We spend about one-third of our lives asleep—roughly 25 years for the average person. But these hours aren’t wasted time. While you rest, your body is busy repairing and restoring, ensuring you can function optimally the next day.
However, the difference between waking up refreshed and waking up exhausted may come down to whether your body has the proper nutritional support for overnight recovery. When your system lacks the nutrients needed to activate the parasympathetic nervous system—your natural “rest-and-digest” mode—it can struggle to fully relax. As a result, your brain clears away less metabolic waste, muscles repair more slowly, and stress hormones may remain elevated.
At the same time, you don’t need to overcomplicate nutrition. With a few simple changes and possibly some supplementation, you can support your body and give it what it needs to repair and restore, so you can wake up feeling truly refreshed.
What should your evening nutrition routine include?
Ideally, you want to start your evening nutrition routine about two to three hours before bed. However, it’s understandable that this doesn’t always translate to real life. But even having a routine in the hour leading up to bed may make a significant difference. In fact, research shows that small, nutrient-dense, low-energy foods (less than 150 calories) leading up to bedtime can even promote positive physiological changes.
In other words, it’s best to opt for an evening snack (if you so choose) loaded with nutrients that work with your brain’s natural chemistry, support GABA activity, lower stress hormones like cortisol, and promote healthy sleep cycles. The following four nutrients do just that, helping you ease into a relaxing night.
Glycine
Glycine is an amino acid that supports both body and mind. It aids tissue repair, calms the brain, and even lowers your core body temperature—a natural cue that it’s time for sleep.
Research shows that two grams of glycine taken before bed can significantly reduce the time it takes to fall asleep while improving subjective sleep quality and reducing daytime fatigue. Unlike sleep medications that force you into sedation, glycine works by enhancing your natural rhythms. It increases serotonin levels, which then convert to melatonin, and, in turn, it helps your brain transition more smoothly between sleep stages.
Glycine can be naturally found in bone broth, gelatin, and collagen-rich foods like chicken skin and pork rinds. It’s worth noting, however, that reaching recommended beneficial doses through diet alone can be challenging, which is where supplementation may play a role.
Most people naturally consume around one gram of glycine through their diet, which is why typical supplement doses range from two to five grams. Glycine is commonly available in powder form and can be dissolved in water or herbal tea, ideally taken about an hour before bedtime.
Apigenin
Found abundantly in chamomile, parsley, and celery, apigenin is a flavonoid that binds to the same brain receptors as anti-anxiety medications—but without the dependency risks or morning grogginess. In fact, this plant compound interacts with benzodiazepine receptors to encourage relaxation while avoiding the heavy sedation that can disrupt natural sleep cycles.
Studies suggest that 50-200 mg of apigenin can reduce anxiety and improve sleep onset, particularly in those who frequently experience racing thoughts at night. While you could theoretically get apigenin from drinking several cups of chamomile tea nightly, the concentration varies wildly between brands and batches. Dried parsley contains about 45 mg per gram, but this often isn’t enough to promote sleep. This may make standardized supplements, typically derived from chamomile extract, a more reliable option for consistent results.
Ashwagandha
Ashwagandha is an adaptogen, meaning it helps your body maintain balance under stress, but its effects on sleep go beyond simple stress reduction.
Taking 300-600 mg in the evening may help lower cortisol that often spikes inappropriately at night, disrupting sleep onset and quality. But ashwagandha does more than just reduce stress hormones.
It also enhances GABA receptor sensitivity, making your brain more responsive to your own calming neurotransmitters. It further supports thyroid function, which regulates metabolism and body temperature—both important for optimal, quality sleep.
While you can consume ashwagandha root powder mixed into warm milk (the traditional preparation), the taste is notably bitter and earthy. Most people prefer standardized extracts that concentrate the active compounds called withanolides. The effects of ashwagandha tend to build over time, with most studies showing significant improvements in sleep quality after six to eight weeks of consistent use.
Magnesium L-Threonate
Unlike other forms of magnesium, L-threonate is more effective at raising magnesium levels in the brain. Developed by MIT researchers, it crosses the blood-brain barrier more efficiently than other forms and may support the neural processes involved in sleep.
A typical dose of 1,000-2,000 mg (providing 144-288 mg of elemental magnesium) taken one to two hours before bed can dramatically improve both sleep quality and cognitive function.
Magnesium L-threonate appears to enhance slow-wave sleep—the deepest, most restorative phase where memory consolidation and cellular repair peak. It also helps regulate the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate, essentially turning down the volume on neural activity when it’s time to rest.
While foods like dark chocolate, almonds, and spinach provide magnesium, even eating massive quantities may not achieve the targeted neurological effects of magnesium L-threonate. Thus, in many cases, supplementing can be a better option!
Additional Strategies for Restorative Sleep
Beyond targeted supplementation, several environmental and behavioral factors can dramatically enhance your body’s overnight healing capacity. Here are a few more tips to help you get that restful night you deserve:
- Keep your bedroom dark (blackout curtains or eye masks), cool (65-68°F), and quiet (consider white noise or earplugs). Even small amounts of light can suppress melatonin production and disrupt sleep cycles.
- Stop eating two to three hours before bed to allow complete digestion. Late-night meals elevate body temperature and trigger metabolic processes that compete with sleep. If hunger strikes, choose easily digestible options like a small amount of honey or herbal tea.
- Use blue light blocking glasses or switch devices to night mode after sunset (or opt to avoid screens altogether).
- Practice the 3-2-1 rule: No food 3 hours before bed, no fluids 2 hours before (to minimize bathroom trips), and no screens 1 hour before sleep. Use that final hour for calming activities like reading, stretching, or meditation.
- A warm bath or shower 90 minutes before bed raises your body temperature, then drops it, mimicking the natural cooling that triggers sleepiness. Thus, this can be a great option to unwind and prepare your body and mind for sleep.
The evening nutrition routine is one of the most overlooked tools for improving sleep, recovery, and overall performance. Start with one or two nutrients and adjust based on your response. And ensure you track not only how quickly you fall asleep (such as with a wearable device), but also how refreshed you feel, how steady your energy is the next day, and how well you handle stress. When you give your body what it needs for overnight restoration, sleep becomes more than rest—it becomes a foundation for long-term health and vitality.
Curious to learn more about how to support your body in the best way possible? Welle uses advanced testing to identify your nutrient gaps and creates a personalized supplement plan based on real data—not guesswork. Learn more about our approach here.
Sources
- Aminoff, M. J., Boller, F., & Swaab, D. F. (2011). We spend about one-third of our life either sleeping or attempting to do so. Handbook of clinical neurology, 98, vii. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-52006-7.00047-2
- Kinsey, A. W., & Ormsbee, M. J. (2015). The health impact of nighttime eating: old and new perspectives. Nutrients, 7(4), 2648–2662. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu7042648
- Bannai, M., Kawai, N., Ono, K., Nakahara, K., & Murakami, N. (2012). The effects of glycine on subjective daytime performance in partially sleep-restricted healthy volunteers. Frontiers in neurology, 3, 61. https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2012.00061
- Salehi, B., Venditti, A., Sharifi-Rad, M., Kręgiel, D., Sharifi-Rad, J., Durazzo, A., Lucarini, M., Santini, A., Souto, E. B., Novellino, E., Antolak, H., Azzini, E., Setzer, W. N., & Martins, N. (2019). The Therapeutic Potential of Apigenin. International journal of molecular sciences, 20(6), 1305. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms20061305
- Cheah, K. L., Norhayati, M. N., Husniati Yaacob, L., & Abdul Rahman, R. (2021). Effect of Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) extract on sleep: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PloS one, 16(9), e0257843. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0257843
- Hausenblas, H. A., Lynch, T., Hooper, S., Shrestha, A., Rosendale, D., & Gu, J. (2024). Magnesium-L-threonate improves sleep quality and daytime functioning in adults with self-reported sleep problems: A randomized controlled trial. Sleep medicine: X, 8, 100121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleepx.2024.100121
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