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Minerals for Sleep: How Minerals Balance Your Sleep Hormones
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Read Time 7 min
Disclaimer: The information provided in this blog is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. This content should not be used to diagnose, treat, or prevent any medical condition or health issue. Always seek the guidance of your physician or other qualified health professional with any questions you may have regarding your health or a medical condition.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Can minerals help you sleep better?
Yes! Minerals play a huge part in sleep.
Some minerals ease stress to help you relax at night. Others support your sleep hormone production, encouraging deeper, more restorative sleep.
Let’s talk about the best minerals for sleep and how minerals balance your sleep hormones. We’ll also cover when you should take minerals for sleeplessness, as well as simple steps you can take to sleep better, starting tonight.
Are Sleep Problems Common?
Sleep problems are more widespread than many people realize.
A 2022 study of more than 9000 U.S. adults found that 30% of people regularly have trouble sleeping, and nearly 50% have occasional or situational sleep issues. [*]
There are several common causes of sleep problems.
Cause of Sleep Problems |
Notes |
Prevalence |
Stress or anxiety |
52% of U.S. adults report chronic stress [*] 44% of U.S. adults report consistent anxiety [*] |
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Nighttime light exposure |
~70% of U.S. adults [*] |
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Parenthood |
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69% of U.S. adults have children [*] |
Shift work |
14-20% of U.S. adults [*] |
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Late-night socializing |
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46.5% of U.S. adults [*] |
Stress, anxiety, nighttime screen use, and even parenthood can all cause major sleep problems. It can also be difficult to correct your sleep schedule once it’s disrupted.
How Does Poor Sleep Affect You?
Poor sleep comes with serious costs. Stage III sleep, the deepest stage of sleep, is when your body and brain enter recovery mode. [*] Stage III sleep is essential for clearing out cellular waste, repairing damaged cells, releasing restorative hormones, and consolidating memories and new things you’ve learned. Deep sleep is especially important for your brain.
A 2000 study found that moderate sleep deprivation caused cognitive and motor impairments equivalent to consuming 3-4 alcoholic drinks. After 19 hours without sleep—for example, staying awake from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m.—people performed as if they had a blood alcohol content of 0.10 [*]. That’s well above the legal driving limit.
Signs of poor sleep include:
Poor memory [*]
Brain fog
Trouble focusing
Fatigue
Trouble waking up in the morning
Depression and anxiety [*]
Irritability [*]
Increased brain inflammation [*]
Daytime sleepiness
It’s worth noting that some people don’t realize they’re not sleeping well. We don’t always remember sleep disturbances. If you notice the above signs, you may have low sleep quality without realizing it—especially if you wake up exhausted and have trouble getting out of bed in the morning.
Melatonin + Minerals: The Secret to Better Sleep
One of the best ways to improve your sleep is to balance your melatonin production.
Melatonin is your body’s main sleep hormone. It controls your circadian rhythm (your body’s daily sleep-wake cycle) and is one of the most important factors in getting a good night’s sleep.
Ideally, your melatonin stays low for most of the day, then gradually builds up in the evening. As melatonin rises, you become increasingly sleepy. It continues to rise throughout the night, pushing your brain into deeper and deeper stages of sleep.
The graph below shows melatonin secretion throughout the night. The black line shows normal, healthy melatonin release, as well as two examples of disrupted melatonin release in people who have sleep problems. [*]
The red line shows melatonin releasing too early, which would lead to daytime sleepiness.
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The blue line shows melatonin releasing too late, which would cause trouble falling asleep, as well as trouble waking up in the morning.
Balancing your melatonin production is one of the best ways to improve sleep—and minerals can help.
There are three main minerals that influence melatonin: magnesium, zinc, and iron.
Magnesium and Sleep
Magnesium is a key ingredient in melatonin production.
Your pineal gland, a tiny, pinecone-shaped gland of your brain, is the source of all your body’s melatonin. Throughout the day, your pineal gland gathers serotonin, one of your main brain chemicals. It then converts that serotonin into melatonin, which it releases each evening. [*]
Converting serotonin to melatonin uses a lot of magnesium. [*] It’s a key cofactor—without magnesium, you’ll struggle to make enough melatonin to sleep well. Not surprisingly, studies show that low magnesium decreases sleep quality and contributes to insomnia. [*]
Magnesium also improves sleep in a secondary way. It eases stress, which can help you sleep better. [*] It’s especially useful if you’re chronically stressed and have trouble falling asleep at night.
About 60% of U.S. adults have low magnesium, and about 45% are clinically deficient. [*]
Zinc and Sleep
Zinc is another important mineral for sleep—though we aren’t sure why it’s so good at improving sleep quality.
A hallmark 2017 study found that when you consume zinc orally, your brain rapidly absorbs and stores it. Researchers couldn’t identify exactly where in the brain that zinc ends up. However, they found that taking zinc led to a dramatic increase in deep sleep, as well as longer sleep duration. [*]
The researchers also found that zinc levels in your blood vary throughout the day. They’re lowest in the evening and highest in the morning, which suggests that you may use large amounts of zinc in the evening to keep your sleep-wake cycle consistent and encourage deep sleep.
Other research has found that zinc works alongside magnesium to help regulate your melatonin production. [*]
There’s still a lot we don’t understand about zinc and sleep. However, the results are clear: getting more zinc helps you sleep better.
Iron and Sleep
Iron is another important mineral for sleep.
A 2024 study found that low iron leads to restlessness at night, as well as trouble falling asleep, low sleep quality, and more frequent sleep disturbances. [*]
Conversely, a 2020 review found that increasing your iron intake improves almost every marker of sleep. [*]
Low iron is one of the more common mineral deficiencies, with estimates between 25-35% of U.S. adults. Women are more than twice as likely as men to have low iron stores, which makes iron supplements especially important if you’re a woman who has trouble sleeping. [*]
The Best Minerals for Sleep (and How to Take Them)
At BEAM Minerals, we offer a simple, effective upgrade to your sleep routine.
All you have to do is take a shot of our full-spectrum liquid minerals before bed. They taste like water and provide every essential mineral the human body needs, including magnesium, zinc, and iron.
Our minerals offer gentle, comprehensive sleep support. They also gradually restore your body’s essential mineral stores over time, bringing your system back into balance and encouraging a natural daily rhythm. They’re an ideal choice if you have trouble settling into a consistent sleep routine.
If you want a simple, natural way to support your sleep, give BEAM Minerals a try. You’ll feel the difference from the very first night.
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FAQs
Can I take BEAM Minerals with my other supplements?
Yes, in fact, BEAM Minerals will enhance the bioavailability of all your other supplements.
What is the difference between Micro-BOOST™ and Electrolyze™?
Electrolyze™ is primarily composed of Fulvic Mineral Complexes . Fulvic complexes are small molecules that provide inter-cellular transport for nutritional elements into the cells and carry bio-waste out of the cells. Fulvic complexes are flavonoids , which provide many benefits in the body.
Micro-BOOST™ is primarily composed of the Humic Mineral Complexes . Humic complexes are large molecules that are extra-cellular, meaning they do not enter the cells but stay outside the cells. They are highly-charged molecules that attract, through their electrical charge, bio-waste, free radicals and heavy metals. They ultimately carry bio-waste out of the body. Thus, we call them “Nature’s Janitor”.
How many milligrams (mg) of an electrolyte (Potassium, Magnesium, Sodium, Calcium, etc.) is there in BEAM Minerals?
The quantities of each element in BEAM Minerals products are measured in “parts per million” (ppm), rather than the “milligrams” (mg). Here is the information which usually helps to understand the difference:
Milligrams (mg) vs parts per million (ppm)
In comparing our products to other supplements, people want to know how much of an electrolyte is in our products (like potassium, magnesium, sodium, calcium). Usually they are looking for an amount in milligrams (mg).
We have a hard time answering that question, because the electrolytes (and other elements) in BEAM Minerals products are measured in parts per million (ppm). So how can consumers compare?
The answer is a little complex, but here’s the high points.
The electrolytes in BEAM Minerals products are provided in “trace” amounts that are completely dissolved and thus 100% bio-available, immediately introduced into your circulation when you consumed them and will produce and active effect.
When you take a 320mg pill of magnesium, your body is only able utilize about 12-20% of it as it takes some time because your body has to digest it first. Whatever is not dissolved gets processed out of your body.
When you take a capful of liquid Electrolyze™ and/or Micro-BOOST™, you receive approximately 5.22 ppm of magnesium in which 100% of the magnesium is immediately available to your body. In addition, an important to know is that the magnesium in BEAM Minerals products stay in your system much longer building up healthy levels as you continue to take it daily.
