Top 7 CBD Gummies For Sleep & Insomnia

How Can CBD Gummies Help Me Sleep?

Sedation is the top effect observed in clinical trials where patients are given high doses of CBD.

It’s not as if CBD will make you fall asleep instantly like Benadryl or Ativan. It’s not a hypnotic or direct sedative. However, CBD can help to calm your muscles, alleviate persistent pain, and reduce the anxiety that may be detracting you from being able to fall asleep.

Some studies even suggest CBD can help people stay asleep throughout the entire REM cycle — crucial to feel rested the next morning — and it’s even shown to quiet nightmares in patients with REM sleep behavior disorder [1].

CBD has a lot of benefits for improving sleep — but there’s another reason why gummies, in particular, are so effective for enhancing sleep. Sugar.

No matter what gummies you’re using, they contain added sugar. While generally, sugar is considered a stimulant, a little dose of sugar before bed can actually offer a lot of benefit for sleep.

Increasing blood glucose levels just a little bit before you hit the sack helps elevate tryptophan levels in the brain [3]. This is a compound used by the brain to manufacture melatonin — the primary sleep hormone in the human body.

Additionally, sugar blocks a compound called orexin — which is responsible for increasing a sense of alertness and energy.

This isn’t a free pass to start carb-loading before bed, though — just a little bit is necessary, and going overboard can have the opposite effect. Stick to one or two gummies max.

How Many Gummies Should I Take For Sleep?

Figuring out the right dose of CBD to treat your sleep problems starts by using our dosage calculator.

This will tell you the approximate dose of CBD you can expect to take depending on your weight and desired level of effects. Most people find higher doses of CBD are necessary in order to promote sleep.

When taking CBD products for the first time, it’s wise to start with just a small dose — around half a gummy — to see how your body responds.

Other ingredients in the formula can make gummies extra strong, too, so you may not need as much if you’re using gummies with ingredients like melatonin, L-theanine, or THC.

Other Cannabinoids To Consider For Improving Sleep

CBD isn’t the only cannabinoid suitable for enhancing sleep. Here are some of the other compounds to keep your eyes open for that are starting to pop up in the form of gummies, oils, and vape pens optimized around sleep.

A) CBN

CBN stands for cannabinol — it’s the end product as THC breaks down through exposure to light and heat.

CBN has long been associated with the “couch lock” effect in cannabis. It’s thought to provide the bulk of the sedative action in certain indica strains of marijuana.

This cannabinoid is slightly psychoactive — roughly 10% as strong as delta 9 THC and about 20% as strong as delta 8 THC.

You need to take a fairly high dose to experience the “high” from CBN, but it’s not impossible. The feeling of this cannabinoid is best described as “heavy” and “fluid” — you may feel like you’re melting into your chair after you take this stuff.

B) CBG

CBG stands for cannabigerol. This cannabinoid is most often associated with focus and energy, but it’s ironically just as useful for sleep as it is for boosting energy.

This may sound paradoxical, but it’s not — CBG is neither a stimulant nor a sedative. It merely works to release excessive neurological activity in the brain. When you’re going to bed, this effect helps clear the mind while you drift off to sleep. It’s especially useful for people with anxious insomnia (sleep-onset insomnia).

If you take CBG during the day, the cleared head feels like a boost of energy because suddenly, you have more cognitive capacity to focus on the task at hand.

At no point is CBG directly stimulating or sedating anything.

C) Delta 8 THC

Delta 8 THC is an isomer of the ever-popular delta 9 THC from marijuana. It’s about half as strong in terms of the psychoactive effects — but way more relaxing. Most people who use this cannabinoid claim they take it for its ability to avoid anxious side effects (something that’s super common with delta 9 THC and marijuana).

This relaxing benefit also makes it perfectly suited for use in the evenings before bed.

Just be warned, delta 8 THC is psychoactive and will make you high. If you prefer to use non-psychoactive cannabinoids to help you sleep, this is not a suitable option.

Related: Does Cannabis Affect Dreams?

Qualities of a High-Grade CBD Sleep Gummy

Not all gummies are created equal, and many gummies are straight-up, not worth the money.

We do our best to analyze as many CBD companies as we can and differentiate which ones are worth the cash or not — we can’t cover every CBD brand out there.

Here are the most important factors to look for while you shop for CBD sleep gummies:

1. Third-Party Testing

This is essential. There are a lot of nasty compounds that can wind up in CBD gummies if you’re not careful. Additionally, lots of vendors claim to have more CBD than what’s actually contained inside the bottle.

Third-party testing is the only way to prove a company’s products are both safe and as potent as they claim them to be.

No test. No, buy.

2. Holistic Formulation (Optional)

A holistic formula describes products that contain more than just CBD. These formulas contain other sleep-supportive compounds that work to enhance the relaxing qualities of CBD.

For example, a gummy that contains both CBD and CBN, or CBD and L-theanine, is going to be much more effective than products formulated with nothing but CBD.

This is because multiple ingredients that offer similar benefits through separate means offer much more robust effect profiles for managing specific conditions.

The only time we recommend going with a pure CBD gummy is if you’re either mixing CBD with something else already or you want to use them for many different benefits.

If you have one symptom in mind (such as sleep), go for gummies that are optimized for this purpose.

3. Corporate Transparency

Corporate transparency in the CBD industry is rare. Most companies hide behind vague and unhelpful “about us” pages. There’s no face behind the brand.

While this isn’t a deal-breaker, it’s certainly better to go with a company that has a face behind the brand to accept responsibility if something goes wrong. It’s also a good way to differentiate between scam companies and legit CBD brands. 

4. Moderate to High Dose Gummies

There’s a lot of cases where low-dose gummies are recommended, but when it comes to improving sleep — more is better.

The average dose people found was effective for enhancing sleep is around 37 mg — nearly double the standard 20 to 25 mg dose people use for other purposes.

While you can always double down and take extra gummies, it’s better to get a higher dose from fewer pieces to avoid the energy spike that comes after eating excess sugar.

5. Full-Spectrum CBD (Optional, But Recommended)

This point follows a similar logic to point number 2 on holistic ingredients. Full-spectrum hemp extract refers to extracts that contain all the cannabinoids and terpenes present in the hemp plant. These compounds have been proven to work together through a concept called the entourage effect — which boosts the bioavailability, longevity, and potency of all ingredients in the formula.

Full-spectrum gummies are hard to find, but they’re hands down the best option for enhancing sleep short of a proper holistic formula.

Broad-spectrum gummies are a good alternative if you absolutely must avoid any trace of THC.

What CBD Gummies CAN’T Do

CBD gummies are great, especially when you order them from a rock-solid distributor — however, they’re not a “miracle cure.” On the contrary, CBD gummies are very limited in what they can actually accomplish.

CBD is not a sedative. It can help you sleep passively by calming the mind and releasing muscle tension or persistent pain that may be interfering with sleep — but you still need to take some time to wind down and calm your mind before bed, or they’re not going to work.

CBD gummies also don’t work for everybody. Each of us has a completely unique constitution and will react to supplements entirely differently. Some people find CBD is the answer to their insomniac problems, while others find it doesn’t do much of anything at all.

Final Thoughts: Best CBD Gummies For Sleep

CBD gummies are a convenient, consistent, easy-to-use option for people who suffer from poor sleep.

Whether you have a chronic sleep disorder, anxiety that keeps you awake, or a distracting sleep environment, CBD can improve your sleep.

With its sedative, anti-anxiety, and anti-inflammatory qualities, it helps your body and mind relax while also helping you sleep longer and more restfully.

Rest is imperative to everything you do during the day, so it’s important to prioritize getting enough of it. CBD gummies can help you get to sleep, stay asleep, and wake up more rested.

References

1. Crippa, J. A., Guimarães, F. S., Campos, A. C., & Zuardi, A. W. (2018). Translational investigation of the therapeutic potential of cannabidiol (CBD): toward a new age. Frontiers in immunology, 9, 2009.
2. Babson, K. A., Sottile, J., & Morabito, D. (2017). Cannabis, cannabinoids, and sleep: a review of the literature. Current psychiatry reports, 19(4), 1-12.
3. St-Onge, M. P., Mikic, A., & Pietrolungo, C. E. (2016). Effects of diet on sleep quality. Advances in nutrition, 7(5), 938-949.