My Evening Supplement Stack

is less exciting than you think

Started about a year and a half ago to fix my sleep. I had two problems: a hard time falling asleep and then WASO (Waking Up After Sleep Onset) around 2 to 4 AM. The first problem was way easier to solve than the second.

I tested a mix of supplements, some that power me down in the evening and others that keep cortisol and temperature low during the night so that I don’t wake up until the morning.

Measured mainly with Oura Ring 4 and compared to how I felt. Sometimes I’d cross check with Apple Watch 10 and Eight Sleep 5.

💊 Supplements & Meds

Core Stack

I have strong evidence that they work very well for me. Removing any of them made my sleep measurably worse

1. Magnesium Bisglycinate 2 x 300mg (600mg) - for sleep and muscle relaxation

2. Glycine 6 x 500mg (3g) - for lowering core body temperature & collagen synthesis

3. Progesterone 1 x 100mg - the one who does the most heavy lifting. Makes me sleepy and mutes anxiety. Metabolizes to allopregnanolone (GABA-A agonist).

   1. prescription hormone for women. It continuously drops with age and deficiency shows us as extra anxiety, poor sleep etc. It causes these symptoms but anxiety and poor sleep can be caused by a million other things.

   2. titration and cycling needed before you land in your ideal spot. Got it from The Longevity Practice, as their Sleep Management therapy had a 360 approach. Take it only under doctor’s supervision. Don’t mess with the dose, don’t forget to take it etc. It works for me super well, but YMMV.

Experimental Stack

Moderate to strong evidence that they work for me:

1. Aswaghandha KSM-66 1 x 500mg - for cortisol reduction. I did feel it “numbed” me and was useful in time of high stress. Takes a while to kick in. I’ve been taking this dose for 9 months continuously planning to take a 2-4 week break and see how it feels.

2. B6 (P5P) 1 x 25mg - added after a recent blood test result showed it being borderline low.

3. L-tryptophan 1x 500mg - serotonin/melatonin precursor. Will exclude as a trial after the Aswaghandha experiment and see if it impacts time to fall asleep.

Exceptions

1. Melatonin long release 1-3mg when I switch time zones or if I’m super wired.

Dropped From My Stack

Weak evidence that they work for me. Took these for a while, felt no improvement in how I feel the next day or in the sleep scores.

1. Apigenin Camomile Extract 1x 50mg - thanks Huberman for hyping it for nothing 😁

2. Tart Cherry (Prunus cerasus) 3 x 400mg - did nothing, I haven’t tried the juice yet.

3. GABA (Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid) 200mg - dumb purchase, I should have checked the evidence strength of it working in this form.

4. St. John’s Wort 225mg and Mountain Tea Extract 225mg - more for mood/anxiety than sleep in particular. Tried both in the evening and morning, effect wasn’t meaningful enough to risk the interactions

5. Valerian Root Extract (Valeriana officinalis) 100mg - small calming effect

6. Passionflower Extract 375mg 4% Flavonoids - small calming effect, additive with Valerian. Decided it was not enough to continue

7. Phosphatidylserine (PS) - for cortisol modulation, took it for 3 months didn’t notice a strong enough effect like with Aswaghandha

8. Lemon balm extract 200mg - didn’t see an effect I could untangle from others

9. Organic Lavender Oil (Lavandula angustifolia) 200mg - the smell was very relaxing, would consider buying just for that 🪻

10. Probably something else I wasted money on and forgot 🙈

Sleeping Environment

1. 🐦‍⬛Ear plugs landed on silicon ones as they fall of less often during the night and are easy to clean. I tend to take at least 4 with me when I travel in case I lose some.

2. 🏴 Sleeping mask mainly using a 3D one. And switch to a wrap around silk one when the material of the 3D mask bothers me or if I want to sleep on my side.

3. ⬛️ Blackout curtains they do let some light throw so the mask is still helpful.

4. ⚫️ Eight Sleep Pod water based mattress cooler, hesitated a lot before buying this one. Had a poor experience with an older OOLER Sleep System which was noisy and broke down relatively fast. Eight Sleep is pricey but has been worth it so far.

5. 😎 Keeping the bedroom cool. In winter we just keep the heater off. In summer Eight Sleep did a lot of the heavy lifting as we don’t have air conditioning due to being in an old Berlin building (altbau). There’s also a metal fan we use at times.

6. 🫶 My partner counter to all the sleep improvement advice I sleep way better when he’s home. There are nights when we accidentally wake each-other up but 80% of the time he has a positive impact on my sleep. And mornings are more fun since we keep each-other accountable for getting out of bed on time.

Behavioral Changes

1. Getting up at the same time each day.

   1. I chose the 06:15-06:30 interval because I like having some unscheduled me time before the incessant demands of the world come in.

   2. Learned this during the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) with Dr. Maya Fehling at The Longevity Practice. It’s super effective but hard in the first 14-30 days until your body gets used to it and just wakes you up.

2. No naps. Push through and go to bed earlier.

3. Food at least 5 hours before bed. Even small things like eating an apple have a noticeable effect. In an ideal world I’d stop eating by 13:00, but most days I settle for 17:00.

4. No liquids 3 hours before. Prevents waking up at night.

Things that still affect my sleep regardless of the above

1. Social events 😢 I’m somewhat of an introverted-extrovert and need at least 30 min to unwind after an event with large groups of people. If I have the chance I walk for at least 15 minutes after leaving the event. A warm shower also helps.

2. Alcohol. Easy to avoid by ordering non-alcoholic sparkling wine or water. I don’t miss it at all, realized I was drinking it in social settings on autopilot.

3. Sauna at least 3 hours before bed. Because it raises the heart rate.

4. Caffeine after 10:00 AM. I’m aware that the half-life of caffeine is smaller than 12h but this worked for me best to avoid a wired but tired feeling at bedtime.

5. Feeling sick or in physical pain. Obviously. Happens 1-2 days/month. I take 200-400mg Ibuprofen unless there’s a specific condition to medicate for.

Next Steps

Improve more on the behavioral things like not eating in the evenings and land at a 90s sleep score. Most of the setbacks I get when traveling. I have 50% less travel this year than in 2024 and 2025 so I’m optimistic. 🤞

Curious what reliably worked for you. Sleep well 🥱🛌