Have you heard of the sleepy girl mocktail?
Made with tart cherry juice, magnesium glycinate, and a sparkling soft drink such as sparkling water or lemonade, this mocktail is said to be the ideal concoction for getting you into a deep, lasting sleep.
Now, for me, a person that simply does not sleep well, this sounds ideal. A fruity little drink before bed that will keep me sleeping right through the night? Please, sign me up. I’m sold, I’m in, I’ll try ANYTHING if it means I will actually sleep through the night.
TikTok creator Madison Lynn said that when she drinks this, she sleeps like ‘an absolute baby’, and thousands of other creators across the app have tried this aesthetically-pleasing sleep tonic.
So, I had to give it a go.
Does the sleepy girl mocktail actually work?
So, I followed all of the steps. I bought the magnesium powder, the tart cherry concentrate, and I mixed them with sugar-free lemonade.
I waited until around an hour before bed to drink this concoction and by this point, I was winding down, I was snuggling in my dressing gown, I was ready to go.
The drink itself was VERY tart. It took a few sips before I could get used to the taste, as my partner looked on in abject bewilderment that I was even attempting this trend.
Once I finished the glass, I spent a little more time in the living room before finally taking myself to bed. I DID feel sleepier for sure and I really did feel like I was experiencing the effects of the small amount of melatonin that’s found in tart cherries quite quickly.
However, the sleep itself last night was honestly not great. I don’t sleep well anyway, so let’s not lay the blame entirely at the feet of a viral drink but if anything, I think I actually slept worse than usual.
My sleep was restless, I woke up several times throughout the night and today I still feel really quite groggy and sluggish.
I really am disappointed but truly not surprised that this “hack” wasn’t effective. It’ll take more than that to get my sleep down to a fine art.
What experts think of the sleepy girl mocktail
According to nutritionist Courtney Kassis, the amount of sugar in these mocktails is actually likely to wake you up through the night, due to a blood sugar spike.
She instead recommends just having real tart cherries or even having nuts or oats as an evening snack to help improve your sleep quality.
Kassis also said in the comments of her video that she actually thinks it can worsen sleep, which... I really can confirm.
Back to the drawing board.