Supplements for REM Sleep: What the Trials Show, Without Hormones

TL;DR

• No supplement, hormonal or not, has good trial evidence for increasing REM sleep in healthy adults.
• The few sleep-lab trials that measured sleep stages mostly found changes in deep sleep, and some found REM went down.
• The biggest things that cut REM are short nights, evening alcohol and some medications.
• REM comes in longer blocks toward morning. Sleeping long enough is the most reliable way to get your full share.
• If a product claims to raise REM, ask which trial measured it with a sleep lab or EEG.

REM sleep is the stage with vivid dreams, fast brain activity and a near total loss of muscle tone. It has been linked to emotional processing and to some kinds of learning. Basic background is in what is REM sleep. People who see a low REM number on a tracker often go looking for a supplement to raise it. The research doesn't offer much.

Why REM is hard to target

REM isn't spread evenly through the night. It arrives in cycles, and the REM periods get longer as the night goes on. The longest stretches come in the last hours before you wake. Cut your night short by an hour or two and REM takes most of the loss.

That's why the question "what raises REM" usually comes back to "what lets me sleep long enough, without disruption, into the early morning".

What the sleep-lab trials measured

Only a handful of supplement trials have measured sleep stages with EEG or polysomnography. Most measured how people rated their sleep instead, which can't tell you anything about REM.

Among those that did measure stages, the changes tended to be in non-REM sleep.

A Japanese crossover study of GABA found it shortened the time to fall asleep and increased non-REM sleep, measured by EEG (Yamatsu 2016). The study was run by the company that makes the ingredient.

A 2024 crossover trial of a standardised lemon balm extract found slow wave sleep rose by about 15 percent and REM fell by about 10 percent (Di Pierro 2024). The lead author directs science at the ingredient's maker.

So the one trial in this group that reported a REM change found less REM, not more. That means nobody can honestly sell lemon balm, or anything in this category, as a REM supplement.

What lowers REM

Alcohol is the best documented. A review of every known study on alcohol and normal sleep found that alcohol delays the first REM period at all doses. At moderate and high doses it reduces total REM for the night. It also makes the second half of the night more broken (Ebrahim 2013). Since REM is concentrated in the second half, that matters twice over.

Some medications change sleep structure. Many antidepressants affect sleep, and the effect depends on the drug, the dose and the time it's taken (Wichniak 2017). If you take one and you're worried about your sleep, raise it with the prescriber. Don't stop a medicine on your own.

Short and irregular nights are the third. Waking early with an alarm cuts off the final, REM-heavy cycles.

What helps REM

None of these come in a capsule.

• Give yourself enough time in bed to reach the early-morning cycles. For most adults that means seven hours of sleep or more.
• Keep evening drinks away from bedtime, or skip them on nights you care about. The detail is in alcohol and sleep.
• Keep your wake time steady across the week, so your body clock lines REM up with the end of your night.
• Treat tracker REM numbers loosely. Consumer devices estimate stages from movement and heart rate. See sleep tracker accuracy.

Frequently asked questions

What supplement increases REM sleep?

None has good evidence for it. The sleep-lab trials of non-hormonal supplements mostly found changes in non-REM sleep, and a lemon balm trial found REM fell by about 10 percent (Di Pierro 2024).

How can I get more REM sleep without hormones or medication?

Sleep long enough to reach the early-morning cycles, keep alcohol away from bedtime, and keep a steady wake time. Alcohol delays the first REM period at every dose studied (Ebrahim 2013).

Does magnesium or glycine increase REM?

No published trial has shown it. The glycine and magnesium sleep trials mostly measured how people rated their sleep, and that can't show REM.

Why is my REM low on my tracker?

It may not be. Wrist trackers estimate sleep stages and are least reliable at separating them. If the number is real, a short night and evening alcohol are the usual reasons.

Disclaimer

This article is for general information only. It is not medical advice and it does not replace guidance from a qualified healthcare professional. No supplement discussed here has an authorised EU health claim related to sleep stages. Do not stop or change a prescribed medication without talking to the prescriber. If you have ongoing sleep problems, speak with your GP.