Vitamin B6 for Sleep in Menopause: What the Research Says
By Andrea Donsky | Fact Checked | Sources
Do you lie in bed most of the night trying to go to sleep or go back to sleep after waking up? Are you tired of staring at the ceiling, hearing every little noise in the middle of the night, and getting up in the morning feeling completely unrested? These are common issues for many women in perimenopause and menopause. You may have seen vitamin B6 suggested for sleep. Here's what it does and what the research actually shows.
What is vitamin B6?
This member of the vitamin B family is also known as pyridoxine, and it’s involved in many bodily functions. In addition to supporting immune function, helping with cognitive function and development, aiding the nervous system, and having a role in energy production (it works closely with vitamin B12 in this endeavor), it is active in more than 100 enzyme reactions, most of which involve protein metabolism. It also plays a part in your sleep chemistry, and it can change how much of your dreams you remember.
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Most people get enough vitamin B6 through their diet. Good sources of this vitamin include fish, turkey, tuna, salmon, bananas, potatoes, fortified cereals, dark leafy greens, oranges, carrots, spinach, whole grains, cantaloupe, and chickpeas. The recommended daily amount of vitamin B6 is 1.3 milligrams for adults 50 and younger, and 1.5 mg for women older than 50. However, some women find a B6 supplement helpful during menopause.
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How is vitamin B6 connected to sleep?
Vitamin B6 aids in the production of the hormones serotonin and melatonin, both of which are important to sound, restful sleep, and also to mood. Melatonin tends to drop as we get older, which is one reason B6 comes up when women talk about sleep in midlife.
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B6 also helps your body turn tryptophan, an amino acid from food, into serotonin. If you're not getting enough B6, that process may not run as well, and your sleep can feel it.
What the research really shows about B6 and sleep
We want to be straight with you. The study people usually point to is a 2018 trial from the University of Adelaide. One hundred adults took 240 mg of vitamin B6, a B complex, or a placebo before bed for five nights. B6 helped people remember more of their dreams, but it didn't significantly change their other sleep measures. The B complex group actually rated their sleep worse and felt more tired on waking (Adventure-Heart, Madden and Delfabbro, Perceptual and Motor Skills, 2018).
B6 still matters, but more isn't better here. The upper limit for adults is 100 mg a day (National Academies, Dietary Reference Intakes, 1998), and high doses taken for a long time have been linked to nerve problems like tingling or numbness in the hands and feet.
Using vitamin B6 supplements
Vitamin B6 can be taken as an individual supplement, as part of a multivitamin or vitamin B complex, or as a component of natural sleep supplements. Take according to package directions.
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If restless nights have become the norm, B6 is just one piece of the puzzle. Morphus's sleep formulas are designed to support relaxation and restful sleep through perimenopause and menopause.
Shop Sleep Support →These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
