Glycine powder 3 g
A faintly sweet amino acid: 3 g before bed, studied for sleep quality.
The short version
What it does Three grams before sleep, and the felt quality of the night improves for some people.
What it does not do It is not a sedative and does nothing for a mind that will not stop.
What the studies say
Inagawa’s work on glycine before bed reports an improvement in subjective sleep quality and in how people feel on waking, in people complaining of poor sleep. The mechanism proposed is a drop in core body temperature, which is the physiological signal for falling asleep.
Small numbers, subjective endpoints, and part of the work is tied to a manufacturer in the sector. The level of evidence stays emerging.
Cheap, well tolerated, with a plausible mechanism. Worth trying if melatonin did nothing, not before.
How to take it
Relevant if you take a long time to fall asleep or if you wake up foggy. Not very relevant if your problem is staying asleep.
3 g dissolved in a little water or a warm herbal tea, 45 to 60 minutes before lights out. The taste is slightly sweet, which makes the powder easy to take.
Two weeks. The thing to judge is how you feel on waking, not measured time to fall asleep.
What is inside
A simple, non-essential amino acid that your body already makes. Pure powder, no excipient needed.
Buy pure powder rather than capsules: you need 3 g, which is six to eight capsules, multiplying the price by five for the same product.
The “sleep complex” blends that drown 300 mg of glycine among ten underdosed plants.
Cautions
- On clozapine: avoid
The three options
Pharmaceutical-grade powder, analysed
One single ingredient
The label says “glycine, with no other additive”. One kilo, 714 reviews. Two scoops of the measure make 1,500 mg: the trial dose, with no arithmetic.
For whom — Long-term daily use.
Pure powder in a pouch
“Glycine”, and nothing else
500 g, 571 reviews. A crystalline powder that dissolves in water or a hot drink. The size to try before moving up to the kilo.
For whom — The default choice: 3 g as powder, not capsules.
Large format
Half the price per kilo
The same single-ingredient label as the middle option, but in 1.25 kg: half the price per kilo.
For whom — Anyone who has confirmed the effect and wants a year of it.
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