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Huberman's Sleep Cocktail: Full Supplement List + Doses

Every dose in Huberman's sleep cocktail, checked against his own newsletter and podcast, with the evidence for each ingredient and who should skip it.

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Huberman's Sleep Cocktail: Full Supplement List + Doses

The Huberman sleep cocktail is three supplements taken 30 to 60 minutes before bed: 145 mg magnesium threonate, 50 mg apigenin and 100 to 400 mg L-theanine. On some nights he adds 2 g glycine and 100 mg GABA, and on others 900 mg myo-inositol. These doses come from his 2021 "Toolkit for Sleep" newsletter and his 2022 Sleep Toolkit episode. No trial has tested the combination, and he suggests starting with one supplement, or none.

Health note: supplements don't treat sleep disorders. If you take any medication, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or have kidney disease, check with your doctor before trying them.

The Huberman sleep cocktail: exact supplements and doses

SupplementDoseHow oftenWhere he says it
Magnesium threonate145 mgBefore bed2021 newsletter, 2022 episode
Magnesium bisglycinate (alternative to threonate)200 mgBefore bed2021 newsletter only
Apigenin50 mgBefore bed2021 newsletter, 2022 episode
L-theanine100 to 400 mgBefore bed2021 newsletter, 2022 episode
Glycine + GABA2 g + 100 mg"3-4 nights per week" (newsletter), "every third or fourth night" (episode)Both
Myo-inositol900 mgEvery other night, never on glycine and GABA nights2022 episode only

The first three are the core, and the rest are extras for some nights. He suggests taking them 30 to 60 minutes before bed, especially if you haven't eaten for about three hours.

Why other sites list different doses

First, 145 mg refers to the magnesium alone. Momentous, the brand his newsletter names, states on its label "Magnesium 145mg (from 2g Magtein® Magnesium L-threonate)". Second, his numbers changed. In his January 2021 episode "Master Your Sleep" he said he took "3 or 400 milligrams of magnesium threonate" and 100 to 200 mg of theanine. Third, inositol isn't in the newsletter. It first appears in his 2022 episode.

An example week

He adds glycine and GABA only every third or fourth night because, in his words, "if I take it too often, I find that the entire sleep stack doesn't work quite as effectively." Inositol goes on alternate nights, never on a glycine night.

One example week: the core three every night, glycine and GABA every fourth night, inositol every other night.
One example week: the core three every night, glycine and GABA every fourth night, inositol every other night.

Who should skip parts of the stack

  • Theanine, if you sleepwalk or have intense dreams. His newsletter is blunt: "Don't take theanine if you have overly intense dreams, sleep-walk, or have night terrors." In the 2022 episode he says some people find theanine's dreams vivid enough to wake them, even at 100 mg.
  • Apigenin, if you want to keep your estrogen where it is. In "Master Your Sleep" Huberman calls apigenin "a fairly potent estrogen inhibitor" and says women who want to keep their estrogen levels where they are should probably avoid it. Men need estrogen too, he adds. That's his caution, not a trial result.
  • Magnesium, if it upsets your stomach. Huberman puts this at about 5% of people, and his advice is to stop taking it.
  • Magnesium, if you have kidney disease. Your kidneys control magnesium balance, and dangerously high blood magnesium is seen almost only in people with poor kidney function who take a lot of it in supplements or antacids.
  • Anything, if you take sleep or anxiety medication. Ask your doctor first if you take a sleeping pill, a benzodiazepine or other sedative, or anxiety medication. In a 1995 lab study, apigenin bound the same brain receptor site as benzodiazepines.
  • Anything, if you're pregnant, breastfeeding or under 18. These are adult doses. Ask your doctor.

What the evidence says for each ingredient

Huberman says the three core supplements "together can really enhance the speed at which one falls asleep and people's ability to stay asleep". One published trial has tested that combination. In 2026, 25 healthy adults took it every evening for two weeks, and their sleep-disturbance scores were no different from placebo (Mastrofini 2026, funded by the supplement maker Momentous). The rest of the evidence below is for each ingredient alone.

Magnesium threonate

Threonate was developed to raise magnesium in the brain, and in a 2010 study it did that in rats. The main human sleep trial gave 80 adults aged 35 to 55 with self-reported sleep problems 1 g a day of magnesium L-threonate or a placebo for 21 days. Oura ring scores for deep and REM sleep improved, as did next-day mood and energy ratings. Three of the authors work for AIDP, which sells the ingredient. More in magnesium threonate for sleep.

Apigenin

Apigenin is a plant compound found in chamomile, though Momentous makes its version from grapefruit. In a 1995 lab and mouse study it bound the benzodiazepine site and made mice less anxious without sedating them. Ten times the dose made them mildly sedated. No published trial has tested 50 mg of apigenin for sleep in people. The closest is a pilot in 34 adults with chronic insomnia who took 270 mg of chamomile extract twice a day for 28 days, and their sleep diaries didn't differ from placebo. See apigenin for sleep.

L-theanine

Theanine is an amino acid from tea. In a small Unilever-funded EEG study, 50 mg raised alpha brain activity in people resting with their eyes closed, a sign of a relaxed mind without drowsiness. An independent 2025 meta-analysis of 19 studies and 897 people found small gains, and every significant one was self-rated. A 2025 review by British American Tobacco researchers settled on 200 to 450 mg a day, above Huberman's 100 mg floor. More in L-theanine for sleep.

Glycine and GABA

Glycine lowered core body temperature and sped up sleep onset in rats. In people, Ajinomoto, which makes glycine, reports better self-rated sleep in people with insomnia tendencies who took it before bed, and less next-day fatigue after 3 g in sleep-restricted volunteers. Huberman takes 2 g. See glycine for sleep.

GABA is the brain's main calming messenger, but there's little evidence that swallowing it helps sleep. A 2020 review of 14 studies found "very limited evidence" that oral GABA helps. One 40-person trial of 300 mg a day did report faster sleep onset after four weeks.

Myo-inositol

Huberman says inositol "turns out to be especially useful for people who have a tendency to wake up in the middle of the night and have a hard time falling back asleep." That comes from his own use. A PubMed search turned up no sleep trial of inositol.

How to start: one supplement at a time

From his newsletter: "I would start with one supplement (or none!) and then add one at a time as needed." In the 2022 episode he puts supplements third in line, after "behavioral tools first, then look to nutrition".

  1. Trouble falling asleep. Start with one core supplement. Magnesium threonate and theanine have small human sleep trials. Apigenin has none.
  2. Waking in the night and staying awake. That's what Huberman uses inositol for.
  3. Still stuck after a week or two. Add the next one. The gap is a rule of thumb, and no study has tested it.

If something goes wrong

  • Stomach upset: stop the magnesium.
  • Disruptive dreams: drop the theanine.
  • Groggy mornings: Huberman says theanine and magnesium together make some people sleep so deeply they struggle to wake, so adjust the doses.
  • No change: go back to light, caffeine timing and a cool room. Insomnia that lasts months needs a doctor.

If you wake at 3 am and can't get back to sleep, his newsletter suggests "doing an NSDR protocol when you wake up". NSDR for sleep covers how to do it in bed.

Momentous or another brand

Huberman's newsletter says he uses Momentous, "or you can pick another source you like and trust." Momentous's "huberman-sleep-stack" web address now redirects to Nightly Sleep, a blend of 200 mg magnesium bisglycinate, 200 mg L-theanine and 50 mg apigenin, with no threonate. The single products list at $49.99 for magnesium L-threonate, $24.99 for apigenin and $39.99 for L-theanine, checked on 8 October 2026.

Single-ingredient products let you change one dose without touching the others, which is why Huberman points people to them. For the rest of his stack, see Huberman's full supplement list.

Why no melatonin?

Huberman leaves melatonin out on purpose. Most products, he says, contain "far, far, far greater" doses than the body makes, and melatonin interacts with other hormone systems, including puberty in children. He adds that occasional use for jet lag is probably fine.

The research gives it a modest role. A 2013 meta-analysis of 19 studies in 1,683 people with sleep disorders found melatonin helped them fall asleep about 7 minutes faster and sleep about 8 minutes longer than placebo. Small doses can work: in an MIT sleep-lab study, 0.3 mg in the evening shortened the time to fall asleep with no hangover the next day. Labels are unreliable, though. A 2017 test of 31 supplements found melatonin content from 83% below to 478% above the stated dose.

FAQ

How long does the Huberman sleep cocktail take to work?

Nobody knows how long the Huberman sleep cocktail takes. The one trial of the combination lasted two weeks and found no effect on sleep in healthy adults. The magnesium threonate trial ran for 21 days. As a rule of thumb, give each new supplement a week or two before judging it.

Can you take all the supplements together?

Huberman takes the three core supplements together and adds glycine and GABA or inositol on separate nights. He still recommends starting with one.

Should women take apigenin?

Huberman says women who want to keep their estrogen where it is should probably avoid apigenin. No human trial has checked his concern. Magnesium and theanine are the other core options, and if you use hormone therapy, ask your doctor.

What if I sleepwalk?

If you sleepwalk, skip the theanine. His newsletter says not to take it if you sleepwalk, have night terrors or have overly intense dreams.

Is it safe to take the Huberman sleep cocktail every night?

Huberman calls the core three his standard stack, and he limits glycine and GABA because taking them more often seemed to make the stack work less well for him. Nobody has studied the long-term safety of the combination, so if you take medication or have kidney disease, ask your doctor first.

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