You’ve probably heard of people raving about using GABA for sleep.
But, while it may have some promising properties, the research on the actual usage of GABA for sleep is incredibly thin. Here’s what you need to know.
What Is GABA?
GABA is a neurotransmitter. You have GABA receptors all over your body (brain, immune cells, and your intestinal tract). It’s not quite clear what or how GABA does, but that’s all currently under study.
GABA stands for Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid
Typical Gaba Dosage
Typically GABA is dosed between 3-5mg. This is just typical - it’s not necessarily the amount any study has concluded is beneficial.
Gaba Structure
- structure coming soon
How Gaba Works
GABA is a neurotransmitter and has relatively sedative and calming effects. But it has not been studied how this exactly works.
While GABA has not been studied extensively - it’s hypothesized that many . Those compounds promote sleep and reduce a
It is not well known yet if exogenous GABA (GABA you would supplement with) is able to cross the blood-brain barrier. It does seem that nitric oxide may help with this.
Benefits of GABA
Again, the evidence is pretty thin for GABA overall in how its supplementation is concerned.
In your brain naturally - it’s an inhibitor transmitter (or a ‘downer’). For this reason, GABA is primarily used to help suppress and repress your nervous system.
However, advocates for GABA say that the supplement can help:
- Improve anxiety
- Improve sleep
However, as we’ll find out - the actual studies here are thin.
GABA for Sleep
Proponents of GABA talk extensively about its usage for sleep - the only problem is there are no actual studies on this.
How Much GABA Should You Take For Sleep?
GABA is typically dosed in 3-5g, but there’s very little research on this being an optimal dosage.
Further, there are currently zero studies on using GABA for improved for sleep. Currently - all the postulation around GABA is from understanding how the transmitters work and making inferences from there.
Why We Don’t Recommend GABA For Sleep
If you haven’t figured it out - we don’t recommend GABA to help improve your overall sleep.
While, we’re open to seeing actual studies being done on GABA - there need to be a lot more studies to meet the total hype around the compound.
If you like GABA and want to take it - that’s fine, but when someone is trying to sell you GABA as a gamechanging supplement for your sleep - ask them for the studies on it. There aren’t any.
You’re much better off with a well-researched sleep cocktail like Impossible Sleep.
The Best GABA Supplement
We don’t currently recommend any GABA supplements