Key Takeaways

Most people with chronic insomnia are taking supplements that have nothing to do with what's actually broken in their body — Kerry tried ten different supplements daily for two years and still went five nights in a row without sleep.
The right supplement depends entirely on which system is dysregulated — cortisol, neurotransmitters, liver detox, minerals, gut pathogens, or toxins — and most of those require functional lab testing to identify accurately.
A small handful of supplements are safe to try without testing first (Liposomal GABA with L-Theanine, Nighttime HPA by Gaia Herbs); everything else should be guided by results from the Hormone Zoomer, Gut Zoomer, neurotransmitter testing, or HTMA.

You've tried magnesium. Probably melatonin. Maybe ashwagandha or CBD. And you're still not sleeping.

Here's what I've learned after working with hundreds of clients who walked in the door carrying a bag full of supplements that weren't doing anything: it's not that supplements don't help. It's that most people are taking the wrong ones for their body.

Kerry is a good example of this. She'd been struggling with sleep for two years when she came to me. She'd already tried sleep restriction therapy, CBT, hypnotherapy, a chiropractor, an herbalist, and hormone replacement therapy from her doctor. She was also taking a serious supplement stack every single day: turmeric, omega-3s, turkey tail mushrooms, vitamin D and K, ashwagandha, magnesium, melatonin, vitamin C, apple cider vinegar, and inulin.

She was still going five nights in a row without sleep. She was shaking from exhaustion. Her nervous system was so dysregulated she couldn't sleep in the same bed as her husband.

When we got her test results back, it was clear why nothing had worked. Almost none of what she was taking was targeted at what was actually broken in her body. Some of it was making things worse.

That's why I want to talk about supplements differently. The question isn't whether supplements work. The question is whether they're addressing what's actually broken.

Quick disclaimer: I'm not a doctor. Nothing here is medical advice. These are supplements I use with clients based on functional lab testing results. Please work with a qualified practitioner before starting any new supplement protocol.

Here are the six categories I look at with every client — and which supplements I reach for based on what the testing shows.

1. Cortisol & Stress Response

Most people assume they can't sleep because they're stressed. But cortisol showing up at the wrong time at night is usually a symptom of something deeper going on — not the root cause itself.

That said, it helps to support the body's stress response while we're working upstream. I assess cortisol through the Hormone Zoomer. That first-morning urine sample is especially telling — it reflects what cortisol was doing in the middle of the night.

If total cortisol is high, I recommend Cortisol Relief or Cortisol Manager, which contain phosphatidylserine to directly lower cortisol. This one I only recommend after testing — if your cortisol is already low, this will make you feel more tired and depleted, not better.

If cortisol is low or in the low-normal range, I recommend Nighttime HPA by Gaia Herbs instead. This one is generally safe for most people without testing first. It supports the whole HPA axis and includes adaptogens like ashwagandha plus relaxing herbs like lemon balm and magnolia bark. It won't sedate you — it helps your body respond to stress more calmly.

Kerry had high cortisol at night, so Cortisol Relief was part of her initial protocol.

2. Neurotransmitters

No amount of magnesium or melatonin will fix low GABA or serotonin. These are the brakes of your brain chemistry — you need enough of them to feel calm, relaxed, and ready for sleep.

You can't know which ones are low without testing. I use the neurotransmitter markers on the Gut Zoomer from Vibrant Wellness.

Low serotonin calls for 5-HTP, a precursor to serotonin, which then converts to melatonin. Worth noting: you can have low serotonin with zero mood symptoms — that was me.

If someone is wired and anxious at night with low GABA, I recommend Liposomal GABA with L-Theanine. Most GABA supplements don't cross the blood-brain barrier, but the liposomal version can. It absorbs quickly in the mouth, so you don't have to wait for it to go through your digestive tract. This is one I think most people can try without testing first — and it's also useful to take in the middle of the night if you wake up and can't fall back asleep.

Low dopamine gets Dopamine Assist, which includes DL-phenylalanine as a precursor. And if excitatory neurotransmitters like glutamate or histamine are running high, I use Glutamate Scavenger or Histamine Scavenger depending on what the test shows.

Kerry had depleted neurotransmitters across the board. 5-HTP was one of the first things I added to her protocol.

3. Liver Support

Your liver is most active at night — it's busy detoxifying hormones while you sleep. When it's overburdened, excess toxins circulate and cause inflammation, which triggers cortisol release. This is one of the root causes of elevated nighttime cortisol.

I assess liver function through symptoms and intake forms, plus methylation markers on the Hormone Zoomer.

Depending on what I see, I'll recommend Methyl B Complex (great if someone has methylation issues — includes folate and methyl-B12), Liver Nutrients for general nutritional liver support, or KL Support by CellCore as my go-to broad-spectrum liver and kidney support. KL Support includes NAC, sulforaphane, and milk thistle.

Kerry had detox issues showing up in her results, so I started her on KL Support plus a folate and B12 supplement.

4. Minerals

Everyone's heard that magnesium helps with sleep. But there are three other minerals just as critical that almost nobody talks about: calcium, sodium, and potassium. And they all need to be in balance with each other.

I test minerals with HTMA (hair tissue mineral analysis). I often see all four primary minerals depleted or out of balance relative to each other. Part of the problem is that our soils are mineral-depleted — and if your gut isn't healthy, you're not absorbing minerals from food efficiently anyway.

My go-tos here are Beam Minerals Electrolyze + Microboost (humic and fulvic acid providing dozens of trace minerals, which can also help clear some heavy metals) and CT Minerals, which is a similar formula in capsule form.

I also love Vykon — a custom-formulated supplement built from an individual's specific HTMA pattern, so I can address multiple needs in a single formula.

Kerry had imbalances in all four primary minerals. I recommended CT Minerals, increased potassium-rich foods, and had her add sea salt to water throughout the day, since low sodium is more common than most people expect.

5. Toxins & Binders

Mold, mycotoxins, heavy metals, environmental chemicals — these add up and create a toxic burden the liver can't always keep pace with. And here's something people miss: gut pathogens produce their own toxins, which the liver then has to deal with. So even if you don't drink alcohol, your toxic burden can still be significant.

I test for toxins using the Total Tox Burden test.

To help remove toxins, I use binders — supplements that bind to toxins and carry them out of the body. BioToxin Binder by CellCore targets mold, mycotoxins, and gut toxins. HMET Binder by CellCore targets heavy metals and environmental toxins. GI Detox is a broader-spectrum option (zeolite, clay, charcoal) — though traditional binders like this need to be taken away from food and other supplements.

Kerry had mycotoxins showing up on her test, so she did a course of the BioToxin Binder.

6. Gut Health & Pathogens

The gut is where 90% of our neurotransmitters are produced. Gut pathogens are most active around 2–3 AM — which is exactly when so many of my clients wake up. And leaky gut drives chronic inflammation, which keeps the body making cortisol around the clock.

I use the Gut Zoomer from Vibrant Wellness to assess all of this.

For digestive support, I look at enzymes first — Digestive Enzymes Ultra for protein digestion, Lypo Gold if fat digestion is compromised. For gut lining support, I use Mega IgG 2000 or Mega Mucosa depending on where someone's immune markers are.

For pathogens, my go-tos are Biocidin (a 4-in-1 that busts biofilm and has antimicrobial, antifungal, and antiparasitic properties), Olivirex (mainly for bacterial overgrowth), Pylori X (mainly for H. pylori), and Candid X (mainly for candida and mycotoxins). My favorite probiotic is Restore.Flora — it's spore-based, which means it's not the standard lacto/bifido strains from dairy.

I strongly recommend testing before taking most gut supplements, including probiotics. If you already have bacterial overgrowth, adding more bacteria — even good ones — adds fuel to the fire.

Kerry had both H. pylori and bacterial overgrowth. I recommended Biocidin and Candid X, plus a colloidal silver nasal spray, since mold spores can also live in the nasal cavity.

What Finally Worked for Kerry

Once we had Kerry's results, the protocol became clear. I started by supporting her body — liver detox, neurotransmitters, minerals, and cortisol — then moved to clearing pathogens and toxins. And she ended up going back on hormone replacement therapy as a final piece. It hadn't worked the first time because all these other imbalances were still there — once those were addressed, HRT was exactly the missing piece she needed.

Her sleep kept improving. Not a straight line — she'll tell you herself it was a roller coaster. But it was trending up.

She got back into her own bed with her husband. She stopped relying on sleeping pills. She started exercising again, seeing friends, going on vacation.

In her own words: "I don't worry about going to sleep. Most nights I sleep quite well. I can go on holiday. I feel like I can live normally."

Want the Full Supplement List?

I put together a one-page supplement guide organized by all the categories we covered — cortisol, neurotransmitters, gut, minerals, and more. It includes the specific supplements I recommend, a note on which ones are safe to try without testing, and direct links to almost everything at 20% off.

Download the supplement guide here

FAQ

Q: Can I just take GABA and magnesium and see if it helps my sleep? A: Magnesium and Liposomal GABA with L-Theanine are two of the supplements I consider safe to try without testing first. But if those aren't moving the needle, it means the root cause is somewhere else — neurotransmitter depletion, high cortisol, gut pathogens, toxins — and adding more supplements without testing is just guessing.

Q: Why did hormone replacement therapy not help my sleep the first time? A: HRT often doesn't work when other imbalances are still present. Kerry tried HRT before working with me and it had no effect on her sleep. Once we cleared her gut pathogens, addressed her toxic burden, and rebalanced her minerals and neurotransmitters, HRT became exactly the piece she needed. The hormones can't do their job when the underlying terrain is too disrupted.

Q: How do I know if my gut is causing my insomnia? A: The clearest sign is waking between 2–3 AM, which is when gut pathogens are most active. But you can't know for certain without testing — someone can have H. pylori or bacterial overgrowth with no digestive symptoms at all. The Gut Zoomer from Vibrant Wellness is the test I use; it identifies pathogens, neurotransmitter production, leaky gut markers, and more in a single panel.

Q: Is it safe to take probiotics if I'm having sleep problems? A: Not necessarily — and this is one of the biggest mistakes I see people make on their own. If you have bacterial overgrowth, adding more bacteria (even beneficial strains) feeds the problem. Testing first tells you whether you have overgrowth, which pathogens are present, and what your gut actually needs. I only recommend Restore.Flora (a spore-based probiotic) after we know what we're working with.

Ready to Stop Guessing?

If any of these root causes — cortisol dysregulation, depleted neurotransmitters, gut pathogens, toxic burden — might be affecting your sleep, this is exactly what the Complete Sleep Solution program investigates. The program includes four functional lab panels — the Hormone Zoomer, Gut Zoomer, neurotransmitter testing, and Total Tox Burden — so we know exactly what's keeping you awake instead of guessing.

→ Learn how the Complete Sleep Solution program works

About Martha Lewis

Martha Lewis is a certified Functional Diagnostic Nutrition practitioner and founder of The Sleep Detective™. Since 2019, she has helped 300+ clients identify the root causes of their insomnia using functional lab testing — including gut analysis, hormone panels, neurotransmitter testing, and toxin screening. She discovered her own root causes (hormone imbalances, heavy metals, and a parasite) after years of trying conventional sleep solutions, and now uses the same investigative approach with her clients.

Learn more about Martha →