Sleep

Research has shown that sleep is the basis for our health (see anything by Matthew Walker, such as Why We Sleep on the topic.) Additionally from aging research we know the benefit of melatonin, with recommendations in the 2-5g/night range. FWIW I rigorously follow a sleep protocol, and find that the most I can supplement with melatonin in 300 micrograms, and only intermittently. More than that disturbed my REM, because it knocks me out so much. Walker is also not a big fan of Melatonin. The heavy hitter with sleep is the magical REM and deep sleep. Too much melatonin interferes with this, the problem is that the way sleep works is in periodicity. We go through 1-2 hour sleep periods where we either come out or close to wakefulness. This is key to getting the deep sleep, and too much sleep aid interferes with this and in my experience leads to poorer sleep. 

Regardless FWIW here's what I've learned and use in my sleep regime.

Supplementation

• 5-HTP Mild serotonin precursor, 500mg before bedtime, promotes relaxation and sleep
• Magnesium Either a bath or supplement. Muscle relaxant 
• Glycine (intermittent). Amino acid in large quantities in the brains of hibernating animals. Promotes intense dreams. 
• Melatonin (intermittent) A little melatonin boost doesn't hurt now and again, I do 300mcg time release (smallest dose I can find) for a week on/week off approximately. 

Physical

• Bedroom is entirely blacked out, no lights
• Night lights are covered to maximum dimness (anybody know of a dim reddish nightlight??)
• Nighttime cool temps. We live in a cool night climate and run a whole house fan to get airflow through the bedroom, also to ensure a good O2 supply and fresh air
• During the winter we run a IQAir hospital grade air filter, it's super quiet and the soft airflow helps keep us cool, and also provides a little bit of white noise to cover any environmental sounds
• All my light bulbs are Philips Hue which go firelight reddish at night automatically - no white or blue lights. 

Diet

• All caffeine is done by 10AM and no alcohol 
• Carbohydrates (e.g. sweet potatoes) with dinner as that comfortable feeling is a sleep promoter
• Dinner done by 6:30PM at the latest
• I keep a bottle of steam distilled water by the bedside in case I dry out (we have our own automatic distiller we use for all our drinking water)
• Testing has shown I do best with 170oz during the day. I use an app to make sure I get that much, and always drink it with meals. By doing this I have the best water retention and don't have to get up to use the bathroom or need a drink. Drinking a bunch of water before bed or on an empty stomach just ends up in a bathroom trip

Regime

• Religiously turn off the lights at 9PM (we are early risers)
• 8PM-9PM is screens off, reading or conversation only
• 5PM-8PM is arts only (music playing usually, movies on a projected screen which is better than a LCD for sleep)
• Meditation during the day, intermittent 1 minute Apple Watch Breathe, and a 20 minutes Muse headset meditation (great benefits have been found for meditation with sleep)
• Exercise every day (sleep promoter)
• Early morning make sure I get a big dose of sunlight (circadian promoter)
• Make sure I acknowledge and address all worries, concerns and intellectual activities during the day
• Glucose management (e.g. Metformin). Keeps the 3AM glucose wakeup call to a minimum

Skills

• Most important is to develop the ability to fall back asleep. It's normal to wake up several times during the night. 3AM is common (the liver releases glucose to get ready for the day). Otherwise as mentioned we normally have a periodic sleep of period 1-2 hours or so. Major interference is waking up and not going back to sleep. The Muse subscription has some great exercises on learning how to relax the mind and body which work for me. 
• Second is to not sweat the small stuff and let go. Trust that things will work out (they usually do)