We’re on a sleep supplement kick lately – they’re some of the most interesting and underrated types of product on the market. It’s one area where a lot of people are missing out – and maybe that’s you.
Today we’re going to review Genius Sleep Aid, what it can do for you, and how it stacks up against other products on the market.
About Genius Sleep Aid
Genius Sleep Aid is a supplement designed to help you get a better night’s sleep. Through this mechanism, it’s supposed to aid in everything from recovery to mood to mental performance. Obviously, if it works, this is a significant investment and can be really useful.
It’s a combination of a small number of herbal extracts as well as concentrated amino acids and other compounds. They’re in capsule format which makes Genius an easy and convenient choice when on-the-go, such as when travelling.
Overall, effective sleep supplements are one of the best types of products. If Genius Sleep Aid turns out to be effective, then we can safely say it’ll be worth your time. Otherwise, it’s going to sink into the market of great alternatives out there. We’re going to let you know just how worthwhile this product is.
Let’s look at what Genius does, what it is made from, and how you’re meant to use it…
The Key Facts
Sleep is the time your body sets aside specifically for recovery. It’s one of the important times when muscular recovery and growth are prioritized, as well as mental recovery and hormonal regulation. These are obviously enormously important!
The proper support of sleep is one of the common factors that elite athletes focus on, since you can’t be healthy or perform at your best without good sleep. That’s true for everyone, athletes and non-athletes alike. There’s no way around it, no matter how much caffeine you chug: you need to sleep, and better sleep means better results.
Let’s take a look at the label for the specifics of what is in Genius Sleep Aid:
There’s not much to see here, so let’s get straight into how you use it and then we can jump into analyzing the ingredients and Genius’ overall benefits.
Directions for Use
It’s a pretty simple product: take two capsules in the 30-60 minutes leading up to bedtime. This will provide the most consistent results.
It’d also be better to incorporate this kind of product into an evening routine. This usually means reducing screen time, relaxing, and ideally drinking something like green tea to help you chill and improve sleep quality.
If you can get into these habits, you’ll maximize the benefits of any sleeping aid or sleep quality supplement.
Genius Sleep Aid Ingredients
There aren’t a ton of ingredients in this product: it relies on a small handful of compounds. This is a risky game when it comes to this kind of supplement: if these compounds aren’t the best choice, Genius has put their eggs in very few, very risky baskets.
The compounds are primarily amino acids with the inclusion of specific fruit extracts and Melatonin.
Glycine
This is a proven compound for sleep quality – one of the most effective short-term sleep boosting compounds Genius could’ve chosen.
It’s not a simple compound, however: in the diet, it can have either stimulatory or relaxant roles. This makes it an interesting choice and hopefully its combination with other compounds in this product will make it even more effective.
One of the interesting benefits is an overall ability to combat fatigue in the short- and long-term. In the short-term, Glycine combats fatigue, but its effects on long-term sleep quality can have knock-on effects to better fatigue-resistance and a more consistently wakeful state.
The objective and subjective measures of fatigue, sleep quality, and mood are affected by Glycine. It’s not just that you are likely to experience higher-quality, more restful sleep on a physical level but are also to feel better for it, with self-reports suggesting you might feel significantly better.
The only problem we have with Glycine in this product is the dosage: studies tell us you need 3g of glycine per hour for better sleep quality. Obviously, the 1g in Genius isn’t going to provide those levels unless you’re taking six capsules per hour per night. Which we would never recommend.
You’d need 150% – 300% of the Genius dose (for 30 minutes and 60 minutes respectively) to see clinical benefits. This is concerning and will put a lot of pressure on the other ingredients in this product to make up for the relatively small amount of glycine you’re getting. An opportunity missed.
Theanine
We’ve discussed theanine before: it’s a compound that offers significant benefits for sleep-supporting products. There are a few things we really love about theanine.
Firstly, it’s a significant compound for promoting calm, collected mood and controlling anxiety. This makes it a helpful addition to any sleep aid, since it can help you relax and support more restful sleep.
Second, it is one of the best compounds for reducing the negative effects of caffeine. If you’ve been heavily caffeinated throughout the day, Theanine can reduce the issues and help you relax towards bedtime. Naturally, this helps improve your sleep quality and quantity.
If you’re working long days and you’re caffeinating heavily throughout the day, theanine is a great choice. Again, however, the dosage in this product doesn’t get close to the clinically relevant dose, so we’re concerned that you’re going to miss out on a lot of the best benefits.
Rutaecarpine
This is a compound that we’re not terribly familiar with because you simply don’t find it in most supplements. At a basic level, it’s been proven to be anti-inflammatory in rodent studies but there’s very little tying it to benefits in sleep quality and recovery, so far.
The main thing we can say about Rutaecarpine – and its role in this product – is that it could carry some digestive benefits. Specifically, it’s really useful as a synergist to Inositol, supporting its digestion and overall uptake.
We’re not sure if this is a general wellness compound – as has been hinted at in some of the research – included for benefitting Inositol. What we can say for sure is that Rutaecarpine alone isn’t likely to improve your sleep quality above its synergistic effects (with theanine or inositol).
On the other hand, it might be a useful compound for combatting the role of caffeine in the body. It’s suggested that this is its main role – which would be good when combined with Theanine’s effects on caffeine.
However, the research really isn’t clear: it’s all in rats, Rutaecarpine is very susceptible to interactions with other compounds, and the berries that Rutaecarpine is found in are way more effective than the fruit powder itself. Result? Rutaecarpine isn’t confirmed for any real benefit.
See the Top Rated
– Natural Sleep Aid This Year –
Inositol
This is a pretty useful compound for its modest reductions to anxiety. As mentioned before, this is one of the main ways that this product aims to improve your sleep quality.
It’s a compound that benefits from synergy with Rutaecarpine (shown in the studies on the berries), while it also benefits from combination with Theanine. This makes it a good choice for this product, though its applications for sleep are pretty indirect, gained mostly through tackling anxiety, synergy, and adjusting mood.
It can also be a great compound for addressing common health markers like blood pressure and heart rate in some populations. If you’re a woman with PCOS, for example, Inositol is really good, but for most people it’s going to be a mildly useful compound for adjusting and regulating mood – which is the source of any benefit it could have on sleep quality.
It’s a good compound but – as with a lot of this product – it feels like a secondary ingredient. There’s no big active ingredients here other than, perhaps, under-dosed glycine. We’re still waiting to be impressed.
Melatonin
This is, without a doubt, one of the best compounds for supporting sleep quantity and quality. It’s a classic solution, promoting increased ‘sleepiness’, as well as a more intense sleep. This has some knock-on benefits to hormonal and mental recovery.
It’s a non-addictive sleep aid that drastically reduces the risk of overall insomnia – especially when combined with blue light reductions. It can also reduce blood pressure and significantly contributes to regulating a bunch of other hormones.
If sleep is the re-balancing time for your hormones and mood, melatonin is the chemical equivalent. It’s the pre-sleep compound that improves sleep quality and contributes to these hormonal benefits all by itself. It combats stress and anxiety, while making you drowsy/sleep, and boosts almost all the recovery variables associated with sleep!
Overall, we can’t criticize melatonin: it’s an effective and important sleep aid compound. Even if the rest of this product is unclear or hit-and-miss, Melatonin alone is a great compound and should be a central part of any sleep supplement you’re considering spending money on!
See the Top Rated
– Natural Sleep Aid This Year –
Genius Sleep Aid Formula Analysis
Is Genius Sleep Aid likely to improve your sleep quality if you’re not taking any sleep aid supplements already? Yes.
Is it a competitive supplement when we look at some of the other sleep supplements we’ve reviewed so far? It’s not as strong as it could be.
When we look at the formula, it’s clear that dosages are very low compared to what they need to be, and even when compared to other products. The serving sizes are small enough that this product is less potent and less varied than other products on the market like RedCon1’s Fade Out or Performance Lab’s Sleep which uses natural sources of melatonin.
Genius has put together a decent product, but with the value and the competition, we’re just not sure that’s enough to secure a recommendation. We’re not blown away with this product, while some of its competitors really have been that impressive.
Overall, the compounds chosen are ‘okay’ and the dosages are underwhelming when it comes to the clinical evidence. The overall picture is a product that you either need to double-dose (which leaves you with only 10 days’ supply per container and is not something we would recommend), or it simply won’t pack enough punch.
This product works but only if you’re comparing it to not using a sleep supplement, and that’s mostly thanks to the melatonin which you can find in many other compounds. When you compare it to any other product on a dollar/serving basis, it’s going to fall apart quickly when compounds like GABA aren’t included and the ingredient choice/quantity isn’t quite there.
Genius Sleep Aid Benefits
The benefits of this product are still there: it still does stuff, even if it’s not going to be leading the pack on the market. It could be a good anti-caffeine product that allows you to wind down at the end of a busy day.
It could be better for this – GABA, again, being a great addition – but it provides a decent choice. On top of this, Genius could well be a good anti-anxiety product, which would double up with its intended purpose as a sleep aid and anti-caffeine, pro-relaxation product.
The benefits are slight compared to alternatives, but effective compared to what you’re doing now (assuming you’re doing nothing!). If you can figure this kind of product into a larger pre-sleep routine, you’re likely to improve your overall results and wellbeing.
Who Takes It?
This product is set up for those who tend to get really caffeinated and/or anxious during the day. For these reasons, we recommend treating this product like an evening relaxation pill – rather than the specific sleep-for-performance support you’d see with other brands/products.
It’s more like a problem-solving supplement than a performance-boosting supplement. This makes it a tolerable, cheap choice if you just want a simple anti-anxiety nutritional supplement.
This isn’t a product that will have the kind of results that a serious athlete or trainee would want to choose, however. It has secondary effects on sleep quality and recovery but can’t compete with the big boys on the market.
Any Potential Side Effects with Genius Sleep Aid?
There aren’t many side effects you’re likely to run into with this product. You should consider that the Rutaecarpine often interacts with other herbs/extracts, but not in dangerous or life-threatening ways.
There are no common allergens or similar in this product, though it could always produce an individual adverse reaction. Take a small amount to test your tolerance if you’re going to try it, and then scale to the recommended dose.
As ever, consult your doctor if you have any pre-conditions that might make this product unsafe, or if you experience any side-effects.
Genius Sleep Aid Summary
Overall, this is a tolerable product but doesn’t set itself apart. It’s not really an economy product when you only get 20 servings, so it’s a bit lost in the middle of the pack.
Pros:
- Some interesting experimental ingredient choices
- Melatonin and Glycine are good options
- Potential for synergy between compounds
Cons:
- Could have chosen better compounds
- Some choices are perplexing or lack human evidence
- Glycine is underdosed by a significant amount
- Doesn’t compete well with other products on the market
- Servings are very weak and very few per container.
See the Top Rated
– Natural Sleep Aid This Year –
Genius Sleep Aid Price & Buying Info
The pricing is relatively cheap until you consider that you’re not getting much for the price when it comes to doses. You’re getting 20 servings for your money – so it’s not exactly competitive with the industry standard of 30+ per container.
Overall, it’s a relatively low price but not very good value. It’s comparable to better products when it comes to price, but not the quality you’re getting per dollar!
Genius Sleep Aid Review: Final Word
As we mentioned, Genius Sleep Aid could be useful if you have no experience of sleep aids at all. But we can’t measure its effectiveness without comparing it other similar products, or the sleep supplement market as a whole, which is where it falls down.
Overall, this product sits squarely in the middle of the market. It’s not an outstanding product but it doesn’t do anything terrible – it’s just not very good value and not tremendously effective as a sleep aid (potentially better as an anti-anxiety/ relaxation product).
The overall picture of sleep supplements is one that makes it hard to respect a poor product. We’ve already looked at RedCon1 and how their Fade Out supplement provides a clear good example, which makes something like this feel underwhelming.
The benefits of a good sleep supplement are so significant to your life – which is why it’s so sad that Genius Sleep Aid just doesn’t live up to what it could have been. Overall, we’re underwhelmed and wouldn’t recommend this product.
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