Does magnesium help with sleep

Magnesium is thought to work as an antagonist of N-methyl-D-aspartate and gamma-aminobutyric acid, which helps regulate the sleep-wake cycle and thus promotes a healthy night’s rest. And there’s also some evidence that a deficiency of the mineral may be linked to sleep disorders.

A small study involving elderly people suffering from insomnia found that magnesium supplementation reduced the time it took to fall asleep by 17 minutes compared to a placebo. But at the same time, the supplement had no effect on the quality of night’s rest.