation antihistamines, which can leave you feeling groggy and ‘hungover' the following morning. Not what you need when you're juggling work and the school run! And while that glass of Pinot might knock you out initially, alcohol can disrupt sleep while your body processes it and reduce how much REM sleep you get.
Bearing this in mind, you can see why magnesium for sleep has become such a popular natural alternative to traditional sleep aids, but is the hype around it justified?
Magnesium for sleep: why does it work?
Researchers first began investigating the connection between magnesium for sleep several decades ago, after noticing that people with low magnesium levels often experienced poor sleep, increased anxiety and muscle cramps. Meanwhile, people with optimal amounts reported better overall sleep quality and fewer sleep disturbances.
One of the best-known clinical trials got people with insomnia to take magnesium for 8 weeks and the study showed significant improvements in:
- Time taken to fall asleep
- Sleep efficiency
- Total sleep time
- Early morning waking
- Plus – better melatonin and cortisol levels for sleep
Since then, scientists have discovered several ways magnesium appears to support healthy sleep:
1. It helps activate GABA
One of magnesium’s most important jobs is supporting the activity of GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid). A calming neurotransmitter which some sleep experts describe as the brain’s 'brake pedal".
GABA gets you ready for sleep by helping to quiet down nerve activity, which allows your mind to switch off and into relaxation mode. If your GABA activity is lower, you're more likely to experince racing thoughts, difficulty winding down and end up tossing and turning all night. So anything you can do to support your GABA is a must for a good night's shut eye and is one way magnesium for sleep can help.
2. It supports your body’s relaxation response
Magnesium also helps regulate your nervous system by balancing excitatory and calming signals. This can encourage both your muscles and your brain to relax before bed. No more twitching muscles to wake you, or panicking about everything you've got to do tomorow.
3. It may help regulate stress hormones
Research suggests magnesium also plays a role in regulating cortisol, the body’s stress hormone. Constantly elevated cortisol levels, particularly in the evening, have been linked with difficulty falling asleep and frequent waking during the night. For more info on lowering your cortisol levels read: Could Cortisol Reducing Supplements Help if your levels are too high?
4. It supports healthy muscle function
If you’ve ever been kept awake by twitching muscles, cramps or restless legs (something which can ramp up for women during perimenopause), magnesium can also help to promote normal muscle function. Another way magnesium for sleep helps you to get a more comfortable, uninterrupted night of rest.
Do any sleep experts recommend magnesium?
Magnesium has also become increasingly popular among many sleep specialists. Both 'The Sleep Doctor' Dr Michael Breus, and wellness guru Andrew Huberman, recommend magnesium for sleep due to the role it plays in supporting relaxation and helping you to develop a consistent routine to help you wind down before bed.
Which is the best type of magnesium for sleep?
Magnesium Glycinate is considered one of the most calming forms of magnesium, because glycinate combines magnesium with the amino acid glycine. Glycine can help to encourage relaxation, making magnesium glycinate one of the most popular choices for magnesium for sleep.
Magnesium L-threonate is another form you want to add to your sleep supplement list, because research suggests it may cross the blood-brain barrier more effectively than some other forms of magnesium. And don’t forget the magnesium malate! This type is best for supporting normal muscle function – bye bye muscle cramps!
Our Tri Mag Complex Patch contains all three of these types of magnesium. So you can pop on a patch and benefit from the best types of magnesium to drift off to sleep and stay that way; without juggling the pill bottles – hoorah! This handy patch also contains Ashwagandha, an adaptogenic herb that research suggests can support relaxation and improve sleep quality. Plus L-Theanine, naturally found in green tea, which many people find helps quieten a busy mind before bed. Everything you need to support relaxation and get you ready for a dreamy night’s sleep.
Why choose a magnesium patch?
If you take an oral magnesium supplement before bed, the body receives a relatively large amount of magnesium at one time, after which levels gradually fall as it is absorbed, and excreted.
Our Tri Mag Complex patch works differently, and is worn for up to eight hours overnight. Providing a slow, steady supply of magnesium for sleep the whole time you’re snoozing. This means the levels of the active ingredients don’t fluctuate, helping support your sleep all night long. Sweet dreams!
It goes without saying that magnesium for sleep works best as part of a consistent bedtime routine. For more tips on this read: Does Your Bedtime Routine Need a Revamp?
