How Do Sleep Supplements Work?

How Do Sleep Aids Actually Work?

Sleeping supplements are big business right now. If any of you have taken a look at our sleep aid reviews on VAGA.org, you'll know that there are dozens of products on the market now all promising to enhance your sleep.

Some of them promise to help you stay asleep for longer.

Others claim to boost recovery during sleep.

A small but sizable number are designed to promote lucid dreaming. 

Most of them simply say that they will help rectify your sleeping issues and allow you to get a good, solid night's sleep without causing serious side effects. 

There is no doubt that many of these supplements work. Natural sleep aids are extremely effective at improving various different aspects of sleep. 

But how do they work exactly?

Here is a quick overview of some of the main benefits of sleep aids, and how they go about dleivering them. 

Curing Jet Lag

This is one of the most common reasons why people use sleep aids. 

It's little wonder why - jet lag can be horrible. 

Individuals who travel a lot for work can often find that their sleeping cycles get completely ruined; even when they're back in their normal environment, it can take weeks for them to fall back into a healthy sleeping schedule. 

Many sleep aids contain melatonin. This is the hormone which regulates your sleeping patterns. Higher levels of melatonin make us sleepy - spikes keep us in deep sleep - and low levels leave us feeling fresh and awake. 

Supplementing with melatonin shortly before you want to sleep can bring on sleep at exactly the right time. Consuming a relatively large dose of melatonin before you hit the sack can keep you in an unbroken, deep sleep for a solid few hours. This might be just what you need to break out of your jet lag!

Reducing Sleep Latency

Sleep latency is where you can't fall asleep when you'd like to. 

This is an extremely common problem - lots of us lie awake at night for hours, tossing and turning, thinking about problems, or just wondering why we're suddenly not tired!

There are some natural substances which help reduce sleep latency. 

Theanine, for example, has been found to drastically reduce the amount of time it takes for people to fall asleep at night (source). It seems to primarily work by relaxing the muscles and the mind. It is not a sedative - rather, it seems to be a very mild anxiolytic and pain reliever. 

Many sleep aids utilize theanine to help you fall right to sleep as soon as your head hits the pillow.