5-HTP has a very deep effect on the natural sleep cycles we all experience on a nightly basis. Taking a 5-HTP supplement such as those made from Griffonia Simplicifolia can be very beneficial towards slipping into a nice deep REM sleep much faster.

Griffonia Simplicifolia functions by improving the quality of REM sleep and increasing the duration of deep sleep. When Griffonia Simplicifolia is used, REM sleep improves by an average of 25%. In addition to this, two of the deep sleep stages – three and four – are lengthened, yet the total amount of sleep remains the same. This is accomplished by reducing the amount of time your body spends on sleep stages one and two. Allocating more time to deep sleep stages 2 and 4 helps the user wake up feeling refreshed and ready for a new day.

The dose is a big factor in how much Griffonia Simplicifolia affects the quality of your sleep. This gets tricky with the straight-up plant extracts, as the amount of active ingredient is often ambiguous in these forms. For this reason, it is advised that the standardized form of this chemical is bought.

Beginners often start off with a dose of about 50mg or less although more experienced users will take doses of up to 300mg. Overdosing can be serious, so a beginner should not go above 50mg and a seasoned user should generally not go above around 300mg. You may find that a low dose will do just fine; if not, then just increase the dosage steadily.

Side effects aren’t uncommon, especially when used in higher doses. The most common one is very vivid and perhaps disturbing dreams because of the prolonged REM stage. Other potential side effects are nausea, heart valve damage, rashes, and headaches. If too much 5-HTP is ingested, you might experience serotonin syndrome which is potentially life-threatening; be aware of confusion, headaches, agitation, tremors, shivering, and more. If you’re on antidepressants, medications for Parkinson’s, or antibiotics, Griffonia Simplicifolia should not be ingested. You should also not combine this herb or its active ingredient with MAO inhibitors, weight-loss drugs, barbiturates, alcohol, chemotherapy, or tranquilizers.

Although the side effects may make you want to re-think taking Griffonia Simplicifolia, they are heavily exaggerated. If you simply take a natural Griffonia Simplicifolia herbal extract, it should be no problem. Most issues arise when users are taking huge amounts of pure, concentrated 5-HTP, which is the active ingredient in Griffonia Simplicifolia. That’s akin to drinking pure caffeine rather than a light coffee in terms of dosage. At any rate, Griffonia Simplicifolia is a very useful plant for many people regardless of the way they consume it, and it provides thousands of people with a good sleep session every night.

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