Insomnitol by Designs for Health: A Good Sleep Aid?
There is an enormous and diverse selection of sleep aid supplements on the market, and choosing the right product for you can be quite a challenging task, especially if you haven’t already tried a couple of supplements and have no idea what might work for you and what might not.
One of the well-known manufacturers of dietary supplements in the U.S. is Designs for Health. This is a practitioner brand that distributes their products through local health care practitioners. Many doctor offices sell and recommend DFH supplements for their patients, and one of those products is a sleep aid formulation called Insomnitol.
What is Insomnitol?
This is a branded formula that includes a few natural ingredients commonly used as alternative remedies for sleep issues. Here is the list of active ingredients in Insomnitol capsules (dosages shown are per serving of 2 capsules):
- Valerian (400mg)
- Passion flower (200mg)
- Lemon balm (200mg)
- Chamomile (200mg)
- GABA (PharmaGABA) (100mg)
- L-theanine (100mg)
- 5-HTP (100mg)
- Melatonin (3mg)
- Vitamin B6 (10mg)
There aren’t any exclusive or “breakthrough” ingredients in this product! These are all common nutraceuticals that have been known and used in alternative medicine for many years.
Going through some of the scientific literature on the ingredients, there is indeed a considerable number of positive preclinical studies supporting the general use of these substances to improve sleep quality and duration.
The most notable ingredients are: melatonin (sleep-inducing hormone), 5-HTP (improves mood and helps the body produce serotonin and melatonin), and l-theanine (a green tea amino acid that reduces stress and anxiety).
The rest of the botanical and natural substances in the formula can also help you unwind and drift off more easily — but does it really work?
Does Insomnitol Work?
Well, like any other dietary supplement out there, the answer is: yes it does work; for some, and no it doesn’t; for others!
No one can certainly tell you if a specific supplement will work for you or not. Everyone has a unique body and the causes of sleep problems are too many to be counted. So, the efficacy of any supplement can drastically vary from one user to another.
What I can tell you is that Insomnitol is a quality product that includes some of the best, must-try natural remedies for sleeplessness. The rest will largely depend on varying individual factors and how your body responds to the ingredients.
Contradictory Consumer Reviews
Many users say that Insomnitol has helped them get better sleep. On the other hand, other users say it made their sleep problems worse! So, what gives?
Digging deeper into the ingredients, one specific ingredient stands out as potentially problematic in some cases, namely 5-HTP.
5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan) is an amino acid that the body uses to synthesize the neurotransmitter serotonin. People who have low serotonin levels can experience several symptoms, including depression, anxiety, insomnia, and others.
Taking drugs or dietary supplements that increase serotonin levels, such as 5-HTP, can be beneficial for people struggling with insomnia, anxiety or depression, but this is usually only so for individuals who suffer from serotonin deficiency.
For someone with normal serotonin levels, or someone already taking a medication that increases serotonin (such as SSRI antidepressants), supplementing with 5-HTP can cause high serotonin levels in the body, which in turn may lead to several adverse effects like anxiety, agitation, rapid heartbeat, and others.
This might explain why Insomnitol can be an effective sleep aid for one group of users, while for others it can have the opposite effect.
So, which group do you belong to, and is Insomnitol the right supplement for you? Unfortunately, I have no answer for that! One of the key questions you will need to find an answer to is: Do you think you have serotonin deficiency?
You see, multi-ingredient supplements are typically designed to address a host of the most common causes of the problem, and in the case of insomnia, serotonin deficiency is one of the common culprits.
It makes sense that many sleep formulations contain 5-HTP, but it also means there is a chance you could be one of the few people who experience an adverse effect with this ingredient. 100mg of 5-HTP isn’t considered a high dose, but again, each body may respond differently.
Conclusion
There are many different causes of sleep problems and there is no one-size-fits-all remedy. While Insomnitol is a well-formulated supplement with several potent ingredients, it may not be suitable for everyone.
If you haven’t tried a similar formula before, I’d say Insomnitol is worth a try, and that’s the only sure way to find out if it works for you or not.
