Sleep: It's something most of us value but don't get nearly enough of. While people generally equate "good sleep" with getting eight consecutive hours, a University of California–San Diego paper on sleep research and aging reviewed data from 1.1 million people and determined that there is no statistically significant reason to sleep longer than six and a half hours per night. In fact, the people in the research who slept six and a half hours a night lived longer than the ones who slept eight!
Don't panic—getting eight hours a night won't kill you. However, it does bring into focus what's really important: your sleep quality. A lack of the right kind of sleep can increase your risk of heart disease and cancer and even raise your risk of death. (These sleep mistakes can even lead to weight gain.)
If you're having trouble sleeping through the night, there are some supplements you can take to help you slip off to dreamland without feeling super groggy the next day. Here are seven supplements that'll improve the quality of your sleep, adapted from The Bulletproof Diet.
Magnesium
Recommended dosage: 600 to 800 milligrams (mg) per day
Magnesium is used in more than 300 enzymatic processes, which means that low magnesium leads to low cellular energy. Plus, having enough makes the body more resilient to stress.
Potassium
Recommended dosage: 400 mg potassium citrate
Known to help with nighttime leg cramps, potassium also keeps the heart beating rhythmically. Be careful not to overdo it, though; start with 100 to 200 mg, and work your way up from there.
L-theanine
Recommended dosage: 100 mg
L-theanine is an amino acid found in green tea, and it's known to reduce stress and help you relax.
Ornithine
Recommended dosage: 500 to 1,000 mg
"This relaxing amino acid helps the body eliminate ammonia in the gut, and excess ammonia causes feelings of stress," author Dave Asprey explains in The Bulletproof Diet. "Ammonia is a cellular toxin, and eliminating it can improve your long- and short-term memories."
L-tryptophan
Recommended dosage: 500 mg
Commonly associated with that stupor after Thanksgiving dinner, L-tryptophan is used to treat insomnia as well as anxiety and depression (among other things). Asprey says to stick with no more than 500 mg when using this supplement, as too much of it can cause inflammation.
More From Rodale News: 5 Natural Sleep Aids
Melatonin
Recommended dosage: 2 to 3 mg
This is a potent hormone and antioxidant that the body is supposed to produce on its own if you're snoozing in real darkness and get enough sleep—so popping a melatonin pill daily is shied away from. That said, Asprey suggests using a supplement one to two days per week (and no more) to improve your sleep quality.
Vitamin D
Recommended dosage: This is heavily based on weight, but you should aim for roughly 4,000 International Units per day for adults
Some sleep disorders are tied to vitamin D deficiency, which hurts the amount of shuteye you get, as well as the quality of it and your mood upon waking up. Since most of us work indoors, wear clothes, and use sunscreen (not bad things, for sure!), those modern life realities take away from our bodies' ability to synthesize vitamin D. That's why Asprey recommends taking this vitamin in the morning for better sleep quality at night.
Use these 10 secrets to aid in better sleep, too.
Note: The Bulletproof Diet is published by Rodale, Women's Health's parent company.
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