Can’t Fall Asleep Without Melatonin? ‘Breaking Beauty’ Says That’s a Red Flag

Be honest, when’s the last time you went to bed without popping a melatonin gummy first? At this point, they’re practically a nightstand staple—right next to the Stanley tumbler and the phone charger. They’re cute, they’re tasty, and they feel like a totally harmless way to guarantee you’ll actually fall asleep tonight. But here’s the thing: if you literally cannot sleep without them anymore, that might be your sign to reconsider.

On Breaking Beauty, hosts Jill Dunn and Carlene Higgins sit down with Siff Haider, co-founder of supplement brand Arrae, for an honest conversation about what’s actually helping (and hurting) our sleep. Whether you’ve been relying on melatonin for months or you’re just starting to wonder why it doesn’t hit like it used to, this one’s for you.

Why your nightly melatonin habit might be backfiring

Melatonin is a hormone. Not a vitamin, not a mineral—a hormone. And when you take hormones regularly, your body starts to notice.

Haider explains that this is exactly why Arrae formulated their sleep supplement without it. “Research has shown that having melatonin regularly can cause dependency,” she says. “It is after all a hormone. And so, we wanted to create something that was melatonin-free so that it wouldn’t cause any dependency.”

She’s not wrong. While melatonin has long been marketed as a gentle, “natural” sleep aid, emerging research is starting to challenge that narrative. The other issue? In the U.S., melatonin is sold as a dietary supplement, which means the FDA doesn’t approve it before it hits shelves. So that 5mg gummy you’re taking might not actually contain 5mg—and there’s no guarantee of consistency between brands or even batches. If you’ve ever felt like your melatonin “stopped working,” this could be why.

What to take instead (hint: it’s magnesium)

So if melatonin isn’t the move for nightly use, what is? According to Haider, the answer is magnesium—and she’s genuinely passionate about it.

“Magnesium is something that our body uses for so many different functions, and we are unfortunately all magnesium deficient,” she explains. “It’s just one of those things that we all should be having.” Her personal nightly stack includes a blend of magnesium threonate, citrate, and bisglycinate—forms that are highly bioavailable and great for both relaxation and muscle recovery.

The research backs her up. Studies suggest that nearly half of Americans consume less than the recommended amount of magnesium, and deficiency has been linked to poor sleep, anxiety, and even leg cramps that wake you up at night. Unlike melatonin, magnesium works with your body’s natural processes—it supports GABA (your brain’s main calming neurotransmitter), helps regulate your body’s own melatonin production, and can reduce cortisol levels that keep you wired when you should be winding down.

“I think magnesium is just one of those supplements that everyone should be taking,” Haider says. “It’s just universally good for you.”

The wind-down ritual you forgot you needed

Beyond supplements, there’s another piece of the sleep puzzle that most adults have completely abandoned: an actual bedtime routine. Remember when you were a kid and bedtime meant bath, pajamas, story, lights out? Somewhere along the way, we traded that for doom-scrolling until our eyes burn, followed by confusion about why sleep feels so hard.

Haider is a firm believer in bringing that structure back. “I simply cannot go from speaking about work into a deep restful slumber,” she says. “I think you need a routine the same way kids have a routine…I don’t know why we lost it somewhere along the way.”

Her non-negotiable? Reading—specifically fiction. “That’s my dissociation from the day, and it has to be fiction,” she explains. “I read non-fiction during the day, but in the evening it has to be fiction.” The reason is actually pretty smart: non-fiction keeps her brain in work mode, constantly thinking about how to apply what she’s learning to her business or life. Fiction, on the other hand, lets her fully escape. “As soon as I switched back to fiction, I was like, this is the biggest absolute game changer.”

Getting better sleep in 2026 might not be about adding another supplement to your routine—it might be about rethinking the ones you already take and actually giving yourself permission to wind down. Swap the nightly melatonin for magnesium, put the phone away, and pick up a book that has absolutely nothing to do with your real life. Your brain might finally clock out on time.

Want the full conversation? Breaking Beauty is streaming now wherever you listen.

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