Sleep ·Dec 10, 2025

A healthy brain needs plenty of sleep

The Internet is full of suggestions on how to boost your brain to be more productive and creative. But the simplest way to heighten your brain power is tucked under your pillow — just make sure to get enough sleep every night.

A solid night’s sleep improves learning and problem-solving skills, helps you pay attention, make decisions, and come up with new ideas. That’s because your brain uses this precious downtime to process, organize, and store memories, making sleep essential for a well-functioning brain.

Need help to relax and fall asleep?

If you have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep, try TruLabs Honey drink mix. It supports healthy sleep cycles, such as falling asleep more quickly, staying asleep, and waking up feeling alert.

Our traditional, soothing Honey Lemon flavor can be sipped hot or cold. Or try our new Strawberry Hibiscus flavor, a bright blend of sweet strawberry and delicate hibiscus.

In creating our new Sleep formula, we added more magnesium, going from 65 mg to 100 mg. We also decreased the GABA, from 2,500 mg to 750 mg, for a more balanced nighttime blend.

Tru Labs Sleep still contains melatonin and the herbal extracts that people have used for centuries to feel calm and relaxed: Passionflower Extract, Valerian Root Extract, Ashwagandha Root Extract, and Lemon Balm Extract.

Our Sleep drink is sweetened with monk fruit extract and Reb M. Monk fruit extract comes from the Luo Hab Guo plant and Reb M (Rebaudioside M) is produced through a fermentation process that starts with sugarcane or rice. Unlike some other sweeteners, Reb M has a smooth, sugar-like sweetness with no bitter aftertaste.

As a result, Sleep is sugar-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, and soy-free, with only 5 calories per serving.

TruLabs Sleep is sugar-free and stevia-free because it’s sweetened with monk fruit extract and Reb M. Our Sleep formula has no artificial colors or sweeteners, and is also dairy-free, gluten-free, and soy-free, with only 5 calories per serving.

Studying sleep science

Researchers have found that sufficient sleep is critical to allow your brain to form new pathways, pathways you can fill with new information and remember later on. Six to 8 hours of sleep is required for most adults to fully function, so they can concentrate, pay attention, make decisions, be creative, and analyze and solve problems.

Scientists are also studying how sleep affects mental and academic performance, as well as long-term issues, like age-related cognitive decline.

While you sleep, your brain is busy

There are four different stages of sleep. Non-rapid eye movement (non-REM or NREM) sleep consists of two stages of light sleep and two of deep sleep. Then, there is a separate type, rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, the stage most often associated with dreaming.

Throughout the night, in 90-minute cycles, your brain and body move between lots of deep NREM sleep and a little REM sleep.

According to sleep expert and author Matthew Walker, deep sleep is when we save the new memories we create each day. They move to the neural network of the brain to preserve them for long-term storage, so we don’t forget them.

While you sleep, your brain also refreshes the short-term memory system. When you wake up, your brain is ready to take on a new set of memories. Walker compares it to backing up computer files on a USB stick to a hard drive.

When you are asleep, your brain also clears out waste products and toxins that gathered during the day. For children, sleep time is when the brain grows in complexity, furthering mental capacity and psychosocial development.

Find your best way to relax

Some people have a hot drink before bed, while others do yoga to feel calm. Experts suggest you stop using your screens, including TV, 30 minutes before you retire for the night.

We recommend you enjoy Sleep, hot or cold, about 15 minutes before bedtime to support a restful night. Use it for at least seven nights in a row to allow your body to get used to the benefits.

Make sleep time consistent

Try these tips to create a suitable environment for sleeping.

Go to bed and wake up around the same time every day, even on weekends.
Practice the same calming, bedtime routine each night, to signal your body that it's time to sleep.
Make sure your bedroom is dark, cool, and quiet.
Avoid heavy meals, caffeine, and alcohol during the late evening.

Do all you can to clear the way for a restful night of sleep. Your brain will thank you.

Now, lights out, everyone!

Disclaimer: The information provided in these blog posts is not intended as medical advice. While this post may include links to TruLabs products, it may also contain external links to websites or articles. Please note that the inclusion of these links does not necessarily signify endorsement of any specific product or website by TruLabs. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Sources:

https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/sleep-deprivation/health-effects

https://www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-deprivation/lack-of-sleep-and-cognitive-impairment

https://medicine.utah.edu/neurology/news/2023/06/why-at-least-seven-hours-of-sleep-is-essential

Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda: Matthew Walker: Sleep REALLY Matters, Sept. 11, 2023