How Zinc Might Fix BOTH Your Sleeplessness AND Your Sleepiness

Sleep is undoubtedly one of those lingering mysteries of modern science. It’s tempting to say that it’s one of those “last frontiers”—i.e. those things that we still don’t really understand, despite how much we apparently know—like the trenches of the ocean, or deep outer space…

But, of course, that’s not true. For there are no “last frontiers.” All of science is a “last frontier,” for all of the scientific “understanding” that we’ve developed consists simply of working models by which we organize our approach to this world. Most of it does not constitute true understanding.

They’re frameworks.

And sleep is no exception. Sleep comprises approximately one-third of our lifetimes. It’s like the sea relative to the rest of the earth’s surface: It comprises so much of our ‘living space,’ but we don’t really, intimately understand it.

But there are certain things that we do know.

What We Do Know About Sleep

We know that we need sufficient quantity and quality of sleep to live, for example, and to function well. But despite that, we’re living in a veritable modern epidemic of disrupted sleep, and it is precisely the modern era and its ills that produce this dangerous sleeplessness situation.

We’re just unable to rest!

So many of us are sleepless at night yet sleepy during the day. It’s as if we’re just so untuned, so distanced from and detached from the natural order of the world, to the extent that even our sleep itself doesn’t align appropriately with the natural cycles of the world around us!

Night and day, light and dark, and so on.

To address this inability to align their circadian cycles with the earth's day and night cycles, people often turn to exogenous substances, things like:

• Caffeine

• Synthetic melatonin

• Antihistamines

• Prescription sleep aids

Though without a doubt, none of these truly addresses the root of the issue.

Why the “Whole Person” Approach Matters

Fixing your sleep requires a whole person approach—there’s no doubt about that. If the “whole person” approach applies to anything, it applies to sleep. Absolutely.

However, barring the wherewithal and ability to address your health through such an approach, there are certain things that can be done. In other words, there are certain high yield, low hanging fruit that should be attempted on the path to addressing one’s sleep problems.

Zinc is one such low hanging fruit.

To understand how zinc can help both sleeplessness and daytime sleepiness, we must understand a little bit about the body’s physiology.

Zinc: A Missing Link Between Sleeplessness and Daytime Grogginess

To understand how zinc can help fix both problems—difficulty falling asleep and feeling tired after waking—we need to talk about a molecule called adenosine.

The Adenosine Cycle Explained

• When you wake up, adenosine levels in your brain are low.

• As the day progresses, adenosine accumulates—this accumulation increases your sleep pressure (i.e., the drive to sleep).

• When you go to sleep, adenosine is cleared from the brain, helping to restore alertness.

Therefore:

• If adenosine isn’t cleared effectively, you’ll wake up still feeling fatigued.

• If adenosine doesn’t accumulate properly, you won’t feel sleepy when you should.

• And if the timing of adenosine’s rise and fall is off, your circadian rhythm (sleep-wake cycle) becomes dysregulated.

Zinc’s Role in Adenosine Metabolism

Zinc activates a group of enzymes—like ENPP1, ENPP3, and others—which are responsible for breaking down ATP into adenosine. This process is essential for generating the right amount of adenosine during the day.

Zinc deficiency = impaired adenosine accumulation = you don’t feel sleepy at night.

But zinc also plays a role in the clearance of adenosine while you sleep.

Zinc deficiency = poor adenosine clearance = you wake up groggy and fatigued.

In short:

• Zinc helps build sleepiness at night.

• And zinc helps clear sleepiness by morning.

Clinical Research Supports Zinc for Sleep

This isn’t just theoretical. Research has shown that zinc supplementation improves both:

• Sleep onset latency (how long it takes to fall asleep)

• Sleep efficiency (how much of your time in bed you’re actually asleep)

One study found that just 15 mg/day of zinc from oysters significantly improved these sleep parameters.

Another study showed that 30 mg/day of zinc improved overall sleep quality in older adults.

Zinc Works Beyond Adenosine: Neurochemical Balance

Zinc doesn’t only affect sleep through adenosine regulation. It also modulates key neurotransmitters involved in sleep:

Zinc Yields: More GABA, Less Glutamate

• Glutamate is your brain’s main excitatory neurotransmitter.

• GABA is an important inhibitory neurotransmitter—responsible for calm, quiet, restful sleep.

Zinc supports the conversion of glutamate into GABA—helping your brain get into a restful state, primed for restoration.

Animal studies have found that zinc supplementation also increases time spent in NREM sleep, the restorative, brain-healing phase of sleep.

How to Know if You Might Be Zinc Deficient

Many people are, without realizing it. Of course, you first should look for any signs of zinc deficiency. This starts by assessing your symptoms and your physical state:

Common Symptoms of Zinc Deficiency:

• Frequent colds or infections

• Hair loss

• Poor wound healing

• Reduced taste or smell

• Acne or skin inflammation

• And so on…

Next, you can also test for zinc deficiency. Keep in mind that no test is foolproof, but you can try:

• Plasma zinc measurement (best current option)

• Hair mineral analysis

• Intracellular zinc testing

How to Use Zinc to Improve Your Sleep

Once you suspect a deficiency—or you simply want to experiment (safely and under your own doctor’s guidance!)—the next step is to increase your zinc consumption. Diet is a good place to start. Consider the following best food sources of zinc:

• Oysters (the highest by far)

• Beef

• Lamb

• Pumpkin seeds

• Cashews

• Chickpeas

• Lentils

• Mushrooms

• Spinach

• Quinoa

Animal sources are generally more bioavailable than plant-based sources.

Zinc Supplementation Tips

If diet isn’t enough—or you just can’t eat enough oysters… (I personally don’t blame you)—supplementation may be worth trying.

It's important to actually supplement with the right form of zinc, to take the right dose of zinc, and to take it at the right time. This requires a personalized approach, but generally speaking, any form of zinc is fine other than zinc picolinate, which appears to be the least effective form.

Forms to use: Zinc citrate, gluconate, or acetate are generally well-absorbed.

Zinc does need to be taken with food (to avoid major nausea), and I generally recommend taking it with the last meal of the day.

I won’t attempt to broach the topic of dosage level in this article, as that’s something that really requires personalization.

Zinc’s Synergy with Other Nutrients

It's important to remember as well that zinc works synergistically with other nutrients, especially magnesium and B6, which ideally should be optimized alongside zinc to get the maximum benefit for your sleep.

Pay special attention to B6—because too much (especially in supplement form) can lead to symptoms sometimes described as “B6 toxicity.” (Though the term is controversial and deserves its own article.)

Ultimately…

Zinc is a crucial player in:

• Building sleep pressure via adenosine accumulation

• Supporting sleep quality through neurotransmitter balance

• Clearing adenosine for next-day energy

That’s why many people feel both less insomnia and less fatigue after correcting a zinc deficiency or optimizing zinc intake.

Of course, no one supplement is going to fix all one's problems nor is any single supplement or pill the solution to any health problem in its entirety. It's always best to take a personalized comprehensive approach to addressing such issues, though—in the absence of other deciding factors—zinc is a pretty easy, powerful place to start.

If you have genetic results and would like my help developing your own full supplement plan, check out:

If you haven’t yet tested your genetics, you can order your cheek swab:

And finally, check out some of my other articles:

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~Dr. Malek

Keep in mind that this is not official medical advice. These are NOT recommendations; this is purely educational information. No doctor-patient relationship is established through this article or through any other information provided on this website.