Natural Sleep Aid Recommendations?

Good Evening Permies!

I have insomnia that luckily has been able to be managed with a melatonin supplement. This has worked for a long time but I have recently started wondering if perhaps there might be a natural product (at least less processed) that might do the trick?

Does anybody have experience with any herbs, tonics, decoctions, or anything else of the sort that helped them? I would be interested in trying something but I'm not so sure where to start or how to start.

Valerian root has been really helpful for me! I like it it in a tea with chamomile and lavender. Add some ginger if you find you don't like the smell.

One of the fastest working things for me (a life-long insomniac - I remember my mom crawling into my bed when I was five, to try to 'teach me how to go to sleep'!), is banana peel tea*. Golden milk, very warm, and made with dairy milk can be very effective. Other herbs that can be very helpful, include skullcap, catnip, chamomile, lavender, lemonbalm (Melissa officinalis), mugwort, and rose petals - and any combination you like can work, too. Any of these herbs can also be added to the golden milk or the banana tea.



*Banana Peel Tea (yield 7 servings)
7 banana peels
1 whole nutmeg, grated
3 cinnamon sticks
2qts water
Puree everything except the cinnamon sticks in the water, then add the cinnamon sticks and bring everything to a gentle boil, Then lower heat, cover, and simmer for 45minutes, strain, pressing as much of the liquid out, as possible. You should be left with 7 cups of tea - a week's supply. Sweeten with honey or stevia, if you want, add milk, if you like, and drink hot or iced, however you prefer, shortly before bed.

Pistachios have insanely high levels of natural melatonin.

It could be as high as 6.6 mg per ounce. And since the normal therapeutic dose is between 1-5 mg, you'd need way less than an ounce per day for maintenance.

It's cheap to give it a try.

j

Timothy Norton wrote:Good Evening Permies!

I have insomnia that luckily has been able to be managed with a melatonin supplement. This has worked for a long time but I have recently started wondering if perhaps there might be a natural product (at least less processed) that might do the trick?

Does anybody have experience with any herbs, tonics, decoctions, or anything else of the sort that helped them? I would be interested in trying something but I'm not so sure where to start or how to start.

Hey there
               I have read that manasamitra vatakam is an effective natural supplement for sleep disorders.

Maybe you can Find more about it. Its is a natural Remedy.
https://www.ayurvedaforall.com/blog/2019/02/24/manasamitra-vatakam-benefits/

I find that magnesium helps me sleep. It lowers your blood pressure. I tend to sleep much more deeply, with more vivid dreams, when I take a magnesium tablet.

I'll bring in a 2nd for magnesium. One of my sure-fire ways to get to sleep, especially when pain or stress is the culprit keeping me awake, is a half hour soak in a very warm Epsom salts bath. If you don't have that kind of time, hate baths, or don't have a tub, magnesium oil (easily and pretty cheaply made with equal parts magnesium chloride flakes and water) rubbed into your skin will work - I just don't find it as relaxing as the bath.

I can't personally advocate for melatonin, though. My personal experience with it is that it it's unreliable and leaves me very groggy, in the morning. I've also read studies (some time ago, and I don't remember where) cautioning that since melatonin is produced by our bodies, taking it long-term can cause your body to stop producing it, naturally, thus worsening the problem, in the long run. So, while it doesn't work for me, I know it does work for enough people that it sells well. My only recommendation (in anything health- related, really) is to be vigilant and fully aware of your body, and how it responds. This is one of the reasons I keep so many different options available to me - if/ when my body acclimate to any one of these, because I've been doing it too long (or I just get bored with it - which I do), there are other directions available, and I keep all these things on hand, to facilitate an easy, quick switch up.

If I'm not up to making the banana peel tea, the golden milk, or the extra magnesium, or if it seems like I really need a little extra 'pow' to any of those (or even if I only need a little nudge, instead of the heavy hitters), sometimes a banana shake, or a banana sliced into a bowl with dairy milk and maybe a drizzle of honey makes a lovely dessert that also encourages sleep.

Tim writes,

I have insomnia that luckily has been able to be managed with a melatonin supplement. This has worked for a long time but I have recently started wondering if perhaps there might be a natural product (at least less processed) that might do the trick?

My greatest happiness is when I can easily grow something delicious and nutritious that also has additional surprise health benefits. One of the many wonders of tart cherries (Montmorency in my yard) is that they are a natural source of melatonin that helps with sleep.
Tart cherry season is short so I pack the freezer with fresh, washed and sorted, whole cherries. Pit the cherries for blending in a smoothie. Or leave the pits in, simmer, then strain the juice from the pits and skins. Sweeten with homemade boiled cider concentrate or apple juice and add water to taste. Cherry tree leaves can be frozen in stacks for a muscle soothing winter tea, preferably with cherry juice and cider.

Amy, now you have me wondering if my troubles with melatonin might be not the melatonin, but in looking for it in a non-food source. Food really is my best 'medicine', I find.

Food really is my best 'medicine', I find.

Carla Burke

I am with you Carla!
And if I can grow that food in the best soil, without chemicals, serve it as fresh as possible, without any mysterious processing or packaging, I will surely get a good night's sleep knowing that I eliminated many potential uncertainties from my wellbeing.

St. John’s wort also has melatonin in it, though my first thought is more in regards to behaviour. Have you tried ‘sun gazing’ in the daytime to naturally reduce melatonin production, then towards bed time remove all bright light for a few hours and wear a sleep mask that makes it pitch black? The body doesn’t produce melatonin unless your eyes have been exposed to bright light (daytime) preferably natural light. And then it doesn’t START to produce melatonin until it’s dark. The greater the difference between day/night the better your body is able to produce melatonin.

A cup tea of linden flower/tila will help you relax and quite your mind without the possible side effects of valerian root.

I suppose a good question is - what kind of sleep disruptions are you having?

Restless mind - try Skullcap tincture
Restless overall - try Passionflower or California Poppy  <---these may also help if you have middle of the night wake ups

I typically reserve Valerian for when I've traveled. Helps me to settle in.

One thing I've been studying for about a year now has been how histamine intolerance and/or mast cell activation syndrome can cause sleep issues and many of us might not even realize its a histamine issue. We all view histamine as an itchy rash or allergy or up to anaphylaxis but it can be quite subtle....such as if you cheeks turn pink after having a drink of alcohol. We think we are just jolly (ha ha ha).  For this, I've been watching the effects on Goldenrod (Solidago spp) and actually spoke about it at the last herbal first aid class I taught as I recommend it for people with seasonal allergies (and I prefer it over Nettle).  Its an interesting research topic needless to say!

Just adding all that in to some wonderful advice already.

Long experienced insomniac and herbalist here. Husband also an insomniac. Traditional Allopathic: rule out sleep apnea. They say that the C-pap machine or a dental device actually keeps our hearts healthy as the breathing disturbances during sleep affect circulation and heart health. I have not done the research on this. Magnesium does help, but investigate which form is best for sleep I think Citrate, but would have to check. There are several forms of magnesium. I am about to try L-theanine for relaxation and anxiety. We will see. None of the sleep herbs mentioned have worked for me personally, but I am a rapid metabolizer - who knows. There was a natural product based on Ayurveda that I used called Kavinace. It worked but the company was forced to remove one ingredient - the phenylbut - by the FDA and it ceased to help me but I want to revisit the product anyhow. I ordered phenylbut from Nootropics. It works but I hesitate to use it often as I have not had time to research it thoroughly. Son has tick borne infections which famously cause terrible insomnia as the HPA axis it dysregulated. In Canada where we lived for awhile, they use prescription Tryptophan. It took several weeks to kick in and he had to titrate up to a VERY high dose, like more than 2 grams, but it finally did the trick. They say that Cortisol level maintenance helps- again, I do not understand the mechanisms, but worth consideration. Love the banana peel idea, I think I will try it! No one likes pharma drugs, but this is one instance where I will yield - I have used them when under stress and needing sleep for healing.

Hi Timothy,
I firmly believe that there is a big difference between having trouble getting to sleep vs having trouble staying asleep. And I think there may be differences in how to deal with them. The only thing you mentioned was Melatonin, so just in case (and for anyone else reading this down the road), I will make some wild stab in the dark suggestions that you may have already tried. I'll try to keep them short, if one sounds promising, I'm sure you can find more info about it.

Light - The light and dark cycle affects our bodies production of various hormones to make us feel awake or sleepy. Getting your room as dark as possible and not using digital screens just before bed may help.

Stress - Generally I have found that stress/anxiety is the leading cause of not being able to get to sleep. If you happen to have a magic wand to take away all stress, I would try that :), and send it my way afterwards, would you? I am a fourth for magnesium. It helps to calm the mind down (plus a ton of other stuff, magnesium is pretty awesome). Magnesium Glycenate is the form that is easiest to digest and the least likely to cause side effects. Plus all the other ones already mention, like Skullcap, Passion flower, lavendar, valarian root - all have calming effects, but not all are specifically sleep aids. Some people do well with weighted blankets.

Food/Environmental - If you are waking up frequently and/or having trouble getting back to sleep in the middle of the night, I would consider options that are not related to stress. While I do not ascribe to all the chinese medicine, I do for their body clock. The idea that the body is focusing on different parts of the body at different times of day makes sense to me. If I wake up constantly between 11-1 when they say my body is focusing on the gallbladder... I would be looking at reducing fatty foods later in the day. If waking up between 1 and 3, they say the body focuses on the liver, I would reduce alcohol and sugary foods later in the day. If waking up between 3 and 5, when the lungs are supposed to be the focus, then I would be looking into mold, asthma, off-gassing from stuff, and sleep apnea.

***Edit - I too suffer from insomnia, but not nearly like I used to. I personally use magnesium, an assortment of herbal things, and some other methods I suggested here.

***Another Edit - This is a subject I'm a little passionate about, because I've dealt with it. I had an ND encourage me to seek the underlying cause... not just take things that make me sleepy to hide the real reason. In my case, my body was not nearly as healthy as I thought.

My favorite herbs for sleeping better are as follows: Motherwort—they grow all over as a weed, and they say weeds grow when you need them; Red clover (also has a lot of magnesium); Water-horehound and hops are both good for when you are overexcited. I think alder twig also has nourishing properties that help with relaxation. All these are infusions, except alder, which I make into a decoction.

It fascinates me to hear about magnesium as an important nutrient for sleep. I suppose that I must need a little more than I get because I cannot stay away from chocolate, beans, or red clover tea (all supposed to have plenty), but have always craved them constantly and also have some mild trouble going to sleep even when tired.

I found this article on wild food nutrition: https://theherbalacademy.com/blog/nutritional-value-edible-wild-food/

I'll echo what some others have mentioned about whether you have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. Something I stumbled upon about a year ago was the phenomenon of first sleeps and second sleeps. The article linked below explains it better, but the gist of it is that it appears that for most of human history folks might have initially slept for a couple hours, naturally woken up for a couple of hours and did something productive, then fell back asleep again until around sunrise.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220107-the-lost-medieval-habit-of-biphasic-sleep

I personally don't have too much trouble sleeping; however, since learning about this I do try to view any middle-of-the-night wakeups as opportunities to do something productive (e.g., read, make tea, clean the house, reflect). Depending on your situation (and how early you have to wake up in the mornings for work, etc.), perhaps you can reevaluate if you're insomnia is truly a medical issue to be concerned about or instead is your body just doing it's natural thing.

Maieshe Ljin wrote:My favorite herbs for sleeping better are as follows: Motherwort—they grow all over as a weed, and they say weeds grow when you need them; Red clover (also has a lot of magnesium); Water-horehound and hops are both good for when you are overexcited. I think alder twig also has nourishing properties that help with relaxation. All these are infusions, except alder, which I make into a decoction.

It fascinates me to hear about magnesium as an important nutrient for sleep. I suppose that I must need a little more than I get because I cannot stay away from chocolate, beans, or red clover tea (all supposed to have plenty), but have always craved them constantly and also have some mild trouble going to sleep even when tired.

I found this article on wild food nutrition: https://theherbalacademy.com/blog/nutritional-value-edible-wild-food/

For ladies: motherwort is awesome stuff, but please do take care with it. It can (even post-menopause) bring on menses.