Andrew Huberman has become world famous for his in-depth, long-form podcasts, but he might be best known for his sleep cocktail stack. Eschewing traditional sleep remedies like sedatives or melatonin – Andrew’s sleep cocktail promotes natural ingredients that don’t have habit-forming tendencies or have long-term interactions with other medications.
Key takeaways:
- The sleep cocktail is a combination of magnesium, l-theanine and apigenin.
- The mechanisms of actions are related to calming the brain before bed while promoting deep sleep & relaxation through the ngiht.
- The cocktail is recommended to take ~30 minutes before bed.
- There needs to be significantly more research around the use of magnesium l-threonate and sleep.
So how can you make this on your own and what products out there conform to his recommendations?
The Andrew Huberman Sleep Cocktail Stack
- 300-400mg of magnesium (threonate, bisglycinate, orcitrate)
- 100-200mg of l-theanine
- 50mg of apigenin (optional)
The thinking behind this cocktail is the following:
- The magnesium promotes deep sleep and muscle recovery
- The l-theanine promotes a calming “wind down” at night that helps you chill out before you go to bed.
- Apigenin is used as an anti-anxiety tool and at higher dosages can have sedative effects actually.
You can see Andrew talk about his cocktail on this episode of the Joe Rogan experience
Products on the market that fit the Huberman sleep cocktail protocol
There are no official products on the market that fit Huberman’s sleep stack. He used to have a partnership with Thorne and now has one with Momentous. However, these are primarily pill-based products that you are supposed to take before bed.
But, there is a drink mix from IMPOSSIBLE called Impossible Sleep that fits the specification range exactly and comes in several solid flavors.
Impossible Sleep contains:
- 350mg Magnesium
- 150mg L-theanine
- Stevia
That’s it.
If you’re looking for something that matches the protocol that you can have in a nice evening drink (cold or warm), take a look.
With magnesium and l-theanine dosed at the correct amounts, you’re good to go.
→ You can also get Impossible Sleep on Amazon here.
A sleep drink that's backed by science with none of the unnecessary extras. Our favorite for a natural wind down, that won't spike your blood sugar, and helps you sleep better.
Caution Using Apigenin
While many people use apigenin in the stack and find it works well for them, this is the one product that does seem to have some interactions with other medications as it acts on the GABA receptors in your brain. If you’re on any sort of medications, consult with your doctor before taking this on.
If you need a good source of apigenin, Turk Labs produces a well-produced & tested product.
Perfect addition to individually stack in the "huberman sleep stack" to help calm your mind and ready you for sleep.
Issues with Magnesium L-Threonate
While Huberman often talks about the benefits of magnesium l-threonate in his cocktail and speaks about that form and magnesium bisglycinate as interchangeable. However, it’s worth noting that there is a significant elemental different between bisglycinate and l-threonate. L-threonate is typically 7.5% magnesium by volume and bisglyinate is roughly double that.
So if you want to get the same amount of actual magnesium from each compound, you should actually take double the amount of l-threonate that you would from bisglyinate.
It’s also worth noting that magnesium l-threonate has zero studies related to sleep. While the conjecture that Huberman makes about l-threonate crossing the blood brain barrier (it is the only form that does so) meaning it improves sleep – the studies on magnesium intake & sleep have been done with the magnesium citrate + bisglycinate forms. As of this article, there are no research articles on l-threonate and sleep and the research associated with magnesium l-threonate is focused on neurological disorders, alzheimers and anxiety.
Updates to the Huberman Sleep Cocktail
Recently, Andrew has mentioned that he will sometimes add 900mg of Myo-inositol but this is a relatively new addition and not something that he has traditionally included.
A Note on Other Compounds
While many resources out there claim that GABA and glycine are a part or Andrew’s sleep stack, this is not true. They have been mentioned by him as useful, but are not part of his typical “stack” he recommends when discussing optimal sleep routines.
Andrew Huberman on Melatonin
Andrew Huberman does not recommend melatonin for sleep.
Additional Huberman Sleep Resoruces
While the “huberman sleep cocktail” is sexy because it includes supplements – there’s several other Huberman sleep cues that don’t get nearly as much play because they’re behavior changes – which (I can speak from experience) are much harder to pull off on a regular basis.
Get Sun Exposure Early
Part of having a good nighttime routine is jumpstarting your circadian rhythm and making sure you get sunlight early on in the day (typically within 30 minutes of waking).
Avoid blue light after 10pm
Blue light can throw off the other side of your circadian rhythm. Avoiding it as much as possible – but especially at night – can be very useful in making sure your “body clock” stays on track.
Avoid caffeine after 2pm
This might be the toughest of them all. Caffeine is a known productivity tool, but again can mess with your body’s natural circadian rhythm and if especially if you’re caffeine sensitive or have a hard time winding down at night – try to stop using this as early as you can in the day.
Avoid Alcohol
Alcohol can ruin your deep sleep and ability to recover. If you have any doubt about this, wear a whoop for two evenings. Drink one and abstain the next. The different is wild.
Sleep in a Cold Room
“Sleeping cold” can help you maintain deep sleep and avoid mid-sleep wakeups throughout the night.
Other Huberman Sleep Cocktail Protocols & Resources
Andrew Huberman seems like he’s doing podcasts constantly and has discussed this sleep cocktail often. Here’s a few of his most popular appearances.
You can see all of Andrew’s sleep recommendations here in tweet form.
He also released a short 6-part sleep series on optimizing your sleep routine here.
Other content on Huberman’s Sleep Cocktail
For more details on huberman’s sleep cocktail, here are some other helpful resoruces:
