Night Pack · Sleep + Recovery · The Science

The science of switching off.

Three ingredients. Clearly stated doses. Every number on this page has a paper behind it.

Meta-analysisPools the results of many trials into one estimate.
RCTA randomised trial against placebo, where neither side knows who got what.
Absorption studyMeasures how much of a dose the body takes in.
MechanismHow an ingredient works in the body.

02 · The handover

Every night your body hands over from awake to asleep.1

Your heart slows, and your nervous system shifts from alert to rest.

zz AWAKE · ALERT ASLEEP · REST sleep onset Illustration only, not measured data

03

How stress reaches your sleep

For 40 years, sleep researchers have measured the moments before sleep in two parts: how busy the mind is, and how tense the body is.2 Night Pack is built for both, and for the stress response behind them.

Illustration of a person at rest, in translucent glass, the nerve network visible inside. 1, the chest: the stress response, ashwagandha. 2, the head: the mind, L-theanine. 3, the shoulders: the body, magnesium.
Illustration, not a measurement.
  1. 1
    StressAshwagandha 250 mg

    Supports a healthy stress response in the body. It is meant to rise, then come back down.

  2. 2
    MindL-theanine 200 mg

    Calms the mind, without sedation.

  3. 3
    BodyMagnesium 120 mg

    Relieves muscle tension.

  4. SleepFormulated to improve sleep quality,

    so you can switch off.

04

Benefits at our dose

RCT Ashwagandha · KSM-66 · 250 mg a day 35%

Self-rated sleep quality improved 35% in 8 weeks, more than twice as much as on placebo.3

250 mg35%
Placebo16%
0%40%
Design
Randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled
People
60 adults reporting stress, three groups
Dose
250 mg a day, as 125 mg twice a day
Length
8 weeks
Measure
Self-rated sleep quality, 7-point scale
Result
p<0.05 vs placebo
RCT · crossover L-theanine · 200 mg a day · 4 weeks −13%

Self-rated night-time sleep disturbance fell 13%, while placebo rose 9%.4

200 mg−13%
Placebo+9%
Fewer disturbancesMore
Design
Randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover. Everyone took both.
People
30 healthy adults
Dose
200 mg before sleep
Length
4 weeks on each, 2 weeks apart
Measure
Sleep-disturbance part of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index
Result
p=0.046 vs placebo
Absorption study Magnesium · share absorbed* 65% vs 11%

The body absorbs a smaller share as the dose rises: 65% of a small dose, 11% of a very large one.5 So we use 120 mg.

~36 mg65%
~970 mg11%
0%100%
People
8 healthy men
Dose
About 36 mg to 970 mg, in single test meals
Measure
Share of the magnesium absorbed

And in the morning

Meta-analysisAshwagandha

In a review of five ashwagandha trials, people slept more of their time in bed. In the three that measured it, they also felt more alert on waking.6

Meta-analysisL-theanine

Across nine studies of L-theanine, alone or in blends, people rated their daytime functioning better than the people who weren't taking it.7

*Small dose: about 36 mg of magnesium. Very large dose: about 970 mg. The ashwagandha and L-theanine figures are at the doses in Night Pack.

What we won't claim

No human trial has evaluated L-theanine, ashwagandha and magnesium together. Every number here belongs to one ingredient, and each one has its own footnote.

05

Ingredient by ingredient

Ashwagandha

For the stress response

250 mg

KSM-66 root extract

Why this amount

250 mg a day is a tested dose of KSM-66, taken in the trial as 125 mg twice a day.3

What the research shows

In an 8-week trial, people rated their sleep on a 7-point scale, where 1 is excellent and 7 is extremely poor. On 250 mg a day, the average went from 5.85 to 3.79, roughly from "very poor" to "fair". On placebo, it went from 5.85 to 4.89, ending near "poor".3

1234567 excellentfairpoorvery poorextremely poor both start 5.85 3.79 · 250 mg 4.89 · placebo

Limits

The 7-point rating is the trial's own, not a standard sleep questionnaire. Trials at 600 mg and above report larger average effects. Below 600 mg, the pooled effect is smaller, and still statistically significant.6

L-theanine

For the mind

200 mg

Why this amount

200 mg is the median dose across 49 human L-theanine trials; the middle half used about 100 to 213 mg.8 About eight cups of standard black tea, often more.9

200 mg ≈ 8 cupsof standard black teaAbout 24 mg of L-theanine per 200 ml cup.

What the research shows

Across 12 studies of L-theanine, alone or in blends, people rated their sleep quality better than the people who weren't taking it.7

Calm, not sedated. In a review of 31 trials, a single 200 mg dose improved attention.10

Limits

The sleep results are self-reported, and 11 of the 19 studies in the largest review tested L-theanine inside blends.7 The one trial at our exact dose and timing had 30 people.4

Magnesium

For the body

120 mg

Bisglycinate + citrate

Why this amount

Your muscles relax when calcium is pumped back into storage, and magnesium helps drive that pump.11

CONTRACTINGRELAXING calcium store released Fibre shortens Mg drives the pump Calcium back in storage, fibre lengthens calcium
Illustration of the mechanism, not to scale.11

What isn't absorbed stays in the gut, which is why large single doses can upset the stomach.12 So we use 120 mg: about the magnesium in 35 almonds,13 and about a third of the 350 mg daily upper limit for magnesium from supplements.12

120 mg ≈ 35 almondsof magnesium
120 mg of the 350 mg daily upper limit for magnesium from supplements

Why two forms

Magnesium that dissolves well is absorbed more completely.12 Citrate was absorbed better than magnesium oxide in human trials: a single-dose crossover in 20 men,14 and a trial that ran for 24 weeks.15 Bisglycinate is magnesium bound to the amino acid glycine.

Limits

The muscle benefit rests on how magnesium works in the body.11 We know of no trial of 120 mg a day for muscle tension in healthy adults. The absorption figures were measured at other doses, marked *.

06

What we left out

No melatonin.

Melatonin is a hormone your body already makes. It tells your body that night has started.

Prescription melatonin comes as a 2 mg tablet made to release slowly, with a half-life of 3.5 to 4 hours.17 Take it at 11 PM and it can still be in your system when your alarm goes off. Its own label says it "may cause drowsiness", and rates its influence on driving as moderate.17

A sleep supplement you take every night cannot cost you the day after. So Night Pack leaves melatonin to your body, and works on what keeps you up: a busy mind, a tense body, and the stress response behind them.

11 PM1 AM3 AM5 AM7 AM PRESCRIPTION MELATONIN, 2 MG, SLOW RELEASE half-life 3.5 to 4 hours can still be in your system alarm

Taken at 11 PM. A timeline, not a measured blood-level curve.

No proprietary blend.

Every dose is on the front of the pack.

07 · How to take it

One sachet, 30 to 60 minutes before bed, with a glass of water.

Why the timing. L-theanine reaches its peak in the blood about 40 to 55 minutes after you take it, measured at doses up to about 100 mg.18

Already taking magnesium? Keep your total from supplements within 350 mg a day.12

Individual experiences vary.

Contains: Milk and products thereof.

Not suitable for infants, pregnant women, the elderly, or individuals with digestive disorders. Keep out of reach of children.

BED, 30 TO 60 MIN LATER L-theanine peak 0 min15 min30 min45 min60 min TAKE zz
Peak timing measured at doses up to about 100 mg.18

References

Each entry lists the study type, design and, where an ingredient maker funded or supplied the study, who.

  1. MechanismTrinder J et al. (2001). J Sleep Res 10(4):253–264; de Zambotti M et al. (2018). Neurosci Biobehav Rev 90:84–103. doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2018.03.027Heart rate and nervous-system activity across sleep onset.
  2. Nicassio PM et al. (1985). Behav Res Ther 23(3):263–271. doi.org/10.1016/0005-7967(85)90004-X; Correia IL et al. (2025). Sleep Med 126:290–299. doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2024.12.030The Pre-Sleep Arousal Scale, which scores the mind and the body separately.
  3. RCTSalve J et al. (2019). Cureus 11(12):e6466. doi.org/10.7759/cureus.6466Randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled. 60 adults, 8 weeks. KSM-66, supplied by its maker.
  4. RCTHidese S et al. (2019). Nutrients 11(10):2362. doi.org/10.3390/nu11102362Randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover. 30 healthy adults, 4 weeks per arm. Funded by Taiyo Kagaku, an L-theanine maker.
  5. Absorption studyFine KD et al. (1991). J Clin Invest 88(2):396–402. doi.org/10.1172/JCI115317; Schuchardt JP, Hahn A (2017). Curr Nutr Food Sci 13(4):260–278. doi.org/10.2174/15734013136661704271627408 healthy men, single test meals.
  6. Meta-analysisCheah KL et al. (2021). PLoS ONE 16(9):e0257843. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.02578435 randomised trials. No external funding.
  7. Meta-analysisBulman A et al. (2025). Sleep Med Rev 81:102076. doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2025.102076Systematic review and meta-analysis. 19 studies, 897 participants.
  8. Meta-analysisPayne ER et al. (2025). Nutr Rev 83(10):1873–1891. doi.org/10.1093/nutrit/nuaf054Systematic review of 49 randomised trials.
  9. Keenan EK et al. (2011). Food Chem 125(2):588–594. doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2010.08.071; Ayakdaş G, Ağagündüz D (2025). Foods 14(13):2313. doi.org/10.3390/foods14132313L-theanine content of tea: about 24 mg per 200 ml cup of standard black tea.
  10. Meta-analysisGerolymos C et al. (2026). Mol Psychiatry, published online 6 Jul 2026. doi.org/10.1038/s41380-026-03727-931 randomised trials, 1,168 participants.
  11. MechanismJahnen-Dechent W, Ketteler M (2012). Clin Kidney J 5(Suppl 1):i3–i14. academic.oup.com/ckj/article/5/Suppl_1/i3/447432
  12. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. Magnesium: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals (updated 6 Jan 2026). ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Magnesium-HealthProfessional
  13. USDA FoodData Central, almonds (SR Legacy 170567; 1 oz = 23 whole kernels). fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/170567/nutrients
  14. Absorption studyKappeler D et al. (2017). BMC Nutr 3:7. doi.org/10.1186/s40795-016-0121-3Randomised crossover. 20 healthy men, single 300 mg dose. Funded by Verla-Pharm, maker of the citrate product tested.
  15. RCTSchutten JC et al. (2022). J Am Heart Assoc 11(6):e021783. doi.org/10.1161/JAHA.121.02178324 weeks. Funded by Nedmag, a magnesium oxide producer.
  16. Absorption studyLindberg JS et al. (1990). J Am Coll Nutr 9(1):48–55. doi.org/10.1080/07315724.1990.10720349
  17. Circadin 2 mg prolonged-release tablets. Patient leaflet §2; Summary of Product Characteristics §4.4, §4.7, §4.8, §5.2. medicines.org.uk/emc/product/2809 (updated 11 Feb 2025)Prescription melatonin. Drowsiness warning, influence on driving, half-life.
  18. Absorption studyvan der Pijl PC et al. (2010). J Funct Foods 2(4):239–244. doi.org/10.1016/j.jff.2010.08.00115 healthy men, doses up to 98.6 mg.
  19. Visvalingam N et al. (2020). Sleep Health 6(3):277–287.Cited on the Night Pack page: 2 in 5 full-time employees in Singapore reported poor sleep quality.