Sleep Supplement Review: Magnolia Bark Extract
What it is, How it works, Will I use it moving forward?
Magnolia Bark (aka Nature’s Xanax) has been a staple sleep/anxiety supplement for me since I started using it late last year.
It’s been incredibly effective at helping me fall and stay asleep, as well as combatting anxiety when I need it most. As a result, it will be a staple in my supplement rotation moving forward (exactly how I plan to use it is detailed later in this post).
What makes Magnolia Bark so effective are its two primary active compounds, magnolol and honokiol. These molecules act as GABAA receptor positive modulators, the same mechanism of action as benzodiazepines like Xanax.
Unlike Xanax though, the actives in magnolia bark also act on extrasynaptic GABAA receptors. This allows them to enhance constant GABA signaling that heavily influences overall neuronal excitability, as opposed to just the fast inhibitory transmission that occurs in synapses. The obvious tradeoff here is potency. Xanax, or any other benzodiazepine, is going to be much more potent than magnolol and honokiol.
The active components of Magnolia Bark have other potential mechanisms as well. There’s evidence they inhibit glutamate receptors, which would further contribute to their anxiolytic and pro-sleep effects. They have also been studied for anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, and even anti-cancer activity, but the potent GABAergic activity is the primary use case for a supplement like this.
The extract I used contained a minimum of 80% magnolol and honokiol, up from the roughly 10% that occur naturally in magnolia bark. This allows it to pack a greater punch per milligram, and provide a large amount of inhibition in just a small tablet.
My Subjective Experience
I used Magnolia Bark exclusively as a sleep supplement. However, I made sure to take it much earlier than I normally would (>2 hours before bed) on occasion, so that I could test its effectiveness as an inhibitory agent without being influenced by my normal drowsiness closer to bed.
Over the course of my testing, I tried just 3 doses; 200mg, 400mg, and 600mg, as I didn’t feel the need to go any higher than that.
200mg provided me with a light sense of inhibition. Not enough to make me want to lie down and fall asleep, but enough to help slow my mind down enough to facilitate an easy transition to sleep. This was about on par with the effect I get from an average dose of L-theanine and magnesium.
400mg has a much more pronounced effect. It was enough to easily rid me of any anxiety and actively made it much easier to fall asleep. I've used this to my advantage while traveling to fix my sleep schedule, helping me fall asleep earlier than I had nights prior, and to really crush anxiety that was making it tough for me to fall asleep. This dose was my sweet spot overall.
600mg quickly became my “nuclear option” for nights I was having issues falling asleep. Every time I’ve taken this dose I’ve passed out within the hour. My most notable experience with it was a night I pulled a muscle in my low back lifting and I couldn't even lie down without being in pain/discomfort. I took 600mg and it eased my discomfort so much that I fell asleep rather quickly and slept through the whole night. That was the night I really gained an appreciation for this supplement.
Magnolia Bark had notable inhibitory effects about 25-30 minutes after taking it, although I can’t say how long it lasted because I fell asleep within 2 hours of taking it every time. I never had the need to utilize it for anxiety during the day because I’m not an anxious person, but my mind tends to race occasionally before bed so I used it primarily as a “sleep supplement”. It never actively sedated me, but was incredibly effective at helping me turn my brain off and fall asleep when I needed it most.
Given its mechanism as a GABA agonist, these results are about what I expected going into this experiment.
My Protocol Moving Forward
My experience with Magnolia Bark has been nothing but positive so far and it served as a short-term fix for any difficulties falling asleep or insomnia I’ve experienced. As a result, it is something I will always try to have on hand moving forward, and I’ll deploy it as wanted/needed under the following general guidelines;
When my mind is racing excessively before bed or other issues falling asleep (400mg)
For nights when I’m having serious issues falling asleep (600mg)
I want to note that I never used Magnolia Bark extract more than two times per week. This is a pretty potent GABA agonist and using it more often could result in the downregulation of your endogenous GABA system. This is something I’m extremely cautious of and is not worth the risk in my opinion. Despite that, in my experience it can be used one to two times per week safely with no drawbacks.
Magnolia Bark also has an excellent synergy with another GABAergic supplement I really enjoy, Lemon Balm, which increases levels of GABA in the brain. Combined with enhanced GABAA receptor activity they have a potent inhibitory effect, so I’ll use a lower dose of Magnolia Bark (200-400mg) when combined with Lemon Balm on occasion as well.
Please note that these are the doses I found to work for me after several months of testing. If you choose to use Magnolia Bark for yourself, I recommend you start with the lowest possible dose and titrate up slowly as needed. Biology and neurobiology are not one size fits all, find what works for you.
Conclusion
When I originally started experimenting with Magnolia Bark, my goal was to experience what high GABA activity felt like as a sort of learning experience. I already had so much knowledge about how GABA worked in the brain, but no real experience enhancing its activity so selectively. That experiment turned out to be a great success. The ability it has to silence my mind before bed is unlike any supplement I’ve used before–which isn’t exactly shocking given this was the first potent GABAergic supplement I’ve used.
Over the course of my experimentation with Magnolia Bark extract I not only learned a lot, but found a new tool I’ll keep in my sleep supplement rotation (just never more than two times per week).
Supplementary Information
Brand Used: Nootropics Depot
Form: Tablets
Method of Administration: Orally
Height & Weight for dosage comparison: 6’2, 195lbs