It’s no secret that sleep is essential to our well-being. However, it's common to struggle with getting enough sleep. Long-term sleep deprivation can have severe consequences and health implications, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and depression. 

Like others, I struggle with getting enough rest and always look for ways to improve my sleep quality. I came across a few TikTok videos about the Lemme Sleep brand and the effectiveness of its sleep gummies, but I remained skeptical. I’ve tried countless sleep hacks, remedies and supplements over the years -- would this one be any different? I decided to jump on the bandwagon and give it a shot.

Editor's note: Lemme is currently under investigation and facing a class action lawsuit by Zimmerman Reed over claims of deceptive advertising. The specific products in question are Lemme Purr, Lemme Curb, Lemme Debloat and Lemme Matcha. You may be entitled to compensation if you purchased a Lemme product, and you can check by filling out the free case review form. Lemme Sleep is not under investigation at this time.

What is Lemme?

Lemme (or Lemme Live) is a vitamin brand created by American media personality Kourtney Kardashian Barker. The line features a variety of wellness supplements for sleep and de-stressing, boosting energy, digestive health, vaginal probiotics, fat-burning gummies and more. Kourtney explains on Lemme’s website that her mission was to develop vitamins and supplements with clinically backed ingredients that are also tasty.

I have to hand it to them -- Lemme’s marketing is superior. Its email campaigns and social media posts are aesthetically pleasing, striking a balance of simple and informative. It stays on top of trends and strategically offers attractive solutions to common health issues or insecurities many people face: Do you desire radiant hair and skin? Try the Lemme Glow gummies. Are you struggling to lose weight? Consider the Lemme Burn and Lemme Curb duo to combat fat and manage unwanted cravings. Do you want to be more productive throughout your busy day? Try the Lemme Matcha gummies for sustained energy and focus. The list goes on.

Lemme offers a variety of health supplements, not just sleep aids. Lemme Initial thoughts on Lemme

The sleep gummies were sold out when I initially tried purchasing them, so I signed up for their emails. I was notified that they were back in stock a few days later and immediately ordered a bottle. Since signing up for their email and text campaigns just a couple of months ago, I’ve noticed that the Lemme Sleep gummies have gone out of stock multiple times -- a sign that they remain trendy.  

Right away, I was impressed by the container. I am a sucker for good packaging, and Lemme nailed it. The bottle is fun, and the materials feel high-quality. It is made of 100% post-consumer recycled plastic, so no new plastic is created to make these bottles and caps. The mailers and shipping boxes are also recyclable and biodegradable, which I appreciate (and expect, quite frankly).

The Lemme Sleep gummies are packaged in fun, recycled plastic bottles. Aly Lopez/CNET Olly vs. Lemme

My Lemme Sleep gummies arrived just as I ran out of the Olly Sleep gummies I had been taking for the past month. Olly is a comparable brand that offers a variety of vitamins and supplements. With Olly Sleep, I noticed that while they would make me almost immediately sleepy, it was not always enough for me to get solid, deep sleep and stay asleep throughout the night -- my two main issues. However, they were consistent and certainly never made my sleep any worse. 

To compare the ingredients:

Olly Sleep has melatonin, L-theanine and botanicalsLemme Sleep has melatonin, L-theanine, magnesium and botanicalsOlly has 3 mg of melatonin, whereas Lemme Sleep has 5 mgOlly has 100 mg of L-theanine, and Lemme Sleep has 50 mg I had just finished a bottle of Olly Sleep when my Lemme Sleep gummies arrived. Aly Lopez/CNET

Given that a serving of the Olly Sleep gummies has less melatonin but more L-theanine than Lemme Sleep, I wasn’t sure how the two would compare as far as my sleep quality.

To me, the berry flavor of Lemme Sleep tasted slightly better than Olly Sleep’s blackberry flavor, but I wouldn’t necessarily want to eat either of them like candy. The Lemme gummies dissolved much faster than Olly's, which are, well, gummier.

A bottle of Lemme Sleep has 60 gummies (30 servings) and costs $30. A bottle of Olly Sleep has 50 gummies (25 servings) and is priced at only $14 -- less than half the price. $30 for a bottle of dietary sleep supplements like this is one of the higher price tags I've seen.

My first night taking Lemme Sleep

While preparing for bed, I took the recommended dosage of two gummies. Less than 30 minutes later, I felt myself drift off to sleep. I remember feeling incredibly relaxed as if peacefully floating on a cloud. According to my sleep tracker, I slept for 10 hours and 4 minutes -- a new high score. I’m not sure that I’ve ever slept that long. 

As shown in my sleep data below, I woke up a few times throughout the night but fell back asleep quickly each time. I didn’t remember having any crazy or bizarre dreams, which is unusual for me. I did wake up feeling rather groggy and probably would have slept even longer if my dog hadn’t woken me up asking to go outside. 

In those 10 hours, I spent less than 1 hour in deep sleep (53 minutes) and most of the time in core/light sleep (7 hours). The recommended amount of deep sleep for adults is around 1.5 to 2 hours, or 20% to 25% of the total time asleep. Ideally, I would have spent 2 to 2.5 hours in deep sleep, which may explain why I woke up still tired -- that, or I “overslept” for the first time in years. My sleep latency, or the time it takes to fall asleep, was also very short.

After taking two Lemme Sleep gummies, I slept for a shocking 10 hours.  Aly Lopez/CNET

Overall, I was impressed by my experience on the first night of taking Lemme Sleep. My average sleep time is usually around 6.5 to 7 hours, so this was a surprisingly drastic difference. Needless to say, I began the trial with high expectations. 

Is it OK to take sleep supplements every night?

Throughout my years of testing and researching various sleep aids, I have grown hesitant to rely heavily on supplements with melatonin. Dr. Navya Mysore, primary care physician and media health expert, confirmed these hesitations. "Sleep supplements are OK from time to time. Generally, I don't recommend them for everyday long-term use. Up to two months is OK while you are trying to figure out the source of the sleep issue, but long-term use of melatonin may affect how you naturally produce melatonin." 

To avoid overdoing it and to test the actual effectiveness of Lemme Sleep, I varied the number of gummies I took each night. The instructions on Lemme's website also say that you can start with a one-gummy dose if you are looking for lighter sleep or want to see the effect before taking a two-gummy dose. Throughout the 24 days of my experiment, there were eight nights when I took two gummies, eight nights when I took one gummy and eight nights when I took none. 

My second night taking Lemme Sleep

Having slept for a deliciously long time after the first night of taking Lemme Sleep, I was looking forward to it the next night. I only took one gummy and was surprised by the results. Like the first night, I fell asleep quickly. Unlike the first night, I slept for a measly 5 hours, 15 minutes, and spent over 2 hours awake throughout the night. 

Of course, other factors could influence sleep quality, such as bedroom environment, stress levels, extraneous noises, exercise, etc. On this particular night, nothing out of the ordinary would have been to blame otherwise. For hours, I was awake, frustrated and confused about why I couldn’t sleep when the previous night had been so successful. It was as if taking one gummy had the opposite effect. 

I slept half as long the second night as I did the first night after taking Lemme Sleep. Aly Lopez/CNET Trial and error: Testing various amounts

About a week later, I had another 10-hour night after taking two Lemme Sleep gummies. Like that first night, I didn’t get as much deep sleep as I would have liked (less than an hour). I spent nearly an hour awake, which is more than preferred. Regardless, I woke up feeling refreshed and rejuvenated -- not as groggy as I had the first time. 

The second (and final) night of getting 10 hours of sleep during the testing period. Aly Lopez/CNET My sleep data results

On average, I slept the most (around 8 hours per night) after taking two Lemme Sleep gummies. Compare that to a lower average of 7 hours, 22 minutes after taking one Lemme Sleep gummy, and the lowest of 6 hours, 38 minutes on nights when I took zero gummies.

Number of gummies taken vs. average hours slept

I slept the most after taking two Lemme Sleep gummies, around 8 hours.

Though I slept the most after taking two Lemme Sleep gummies, it was not consistent, and it wasn't necessarily better sleep, as shown below. Toward the end of the trial, taking one gummy resulted in the most consistent sleep and the least amount of time awake. I was impressed by the low awake times I experienced after taking only one gummy. For four nights, I was awake for 6 minutes or less, which is a significant improvement. 

Nightly hours slept vs. number of gummies taken

I consistently got the least amount of sleep on the nights when I took no gummies.  

As far as my sleep cycle, the biggest difference is that I spent more time in light/core sleep after taking two gummies. Interestingly, my deep sleep remained roughly the same (about an hour) regardless of how many gummies I took. I spent just about as much time awake on nights when I had no gummies and nights when I took two. On the nights when I took only one gummy, I spent the least amount of time awake.

Average time spent in each sleep phase

I spent the least time awake on nights when I took only one gummy.

Lemme break down the ingredients

In one serving (or two gummies), Lemme Sleep has:

5 mg of melatonin20 mg of magnesium50 mg of L-theanine 25 mg of a botanical blend (chamomile, lavender and elderberry) Lemme Sleep has melatonin, magnesium, L-theanine and a proprietary herbal blend.  Aly Lopez/CNET

I consulted with Dr. Navya Mysore about these ingredients. “The melatonin dose is a good average amount -- usually what I recommend to my patients to try. Magnesium citrate is very low and not what I would suggest for sleep. I like magnesium bisglycinate; about 400 mg before bed is a good dose. They are still trying to figure out the dosage for L-theanine and what would help with sleep, but 50 mg seems on the lower end.”

In regard to the botanical blend within the Lemme Sleep gummies, Mysore explains, “There is little evidence that the other ingredients [in the botanical blend] support sleep. In general, I'm not a fan when they try to mix many things into one supplement. It's often better to take the individual supplement where you can have a higher dose of the supplement itself.” This is a notion that I encountered from other online reviews of Lemme Sleep. 

It’s also important to note the disclaimer on Lemme’s website, which reads, “These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.”

What people are saying about Lemme

Lemme’s vitamins and supplements are also available on Amazon, with mixed customer reviews. The Lemme Sleep gummies currently have a 3.8/5 star rating out of 1,150 reviews – 20% of which are 1 star. Most users who left negative reviews said that while the gummies are undeniably tasty, they didn’t seem to improve their sleep quality, and some reviewers claimed that they slept worse or were awake longer than usual throughout the night after taking them. 

Fifty-seven percent of customers have left glowing five-star reviews on Amazon. Many said taking Lemme Sleep fixed their out-of-whack sleep schedules by helping them fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer. It would appear that the contrasting reviews, similar to my own experience, remain somewhat divided -- after all, sleep patterns, behaviors and reactions to supplements are extremely personal, subjective and different for everyone. 

The reviews on Lemme Glow’s website are much more positive: currently, 80% of the reviews are five stars, and many users claim they are the best sleep supplements they’ve ever taken. 

Final thoughts on the Lemme Sleep gummies

The inconsistencies in my sleep when taking the Lemme Sleep gummies were not what I expected. Sometimes, I would wake up feeling groggy; other times, I was wide awake and ready to start the day. Sometimes I would sleep for 10 hours, sometimes 5. Overall, it improved my sleep latency (the time it takes to fall asleep) and helped me get more sleep, on average, though not necessarily better sleep.

Toward the end of the experiment, I found that taking one gummy seemed to be the most effective in terms of keeping me asleep throughout the night. Moving forward, I’ll likely take the Lemme Sleep gummies on nights when I’m feeling especially sleep-deprived and have the time to potentially sleep for 10 hours. 

Be sure to consult your doctor before trying Lemme Sleep or other dietary supplements. Generally, it’s best not to rely on a nightly sleep supplement and to work on naturally enhancing your body’s ability to produce melatonin. For additional ways to improve your sleep habits, Mysore recommends getting enough exercise, stopping caffeine intake by noon and limiting the number of caffeinated drinks you have (no more than two to three), having a consistent sleep/wake schedule, keeping the bedroom cool and turning off screens at least 1 hour before bed.

You should try the Lemme Sleep gummies if:

You regularly struggle to fall asleep and stay asleepYou want a sleep supplement with melatoninYou’re searching for a temporary solution for getting into a regular sleep pattern

You should skip the Lemme Sleep gummies if: 

You don’t want a sleep supplement with multiple ingredientsYou're looking for a consistent, long-term solution for insomniaYou're looking for a budget sleep supplement