In Ireland, when somebody has trouble sleeping through the night, instead of taking high doses of melatonin, they may be directed to make a number of diet and lifestyle tweaks.

For example, avoiding eating dinner too close to bedtime, cutting down on alcohol consumption, and cutting off caffeine early can all promote deeper sleep. Foods containing tryptophan (turkey, chicken, eggs, pumpkin seeds, beans, peanuts, and leafy green vegetables) and/or magnesium (whole grains, dark leafy vegetables, nuts and seeds, bananas, yogurt, and milk) can also help prime the body for bed, so Byrnes recommends them as nighttime snacks. An essential mineral that your body needs to function, magnesium even supports the production of certain calming hormones, including melatonin!*

And for those looking for a relaxing supplement to complement their bedtime routine—one that is nonhormonal and safe to take nightly—Byrnes chooses mbg’s sleep support+ over melatonin any day. “The combination of magnesium, jujube, and PharmaGABA® is science-backed and can enhance sleep quality so you fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer, and wake up feeling rejuvenated,”* she says.

Unlike melatonin supplements, sleep support+ is also non-habit-forming and comes with few to no side effects according to hundreds of customer reviews.*