Natural Remedies for Insomnia, Part 1: What to Check Before You Reach for Herbs
This is part one of a two-part article. Part one covers the everyday things that get in the way of sleep: light, movement, stimulants, medications, and food, along with a few gentle options like tart cherry juice and chamomile and lemon balm tea. Part two gets into the stronger medicinal herbs, including valerian, skullcap, passionflower, kava, and nutmeg. It lives on my Substack, Deep Roots with Ivy, and you can read part two here or use the button at the bottom of this page.
I'm a clinical herbalist, and when someone in my family stops sleeping well, herbs are not the first thing I reach for. Insomnia usually has more than one cause, and a sedative herb can only do so much if bright screens, late caffeine, or a medication are pushing the other way. So I start with the list below.
Key takeaways
- Bright indoor light and screens at night delayed melatonin in lab studies, and morning daylight pulled the body clock earlier.
- Caffeine taken six hours before bed still cut sleep by more than an hour in one trial.
- Plenty of common medications list insomnia as a side effect, including thyroid hormone, steroids, and some antidepressants. An overactive thyroid can cause it too.
- A dinner with enough carbohydrate, glycine-rich foods, and tart cherry juice each have small studies behind them.
- Chamomile and lemon balm are gentle herbs, and one tea bag is a small dose.
This article is for education only. It does not diagnose, treat, or replace care from a licensed clinician. I am a clinical herbalist, not a physician. Do not start, stop, or change a medication based on this article. Herbs and foods can interact with medications and may not suit pregnancy, liver conditions, or the weeks around surgery, and people respond differently. Sleep trouble that lasts beyond a few weeks is worth raising with a clinician, since conditions such as sleep apnea and thyroid disorders can be behind it. If you are in crisis, call or text your local crisis line.
Start with your light diet
Evidence: strong. Controlled studies in human volunteers.
The body clock is set mostly by light. Daylight tells it to be alert, and darkness tells it to start making melatonin, the hormone that gets you ready for sleep. Most LED bulbs and screens give off blue-toned light, which the research shows is the kind that interferes with that signal at night.
A Harvard team tested this with 116 volunteers. People who spent the evening in ordinary room light made melatonin for about 90 fewer minutes than people who spent it in dim light. The same group later compared reading on a glowing e-reader with reading a paper book before bed, and the e-reader readers took longer to fall asleep and were groggier the next morning.
Morning light does the reverse. In a University of Colorado study, eight people went camping for a week with no electric lights, and by the end their melatonin was starting about two hours earlier in the evening.
So in my house we get outside for a few minutes of full-spectrum daylight every morning, and at night we dim the lights and stay off screens. It takes a while, but the research suggests these habits can nudge your circadian rhythm in the right direction.
Move enough to feel tired
Evidence: moderate. A 2015 review that pooled exercise and sleep studies.
Sleep research ties a sedentary lifestyle to insomnia. If you sit most of the day, your body may not be tired enough to sleep, even when your mind is worn out. A 2015 review that pooled the exercise studies found that people who were active on a regular basis fell asleep faster and slept longer.
At home, my answer is to go wear yourself out on a long walk after dinner, or get some other movement in during the day, so you feel tired around bedtime.
Look at caffeine, nicotine, and stimulating supplements
Evidence: strong for caffeine and nicotine. Thinner for individual supplements.
Caffeine lasts longer than most people think. In a sleep lab study in Detroit, volunteers took 400 mg of caffeine (roughly a large coffee shop coffee) six hours before bed and lost more than an hour of sleep. Most of them didn't notice, because their sleep diaries looked normal while the sleep monitor showed the loss.
Nicotine is a stimulant too, and a 2009 research review found that smokers take longer to fall asleep and sleep more lightly than non-smokers.
Supplements are trickier, because I can't list every stimulating one here and you'll need to look up your own. To give you an idea, the common ones are pre-workout powders and fat burners, anything with green tea extract, guarana, or yerba mate (all caffeine sources), plus ginseng, rhodiola, and tyrosine. Some people also find B vitamins too energizing at night. If you take any of these, try moving them to the morning (with approval from your doctor).
Check whether a medication could be part of it
Evidence: manufacturer prescribing information.
A lot of common medications list insomnia or sleep disturbance as a possible side effect on the label, including:
- Thyroid hormone such as levothyroxine
- Corticosteroids such as prednisone
- SSRI and SNRI antidepressants such as fluoxetine, sertraline, and venlafaxine
- Bupropion
- ADHD stimulants such as methylphenidate and amphetamine salts
- Decongestants that contain pseudoephedrine
- Beta blockers such as metoprolol and propranolol, which also list nightmares or vivid dreams
Thyroid medication is the one people don't expect. I've heard from people who feel a bit stimulated by it, and the levothyroxine label does list insomnia as a sign the dose is too high.
Please don't stop taking a prescribed medication. If the timing matches up with when your sleep fell apart, ask your doctor or pharmacist whether you could take it earlier in the day.
An overactive thyroid can cause insomnia too
The same thing can happen without any medication. In hyperthyroidism, the thyroid makes too much hormone on its own, and endocrinology references list insomnia as one of the symptoms. If your poor sleep comes with a racing heart, shaky hands, feeling hot all the time, or weight loss you can't explain, ask your doctor about a thyroid panel.
Wind down with yoga nidra
Evidence: limited. One small randomized trial in people with chronic insomnia, plus a pilot study.
Yoga nidra is a guided relaxation practice from the yoga tradition in India, sometimes called yogic sleep. You lie on your back and follow a recording that walks your attention through your body and your breath, so you stay awake while your body settles into deep rest. There are no poses or stretching involved.
It has been tested against the standard non-drug treatment for insomnia. Researchers at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi assigned 41 people with chronic insomnia to either yoga nidra or cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia. Both groups reported sleeping longer and spending less time awake at night, and the yoga nidra group also got more deep sleep on lab testing and had lower cortisol afterward. It was a small study, and the patients learned the practice in supervised sessions before doing it on their own.
A later pilot study led by one of the same researchers had people new to the practice listen to a 20-minute yoga nidra recording during the day for two weeks. Their sleep efficiency and deep-sleep brain waves both went up on lab testing.
That daytime detail is useful if lying awake in bed is the problem, because you can do the recording in the afternoon or early evening and you don't have to fall asleep during it. Plenty of free recordings are available online, and all you need is a quiet place to lie down.
Eat enough (high quality) carbohydrates, especially at dinner
Evidence: limited. One small trial, plus the bioenergetic framework I work from.
Your brain uses glucose as its main fuel. When you don't eat enough carbohydrate, your liver has to make glucose out of protein, and that process leans on stress hormones like cortisol. Some people on very low-carb diets report trouble sleeping, and I think this is why. If you've ever done a fast longer than a day, you may have noticed that sleeping can be more difficult.
There's a small study that points the same way. Researchers at the University of Sydney fed twelve men a high-glycemic rice dinner four hours before bed, and they fell asleep in 9 minutes. After a low-glycemic dinner it took 17.5 minutes.
I follow a bioenergetic approach to food, and the idea there is that regular meals with enough carbohydrate signal abundance to your body. A body that senses abundance is less stressed going into the night. If you manage diabetes or another blood sugar condition, work out your carbohydrate intake with your clinician. I have a separate article on blood sugar.
Glycine-rich foods at dinner
Glycine is an amino acid found in gelatin, bone broth, and the skin and slow-cooked cuts of meat. I like to add these foods in at dinner or dessert because they send that same signal of abundance, and there's some early research on glycine and sleep. In one small Japanese trial, volunteers who took 3 grams before bed felt less tired the next day, though the researchers worked for a company that makes glycine. My glycine article covers foods that are high in this nutrient.
Tart cherry juice
Evidence: limited. Small trials, one funded by cherry growers.
Tart cherries naturally contain a small amount of melatonin, along with tryptophan, the amino acid your body uses to make its own. A pilot trial at Louisiana State University had adults over 50 with insomnia drink 8 ounces (240 mL) of Montmorency tart cherry juice twice a day for two weeks. Eight people finished, and on lab sleep testing their sleep time went up by 84 minutes. It was a tiny study, and a cherry growers' group paid for it. A British trial in 20 healthy adults also found more of a melatonin marker in urine after a week of tart cherry concentrate.
How I drink it
I like the flavor, so this one is easy for me. I'll add tart cherry juice to sparkling water with a little lime juice, some maple syrup or raw honey, and a pinch of salt. It's refreshing and hydrating.
The juice is high in natural sugar and sorbitol, and some people find it upsets their stomach.
Chamomile tea
Evidence: limited for sleep. Long traditional use as a calming herb.
Chamomile is one of the oldest bedtime teas in Western herbalism, where it's classed as a nervine, an herb used to calm the nervous system. The research is modest. A 2019 review of 12 trials found that chamomile improved sleep quality, but it did not clearly help with insomnia itself.
That matches my experience: chamomile is good as a tea, but it's pretty mild, and one tea bag (which usually contains about 1.5 grams of herb) probably won't do much. When I make it for sleep, I usually combine with other nervines and make it really strong (5+ grams of dried chamomile flowers) steep it with a lid on to retain the essential oils.
Chamomile is in the same plant family as ragweed, and allergy references note reactions in people who are sensitive to ragweed and its relatives.
Lemon balm tea
Evidence: limited. One small pilot study, plus long traditional use.
Lemon balm is a lemony member of the mint family with a long history as a calming tea. The research is thin. The main sleep study is a 2011 pilot in which 20 volunteers took a leaf extract for 15 days and reported less insomnia, but there was no placebo group and the authors worked for the company that makes the extract.
Like chamomile, it's mild, and I use 10 grams or more of the dried herb when I make it for sleep.
Herbal safety texts flag lemon balm for people on thyroid medication because of some older lab findings, so a pharmacist or clinical herbalist is the person to check with if that's you. I cover the calming herbs in more detail in my guide to herbs for anxiety.
Keep reading: part two is on my Substack
That's the end of part one. Part two gets into the stronger medicinal herbs: valerian, jatamansi, skullcap, passionflower, California poppy, kava, nutmeg, and ashwagandha. I go through how each one has traditionally been used, what the studies show, which kind of insomnia it suits, and the cautions to know about. I also explain why I skip melatonin and hops. It's free to read on Deep Roots with Ivy, with all the sources.
Frequently asked questions
Evidence: answers summarize the studies described above.
How late can I drink coffee without hurting my sleep?
One sleep lab trial points to a cutoff of more than six hours before bed. In that trial, 400 mg of caffeine taken six hours before bedtime still cut sleep by more than an hour. Everyone's different, so you may have to do some trial and error to find out how late you can drink coffee.
Does tart cherry juice help with insomnia?
Small trials report longer sleep with tart cherry juice. In one pilot study of eight adults over 50, sleep time went up by 84 minutes after two weeks of 8 ounces (240 mL) twice a day. The study was small and paid for by a cherry growers' group.
Can medications cause insomnia?
Yes. Labels for thyroid hormone, corticosteroids, several antidepressants, ADHD stimulants, pseudoephedrine, and beta blockers list insomnia or sleep disturbance. Ask your doctor or pharmacist about timing, and don't stop a prescribed medication on your own.
Can thyroid problems cause insomnia?
Yes. Endocrinology references list insomnia as a symptom of an overactive thyroid, and the label for thyroid medication lists it as a sign the dose is too high. A thyroid panel is something to ask your doctor about.
Is chamomile tea strong enough for insomnia?
Chamomile is mild. A 2019 review of 12 trials found it improved sleep quality but did not clearly help with insomnia. One tea bag contains about 1.5 grams of herb, far less than the amount I use at home.
Can a low-carb diet cause insomnia?
Some people report worse sleep on very low-carb diets. In one trial, a high-glycemic dinner four hours before bed cut the time to fall asleep roughly in half compared with a low-glycemic dinner.
Sources
Light
- Gooley JJ, Chamberlain K, Smith KA, et al. Exposure to room light before bedtime suppresses melatonin onset and shortens melatonin duration in humans. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 2011;96(3):E463-E472. doi.org/10.1210/jc.2010-2098
- Chang AM, Aeschbach D, Duffy JF, Czeisler CA. Evening use of light-emitting eReaders negatively affects sleep, circadian timing, and next-morning alertness. PNAS. 2015;112(4):1232-1237. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1418490112
- Wright KP Jr, McHill AW, Birks BR, Griffin BR, Rusterholz T, Chinoy ED. Entrainment of the human circadian clock to the natural light-dark cycle. Current Biology. 2013;23(16):1554-1558. doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2013.06.039
Movement
- Kredlow MA, Capozzoli MC, Hearon BA, Calkins AW, Otto MW. The effects of physical activity on sleep: a meta-analytic review. Journal of Behavioral Medicine. 2015;38(3):427-449. doi.org/10.1007/s10865-015-9617-6
Caffeine and nicotine
- Drake C, Roehrs T, Shambroom J, Roth T. Caffeine effects on sleep taken 0, 3, or 6 hours before going to bed. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. 2013;9(11):1195-1200. doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.3170. Funded by Zeo, Inc., a sleep monitor maker.
- Jaehne A, Loessl B, Bárkai Z, Riemann D, Hornyak M. Effects of nicotine on sleep during consumption, withdrawal and replacement therapy. Sleep Medicine Reviews. 2009;13(5):363-377. doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2008.12.003
Medications and thyroid
- Manufacturer prescribing information (package inserts), Adverse Reactions sections, for levothyroxine, prednisone, fluoxetine, sertraline, venlafaxine, bupropion, methylphenidate, mixed amphetamine salts, metoprolol, and propranolol, and the Drug Facts label for pseudoephedrine. Label database: dailymed.nlm.nih.gov. The labels are written by the manufacturers.
Yoga nidra
- Datta K, Tripathi M, Verma M, et al. Yoga nidra practice shows improvement in sleep in patients with chronic insomnia: a randomized controlled trial. National Medical Journal of India. 2021;34(3):143-150. doi.org/10.25259/NMJI_63_19
- Datta K, et al. Improved sleep, cognitive processing and enhanced learning and memory task accuracy with Yoga nidra practice in novices. PLoS One. 2023;18(12):e0294678. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0294678
Evening carbohydrate and glycine
- Afaghi A, O'Connor H, Chow CM. High-glycemic-index carbohydrate meals shorten sleep onset. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2007;85(2):426-430. doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/85.2.426
- Bannai M, Kawai N, Ono K, Nakahara K, Murakami N. The effects of glycine on subjective daytime performance in partially sleep-restricted healthy volunteers. Frontiers in Neurology. 2012;3:61. doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2012.00061. The authors were employees of Ajinomoto, a glycine manufacturer.
Tart cherry juice
- Losso JN, Finley JW, Karki N, et al. Pilot study of the tart cherry juice for the treatment of insomnia and investigation of mechanisms. American Journal of Therapeutics. 2018;25(2):e194-e201. doi.org/10.1097/MJT.0000000000000584. Financial support from the Cherry Marketing Institute, which is funded by tart cherry growers and processors.
- Howatson G, Bell PG, Tallent J, Middleton B, McHugh MP, Ellis J. Effect of tart cherry juice (Prunus cerasus) on melatonin levels and enhanced sleep quality. European Journal of Nutrition. 2012;51(8):909-916. doi.org/10.1007/s00394-011-0263-7. The concentrate tested was a commercial product, CherryActive.
Chamomile and lemon balm
- Hieu TH, Dibas M, Surya Dila KA, et al. Therapeutic efficacy and safety of chamomile for state anxiety, generalized anxiety disorder, insomnia, and sleep quality: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials. Phytotherapy Research. 2019;33(6):1604-1615. doi.org/10.1002/ptr.6349
- Cases J, Ibarra A, Feuillère N, Roller M, Sukkar SG. Pilot trial of Melissa officinalis L. leaf extract in the treatment of volunteers suffering from mild-to-moderate anxiety disorders and sleep disturbances. Mediterranean Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism. 2011;4(3):211-218. doi.org/10.1007/s12349-010-0045-4. Open-label, no placebo group. Authors were employed by Naturex, maker of the extract.
