Sleepy Sleep – Herbal Sleep Cycle Support | 60 Vegetarian Capsules
Sleepy Sleep is a bedtime formula that pairs four traditional evening herbs with a little melatonin. Each capsule has 100 mg hops flower extract, 100 mg lemon balm leaf, 75 mg chamomile extract (1.2% apigenin), 50 mg passionflower extract, 25 mg 5-HTP, 20 mg magnesium and 1 mg melatonin. The bottle holds 60 vegetarian capsules. It helps you relax and supports a healthy sleep-wake cycle.†
Sleepy Sleep is for adults whose bodies are tired at bedtime but whose brains didn't get the memo. It spreads the work across a little melatonin, a serotonin building block and four bedtime herbs, not one big dose of anything.† If you're in your 30s or 40s and already working on how you'll feel at 70 and 80, a steady bedtime belongs on that list. Aging isn't optional. Getting old is.
Why people take Sleepy Sleep
- To relax and unwind at the end of the day, with chamomile, lemon balm, hops and passionflower in one capsule.†
- To fall asleep more easily, with 1 mg of melatonin adding to the "it's night" signal the brain already sends.†
- To support a healthy sleep-wake cycle when late screens or weekends push bedtime around.†
- To supply 5-HTP, the building block the body uses to make serotonin, which it later turns into melatonin.†
What's in each serving
| Ingredient | Amount per serving | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|
| Magnesium (from magnesium citrate) | 20 mg | 4% |
| Hops Flowers 4:1 Extract (Humulus lupulus) | 100 mg | * |
| Lemon Balm Leaf (Melissa officinalis) | 100 mg | * |
| Chamomile Flower Standardized Extract (Matricaria recutita, standardized to 1.2% apigenin) | 75 mg | * |
| Passionflower Herb 4:1 Extract (Passiflora incarnata) | 50 mg | * |
| 5-Hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP from Griffonia simplicifolia seed) | 25 mg | * |
| Melatonin | 1 mg | * |
*Daily Value not established. Serving size: 1 Vegetarian Capsule. Servings per container: 60 (the bottle holds 60 vegetarian capsules, and a serving is 1 capsule). Other ingredients: Vegetable cellulose (from capsule shell) and marshmallow root. Label statement: "NO soy, salt, yeast, gluten, milk & egg products, sugar, starch, or preservatives."
How Sleepy Sleep works
Melatonin: a small dose of the body's night signal
Melatonin is the hormone your brain releases in the evening as light fades. It doesn't knock you out; it tells your body it's night. Sleepy Sleep uses 1 mg, small on purpose. In a sleep-lab study, 12 healthy young volunteers took 0.3 mg, 1 mg or a placebo at 9 PM. Melatonin shortened the time it took to fall asleep, and neither dose changed the structure of their sleep or left them groggy the next morning (Zhdanova 1996).† The study was small, tested melatonin alone, and dosed two to four hours before bedtime, not 45 to 60 minutes.
5-HTP: the step between tryptophan and serotonin
Your body turns tryptophan, an amino acid in food, into 5-HTP, then serotonin, then melatonin. The first step, tryptophan to 5-HTP, is the rate-limiting one, and supplemental 5-HTP starts past it (Maffei 2020).† This 5-HTP comes from Griffonia simplicifolia seeds. At 25 mg it plays a supporting role. We haven't found sleep trials of that amount in healthy adults, so we claim no sleep effect for it alone.
Chamomile: standardized to apigenin
This chamomile extract is standardized to 1.2% apigenin, one of its main flavonoids (about 0.9 mg per capsule), so each batch carries a set amount of that compound, not just a set weight of flower. In a single-blind trial, 60 adults aged 60 and over took 200 mg of chamomile extract or a 200 mg wheat flour capsule twice a day for 28 days, and sleep quality scores came out better with chamomile (Adib-Hajbaghery 2017).† That was 400 mg a day, far more than one capsule's 75 mg, in older adults who started out sleeping poorly.
Lemon balm: the calm-down leaf
Sleepy Sleep uses 100 mg of lemon balm leaf, a lemon-scented mint-family herb. In a double-blind crossover study, 18 healthy volunteers took a single 300 mg or 600 mg dose of a standardized extract, or a placebo, before a 20-minute multitasking stress test. After 600 mg they rated themselves calmer, and less alert, than after placebo (Kennedy 2004).† That was a daytime test of a larger dose, not a sleep study.
Hops and passionflower: two traditional evening herbs
Both are 4:1 extracts: about four parts of dried plant went into each part of extract. In a small study, 17 healthy female nurses working rotating or night shifts drank a non-alcoholic beer with hops at supper for 14 days; wrist monitors showed them falling asleep in about 12 minutes versus about 20.5 minutes in their own comparison period (Franco 2012).† The researchers credit hops' bitter resins, which they say raise GABA, the brain's main calming messenger. No placebo, and it was beer, not a capsule.
Passionflower is a climbing vine long used in the evening. In a double-blind trial, 41 healthy adults aged 18 to 35 drank passionflower tea or a placebo tea daily for a week each. Only one of six sleep-diary measures, sleep quality, came out better on passionflower (Ngan 2011).†
Magnesium: a small supporting amount
Each capsule has 20 mg of magnesium from magnesium citrate. Small studies find citrate is absorbed more completely than oxide, and adults need 310 to 420 mg a day (NIH Office of Dietary Supplements), so this is a top-up. For more, see our guide to the magnesium amounts and forms used in sleep studies, or Good Magnesium, with 200 mg per capsule.
What the research does and doesn't show
No trial has tested Sleepy Sleep as a formula. Each study above tested one ingredient, often at a different dose, form or time. The firmest evidence is for low-dose melatonin and falling asleep a bit faster; the herb studies are small, short, and often used more than one capsule provides.
How to take Sleepy Sleep
Directions (from the label): "As a dietary supplement, one to two capsules 45 to 60 minutes prior to retiring for sleep."
Start with one. One capsule is 1 mg of melatonin and 25 mg of 5-HTP. Two double everything, so move to two only if one isn't enough.
Warning (from the label): "Do not take prior to driving or operating heavy equipment. Not recommended while pregnant or lactating unless directed by health care practitioner. Individuals under 18 years old consult with health care practitioner before use." Ask your healthcare practitioner before use if you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or have a medical condition.
Don't take our word for it
- Verified by independent labs. ISO 17025-accredited labs check our test results.
- Every ingredient lot tested before use. Federal rules only require an identity test. We test every incoming lot, the herbs included, for identity, potency, heavy metals and microbes.
- If it misses spec, it doesn't go in a bottle. More than 99% of our tests pass, and the lots that don't are turned away.
- A certificate of analysis for every lot. Every lot of Sleepy Sleep gets one.
Made in the USA. Made and tested in Mt. Angel, Oregon. It's a farm town of about 3,500 in the Willamette Valley, and our UL-certified cGMP facility is there. The people who formulate, make and test Sleepy Sleep work under one roof, and the owners work in the building too; the company has been owner-run since 2017. We've been making supplements in Oregon since 1974. That's 52 years, and we're not getting old either.
Frequently asked questions
How and when should I take Sleepy Sleep?
One or two capsules, 45 to 60 minutes before sleep, per the label; it doesn't mention food either way. Start with one.
How soon will I notice a difference?
The melatonin may help the first night: in the sleep-lab study, one evening dose shortened the time to fall asleep that same night (Zhdanova 1996). The herb sleep studies ran one to four weeks, so give the formula a couple of weeks. Expect an easier wind-down, not a light switch.†
Will Sleepy Sleep make me groggy the next morning?
It didn't happen with low-dose melatonin in the study we cite: in that 1996 study, neither 0.3 mg nor 1 mg left people worse off on next-morning mood or performance tests (Zhdanova 1996). The full formula hasn't been tested for this, so try it first on a night you can sleep in.
Can I take Sleepy Sleep with Sleep Dots, Melatonin 3 mg or 5-HTP?
Ask your healthcare practitioner first, because they overlap. Sleep Dots have 1 mg of melatonin per dot, Melatonin 3 mg Timed Release has 3 mg per capsule, and our 5-HTP capsule has 100 mg of 5-HTP. None of these labels gives directions for combining them.
Is Sleepy Sleep safe to take with my medication?
Ask your healthcare practitioner before you start. Melatonin and 5-HTP both sit on the body's serotonin-to-melatonin pathway (Maffei 2020), so this matters most if you take anything that affects serotonin or a prescription sleep medicine.
Is Sleepy Sleep vegetarian?
The label calls them vegetarian capsules. The shell is vegetable cellulose, and the only other item on the Other Ingredients list is marshmallow root.
Keep learning
- Calm + Sleep Stack: Sleepy Sleep, Relaxing Passion Flower and 5-HTP in one bundle.
- Relaxing Passion Flower: 50 mg of passion flower 4:1 extract per lozenge, for use throughout the day.
References
- Zhdanova IV et al. Effects of low oral doses of melatonin, given 2-4 hours before habitual bedtime, on sleep in normal young humans. Sleep. 1996. PubMed
- Maffei ME. 5-Hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP): Natural Occurrence, Analysis, Biosynthesis, Biotechnology, Physiology and Toxicology. Int J Mol Sci. 2020. PubMed
- Adib-Hajbaghery M, Mousavi SN. The effects of chamomile extract on sleep quality among elderly people: A clinical trial. Complement Ther Med. 2017. PubMed
- Kennedy DO et al. Attenuation of laboratory-induced stress in humans after acute administration of Melissa officinalis (Lemon Balm). Psychosom Med. 2004. PubMed
- Franco L et al. The sedative effect of non-alcoholic beer in healthy female nurses. PLoS One. 2012. PubMed
- Ngan A, Conduit R. A double-blind, placebo-controlled investigation of the effects of Passiflora incarnata (passionflower) herbal tea on subjective sleep quality. Phytother Res. 2011. PubMed
†These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
