Research
Micronutrients & recovery
Tryptophan supplementation (1 g or more) increases subjective sleepiness and decreases time to sleep in subjects with mild insomnia.
If you have mild insomnia, tryptophan supplementation of 1 gram or more may help you fall asleep faster and feel sleepier. This works by increasing serotonin levels in the brain.
ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
Considering the role of serotonin, it has been indicated that supplementation of tryptophan (1 g or more) produces an increase in subjective sleepiness and a decreased time to sleep especially in subjects with mild insomnia [62].
Why this rating
Based on a cited study, but the paper notes mixed results for other amino acids and sleep.
Source
The Effects of Dietary Nutrition on Sleep and Sleep Disorders
Mingxia Zhao et al. · Mediators of Inflammation · 2020
DOI 10.1155/2020/3142874
narrative_reviewCited 266×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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