Cut Back on Melatonin
Melatonin has been a go-to sleep supplement for decades, but many pills contain higher doses than are needed to tell your brain it's time for bed. "If you take too much, you elevate the levels of melatonin in your blood," says Richard Wurtman, MD, professor of neuropharmacology at MIT. "Do that once or twice, and you may feel sleepy and groggy the next day. Do it more often, and your brain will stop responding to the stuff and make insomnia worse." Wurtman recommends taking only a 0.3-milligram dose before bed, even if that means cutting a pill in half.
From the
June 2016 issue of
O, The Oprah Magazine
