If you’re taking sleep supplements right now and still can’t fall asleep, can’t stay asleep, or feel worse than before, this episode is for you.


Because today I’m going to walk you through two real client cases where well-intentioned sleep supplements were actually making sleep and health worse — not because the supplements were “bad,” but because they were taken without testing.


Both of these clients were smart, proactive, and doing what they were told to do. Magnesium, calming amino acids, adrenal and hormone-support supplements — all recommended to them. And yet they were wired at night, waking up too early, or feeling more depleted over time.


In this episode, I’ll break down:

  • exactly what the testing revealed in those two cases
  • why symptom-based supplementing backfires
  • the 1 thing you need to do before taking another sleep supplement 


so you can stop guessing and move toward falling asleep faster, staying asleep, and waking up rested.


Schedule a consultation to get started with the Complete Sleep Solution program so you can consistently sleep 7+ hours uninterrupted, naturally and permanently. https://p.bttr.to/3VJwvDs



Episode Transcript


Martha Lewis (00:01)

If you're taking sleep supplements right now and still can't fall asleep, can't stay asleep or feel worse than before, this episode is for you. Because today I'm going to walk you through two real client cases where well-intentioned supplements were actually making sleep and health worse. Not because the supplements were bad, but because they were taken without testing. Both of these clients were smart, proactive, and doing what they were told to do.


...


why symptom-based supplementing backfires, and the one thing you need to do before taking another sleep supplement. So you can stop guessing and move toward falling asleep faster, staying asleep and waking up rested. So both of these clients were doing what was recommended to them, either online or by a professional. And they're very smart and had been trying to figure out their sleep for a long time.


The problem was these recommendations were based on symptoms, not on tests that showed what was actually going on in the body. And so reviewed both of these clients' test results with them yesterday, and I was just like, I have to make an episode about this. I have to tell people about this, because both of them were taking supplements that were making things worse for their sleep, not better. So my first client was


taking some common amino acids for And he's also was doing things to try to be healthy. So eating enough protein, balancing blood sugar, those kinds of things. And this comes into play, you'll see in just a minute. And so,


Each recommendation made sense in isolation at the time, possibly when they were recommended a couple years ago, but combined, they were overstimulating the wrong pathways and actually keeping the calming neurotransmitters from being able to be at the right amount of levels in his body. And so he was taking glycine, for example, which is commonly recommended for sleep. Well, it turns out that that glycine


his levels were twice as high as it should have been. So he was taking too much and his body wasn't able to use it. And whenever we have too much of something that can become stimulating instead of calming like it's supposed to be.


He was also taking tyrosine to help with dopamine, which is important for sleep. of my clients are low in dopamine, but that tyrosine was being converted into something called L-Dopa that was extremely elevated, over three times what it was supposed to be. And his dopamine levels were still just barely normal. So it wasn't converting properly. Another...


thing that his test results showed was super high glutamate. Glutamate is very stimulating. It can directly impact sleep. And this was likely because he was taking multiple protein powders in a day. you know, he's trying to get enough protein. He's trying to balance blood sugar. He's really into strength training and exercising. So he's trying to do the right thing here.


but those are just giving a lot of amino acids. And then he's also taking a pre-workout drink that had more amino acids, including even more tyrosine. And so all of those things are contributing to glutamate, because his body wasn't able to process all of that in those high amounts. So this is why it's better to get protein from foods, because our body is more able to take what it needs and get rid of what it doesn't need.


And then even though he's been supplementing with 5-HTP and tryptophan for years, his levels of 5-HTP on the test were still low. And that's likely because these other stimulating neurotransmitters were blocking that 5-HTP, which was supposed to convert to serotonin. And so he doesn't have enough of that, even though he's been trying to supplement for a long time. So...


This is just a great example of how he's trying to do the right things. A practitioner did recommend this to him for sleep, but it wasn't based on actual testing and what his body needed.


Now, my second client is an older woman and she was told that she had adrenal fatigue. And unfortunately, this was completely wrong for her. So she was prescribed an adrenal glandular, which is meant to help our body produce more cortisol and respond to stress because adrenal fatigue is thought that there's something wrong with the adrenal glands and they aren't producing cortisol.


and she was exhausted and not sleeping. So this made sense, right? But her testing showed that her cortisol is extremely high, like through the roof, not So her adrenals were working just fine. They were responding appropriately to the stress her body was under. And so that supplement was telling her body to make even more cortisol, which was making her sleep worse and maybe giving a little energy, but...


in that wired but tired way because she still wasn't sleeping. And so the testing I did showed that her problem was not low cortisol. It was a super high toxic burden. She had dozens of toxins and everyone has some toxins in their body in this day and age, but she had more than I've ever seen for any client. And so this is what is causing that high cortisol. Again, her body's having an appropriate response.


to those toxins and all the inflammation that they're causing. So the problem wasn't her adrenal glands, it was that she has all these toxins and her liver is oveburdened and not able to detoxify them properly. And so it was actually the toxins is the main thing why she isn't sleeping. And the reason she's tired is because her body isn't able to make energy.


in the mitochondria like it's supposed to, not because there's something wrong with her adrenals.


Just the fact that you have the symptom of not being able to sleep normally doesn't tell you which system to fix. Is it neurotransmitters? Is it adrenals? Is it something completely different like toxins and liver detox and hormones and other possibilities? So sleep is just telling you that something is overloaded. It's not telling you which system. that's why we need to test to find that out.


is what I recommend for the one rule before trying any more sleep supplements. And this rule would have prevented both of these cases from happening with my clients is to test instead of guess. the test results show what's high, what's blocked. It reveals what needs to be stopped first, what the body actually needs added. And so that way we're never stimulating a system that hasn't been tested that might...


actually not benefit from more stimulation. So I just want you to know that your body isn't failing you, especially if you're trying all these different things and nothing is working. Poor sleep is actually a sign that your body's out of balance. It's your body's way of saying, hey, help me, something is off. And you know, not everyone's sleep is affected when...


they're out of balance, but some of us genetically, metabolically, that is what happens. So when we address the true stressors by finding from the lab testing what needs to be addressed, then you're able to sleep well. So the fastest way to sleep better is to test so we know what your body actually needs. And that's what I do in my complete sleep solution program. I use four different lab tests plus assessments to look for everything that's affecting your sleep.


from both a body and mind perspective. So if this is something you're interested in, you can book a free consultation with me at the link in the description. And I recommend that you watch last week's video if you're interested more about toxins and how they cause stress in the body and affect sleep, then you want to watch that video. You can't sleep because you're treating the wrong kind of stress. I think that will be very helpful.

Listen and follow: Apple Podcasts · Spotify