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13.10.2022

Meta-study | In this dosage, L-tryptophan improves the quality of sleep

Recently, we bored our five readers to death with articles about tryptophan as a body re-compositoning drug and sports supplement. We would almost forget that tryptophan is best known as a supplement that improves sleep. Especially if you use the stuff in the right dosage.

Study
Researchers from the National University of Singapore found 4 studies in the scientific literature that were suitable for a meta-analysis. In the studies, subjects had been given an L-tryptophan supplement 20-30 minutes before going to sleep, and researchers had subsequently recorded the amino acid's effect on sleep.

The Singaporeans merged the results of the studies and re-analyzed them.

Results
There was a tendency for tryptophan supplementation to cause subjects to fall asleep earlier and to increase total sleep time, but there were no statistically significant differences.

According to the researchers, supplementation with L-tryptophan did improve the quality of sleep. The subjects who took tryptophan woke up significantly less often after falling asleep.

Click on the figure below for a larger version.

When the researchers broke down their data by the doses used in the studies, they found the better results in trials using doses of at least 1 gram of tryptophan per intake. That dose roughly halved the number of minutes the subjects spent awake in bed after falling asleep.

Conclusion
"Tryptophan supplementation, especially at > 1 g can help improve sleep quality", the researchers conclude.

Source:
Nutr Rev. 2022 Jan 10;80(2):306-16.

More:
Sleep aid L-tryptophan works at daytime too 16.10.2010

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