Good quality sleep is crucial for physical and cognitive function—but most construction workers don’t get enough. As the body’s natural sleep hormone, melatonin is one of the most popular natural sleep aids to improve sleep quality and efficiency. Other natural sleep aids like valerian, GABA, glycine, magnesium, and even CBD are excellent alternatives that can improve sleep latency, increase sleep duration, and reduce daytime fatigue.

Quick look

• Overly sleepy employees are 70% more likely to experience workplace injuries than well-rested workers.
• Sleep deprivation can also contribute to chronic diseases, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity.
• Melatonin is the body’s natural sleep hormone and can be supplemented short-term for people struggling with sleep disorders. 
• Tart cherry, valerian, chamomile, glycine, and magnesium are other natural options that may improve sleep quality.

Top 8 natural sleep aids

Proper sleep is critical to optimal performance. A lack of sleep—or lack of good quality sleep—not only contributes to chronic health conditions like diabetes and cardiovascular disease, but it’s also a risk factor in workplace injuries. 

According to the National Sleep Foundation, sleep deprivation increases the likelihood of a workplace accident by 70%.

So, how do you combat sleep deprivation and get the quality rest you need to perform safely? Changing your sleep environment to be more conducive to sleep is the first place to start, but natural sleep aids can also be supportive.

Here are 8 natural sleep aids to improve sleep quality and daytime performance. 

1. Melatonin

Benefits: Reduces sleep onset, advances start of sleep, reduces jet lag

Recommended dose: 1 to 5 mg

Use: Short-term

Melatonin is one of the top picks for a natural sleep aid thanks to its efficacy in improving sleep quality, especially for people struggling with jet lag or delayed sleep phase disorder. 

Melatonin is a natural hormone produced in the pineal gland that regulates circadian rhythm, or your body’s biological clock. It’s released in response to darkness and at its highest concentration at night, tapering off in the early morning hours to make way for the release of cortisol. 

Although melatonin penetrates all tissues and affects many cells in the body, its sleep-promoting actions result from feedback to the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN; the master clock) located in the anterior hypothalamus. By causing effects on the SCN, melatonin helps synchronize the circadian rhythm.

2. Tart cherry

Benefits: Reduces muscle soreness, improves sleep quality and duration, reduces insomnia symptoms

Recommended dose: 240 mL 1-2 times daily

Use: Long-term before bed

Synthetic melatonin supplements are widely available, but it’s also possible to get melatonin from natural sources, such as tart cherries. Tart cherries, specifically sour or Montmorency cherries, offer various health benefits for inflammation, muscle recovery, immunity, and more. But because they naturally contain tryptophan and melatonin, they may also support sleep. 

Tryptophan is the precursor amino acid to serotonin and melatonin and supports sleep. Just 100 grams of tart cherries packs about 9 mg of tryptophan that can support melatonin synthesis. Studies suggest tart cherry juice may be particularly beneficial for people with insomnia but can also improve sleep quality and duration for people without.

3. Valerian

Benefits: Reduces anxiety, improves sleep onset, improves sleep quality and duration

Recommended dose: 450–1,410 mg per day

Use: Short-term (up to 8 weeks)

Valerian root is an age-old sleep remedy used in Europe for decades. It contains several compounds that offer potent health benefits, especially for relaxation and sleep. Some of the active compounds in valerian include: 

• Iridoids (valepotriates) 
• Essential oils (valerenic acid and valeric acid)
• Lignans
• Flavonoids
• GABA (low concentrations)

Although the mechanisms behind how valerian works for sleep aren’t fully understood, research finds that taking valerian root helps people fall asleep faster, improve sleep quality, and spend more time in a deeper sleep stage. 

This may partly be due to its effects on GABA receptors, which calm the body and reduce anxiety. Studies show that valerenic acid and valerenol modulate GABA receptors and increase the availability of GABA in the central nervous system. Plus, some research has demonstrated that valerenic acid inhibits an enzyme that destroys GABA, helping to maintain levels.

4. GABA

Benefits: Reduces stress and anxiety, decreases sleep onset latency, increases sleep continuity 

Recommended dose: 250 to 500 mg before bed

Use: Short-term

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is an amino acid and neurotransmitter produced in the body that regulates nervous system activity. 

Some research suggests GABA can support sleep by reducing stress and anxiety, which may help people fall asleep faster. Low levels of GABA have been linked to acute and chronic stress, anxiety disorders, and sleep issues such as insomnia.

GABA supports sleep via GABAergic neurons and neurotransmitters that regulate the brain circuits in three areas:

1. The amygdala to modulate stress and anxiety response
2. Cortico-medullary pathways to modulate rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM (especially slow wave sleep)
3. The suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) to modulate circadian rhythm

Increasing the binding of GABA to GABA receptors has shown benefits for reducing stress and anxiety, decreasing sleep latency, and increasing sleep continuity.

5. Magnesium

Benefits: Promotes muscle relaxation, decreases sleep latency, improves sleep efficiency and sleep time

Recommended dose: 350 mg per day

Use: Long-term

Magnesium is an essential mineral found in bone, muscle, soft tissue, and fluids that is an essential cofactor for hundreds of biochemical reactions in the body. Magnesium is well known for its muscle-relaxing effects, which may benefit sleep. It’s also a natural N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) antagonist and GABA agonist, which is key for regulating sleep.

Some research shows that magnesium supplementation can improve subjective measures of insomnia, including sleep efficiency, sleep time, sleep onset latency, and early morning awakening, but also improves objective measures like concentration of serum renin, melatonin, and serum cortisol.

6. Glycine

Benefits: Improves sleep quality, reduces daytime sleepiness and fatigue, reduces core body temperature, shortens the latency to slow-wave sleep

Recommended dose: 3 g per day

Use: Short-term

Glycine is a proteinogenic amino acid that plays an integral role in the synthesis of proteins, along with serotonin production, collagen synthesis, and nerve signal transmission. 

Although evidence is limited, some research suggests glycine supplementation could support better sleep quality, specifically for people with insomnia. Core body temperature naturally falls at night to facilitate sleep onset, and taking glycine supplements may further facilitate via peripheral vasodilatation by activating NMDA receptors in the SCN shell; heat is dispersed away from the core to the extremities, helping to cool the body and reduce core body temperature to promote sleep.

7. Chamomile

Benefits: Improves sleep efficiency and quality, reduces daytime fatigue 

Recommended dose: 220  to 1,600 mg daily (capsules) or 1-2 cups per day (tea)

Use: Short-term

Chamomile has been used as a calming, sleep-supportive herb for centuries thanks to its ability to promote relaxation and reduce blood pressure. 

Some research suggests that chamomile’s sleep-promoting effects arise from the flavone apigenin binding to GABA receptors in the brain, which can reduce anxiety and promote sedation.

Several studies have found sleep benefits after consuming chamomile before bed. A 2016 study of postnatal women found that those who drank chamomile tea daily for two weeks had significantly better sleep efficiency scores than those who didn’t drink it. Similarly, a 2019 meta-analysis found that chamomile was safe and effective for improving sleep quality, but it didn’t have a significant impact on symptoms of insomnia.

8. Cannabidiol (CBD)

Benefits: Increases sleep duration, reduces anxiety, improves sleep quality

Recommended dose: Speak to your healthcare professional

Use: Short-term

Although some people might choose to smoke a joint to help them fall asleep, it’s not the THC we’re talking about here—it’s the calming CBD that might improve sleep.

The endocannabinoid system (ECS) is a complex neurochemical network that regulates several bodily functions, including emotions, pain, and sleep. Although the body naturally releases endocannabinoid molecules, external sources of cannabinoids, including CBD, can influence the body via the ECS. 

The hypothalamus, specifically the suprachiasmatic nucleus, plays an important role in the ECS and impacts sleep regulation. It has a high concentration of cannabinoid receptors and controls circadian rhythm—the 24-hour cycle that promotes sleep and wakefulness. Research suggests the endocannabinoid system might be involved in the cycle.

CBD research is limited due to government regulations, but it’s suggested that CBD supplementation may promote better quality of sleep for several reasons:

• Reduces chronic pain
• Reduces anxiety disorders (GAD, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, OCD, PTSD)
• Decreases symptoms of insomnia

Are natural sleep aids safe?

Most natural sleep aids are safe for healthy adults with the right dosage, but that doesn’t mean they’re universally safe. Because natural health products don’t undergo the same testing as pharmaceuticals, there is a lack of consistency and quality between products. As such, it’s important to research and talk to your healthcare professional before taking any sleep supplements. 

If you notice any adverse side effects or changes in your health after taking sleep aids, consult your healthcare professional immediately. 

The bottom line

A healthy, good quality sleep is important for everyone, but it’s especially important for trades workers due to the nature of their jobs. Good sleep leads to better productivity, concentration, focus, job performance, and outcomes. 

While sleep supplements aren’t a long-term solution for improving sleep patterns, they can be a great short-term crutch to get your sleep back on track.