Over the last couple of weeks, the Pillows.com team tested out several new natural sleep products that are currently on the market; the Dream Bar™, Dirty Lemon’s™ Sleep Drink, and Emergen-ZZZZ™. If you don’t like taking pharmaceuticals to help you sleep, these sleep supplements might be right up your alley! Read below to see how each helped us sleep.
These beautifully packaged bars hail from Colorado and are developed to improve sleep patterns. They come in 3 delectable flavors; Banana Lavender, Apple Chamomile, and Tart Cherry Lemon Balm (our favorite!). These bars are made with organic ingredients and nervine herbs (Lavender, Chamomile, and Lemon Balm) that affect neurotransmitters to help the body and mind relax naturally. They are also “Beegan”, gluten-free, and contain no GMOs.
One tester tracked her sleep through a sleep app on her phone and found that she had far fewer periods of restlessness throughout the night. On average, she has about 12-15 times in the night where she experiences restlessness, but with the Dream Bar™, she only had 3.
Overall, it does take about an hour to kick in, but once it did take effect, our testers experienced the most restful night out of the three products that we tried. There was also no groggy feeling in the morning because no melatonin or other hormone is used to create these bars.
We highly recommend you try these bars! They are available in these locations across the United States, or you can purchase them directly from their website. Dream Bar™ has also provided our Pillow Fans with a 15% off coupon code (pillowtalk) if you order directly from them. Enjoy a happy tummy and peaceful dreams with the Dream Bar™!
Score: 9/10
The Dirty Lemon™ Sleep drink is the next sleep-enhancing product that we tried. This drink is made with filtered water, naturally relaxing herbs, Magnesium, rose water, and lemon juice. There are no added sweeteners, so it just has a very light hint of lemon and rose.
The ordering process is certainly unique as well. Firstly, a case of 6 bottles of Sleep will set you back $65. Once you’ve made your profile on their website, you receive a text message confirming your order. Everything from receiving tracking to re-placing an order goes through text message. Definitely a first for us!
Our testers did experience more frequent periods of restlessness than with the Dream Bar™, and one had to get up to use the restroom in the middle of the night. Each bottle contains 16 oz. of liquid, so it’s a lot to drink right before bed.
When you open the bottle you are immediately hit with the soothing smell of rose and lemon, but once you take a sip, it just tastes like lemon water with maybe just a hint of rose. All of our testers were a little disappointed by the taste.
For the price, the volume that you have to drink, and the less-than-robust taste, we personally wouldn’t use this sleep aid on a regular basis. That being said, every sleeper is different, and this drink might be just the ticket to soothe you to sleep!
4/10
Emergen-ZZZZ® is the last sleep-aid that we tried. This product is part of the popular Emergen-C® brand. If you’ve never tried Emergen-C® before, they come in 0.27 oz packets and are in powdered form. You mix the powder in with as little or as much water as you’d like, depending on how strong you want the drink to taste. I personally like it to be really diluted, but one of our other testers only used about 4 oz of water, so she experienced the full flavor of it. We decided to go with the Berry PM, but you can also get it in Peach PM and Mellow Berry.
Out of the products that we tested, this is the only one to receive mixed reviews. One of the primary ingredients of the powder is Melatonin, which is a hormone that the brain naturally produces to regulate sleep. According, to “The Dark Side and Downsides of Melatonin,” although this is a naturally occurring hormone, using the synthesized version in supplement form, can throw off your normal sleep patterns. With that being said, 2 of our testers experienced grogginess when they woke up in the morning and had more frequent periods of restlessness. I personally slept like a rock throughout the night and was wide awake the next morning.
In terms of price and taste, the Emergen-ZZZZ® was certainly one of our favorites. We liked the way it put us to sleep almost immediately, but the unfortunate feeling of grogginess in the morning certainly knocked off a couple points. Also, if you are a smaller person or are sensitive to melatonin, we recommend taking half of the packet to prevent any morning drowsiness.
Score: 7/10
In Conclusion
This has certainly been a restful few weeks for us. We hope these reviews helped you and inspired you to try natural sleep remedies. We’re hooked!
Syam, Piyali. “The Dark Side and Downsides of Melatonin.” Van Winkle’s. Van Winkle’s, 16 Dec. 2015. Web. 14 Apr. 2017. <https://vanwinkles.com/the-dark-side-downsides-side-effects-of-melatonin>.