By Andie Vigliotti, Photos By Ashlyn Garcia

The sleepy girl mocktail has been one of TikTok’s latest obsessions. The drink, which blew up in late 2023, has been flooding everyone’s For You page. Influencers and users, who have tested the viral drink, have popularized it as a fun nighttime ritual and have also claimed that it helps them sleep.

The drink is a simple combination of a few ounces of tart cherry juice, blended with magnesium powder and topped off with a seltzer. Common seltzers used by mocktail enjoyers include prebiotic sodas, such as Poppi or Olipop. Taylor Grasso, a registered dietitian, posted a TikTok on January 16 using Poppi to make her mocktail, adding that the prebiotics are good for gut health.

But is this drink actually effective in improving sleep or is it just a mere case of the placebo effect and online hype surrounding the ritual? 

Dr. Jason Singh, founder and chief medical officer of One Oak Group, which specializes in primary care, says the benefits of the drink check out, and he actually recommends its components to his patients. Food and beverages with naturally occurring medicinal properties can be a great alternative for people who are apprehensive about taking prescription medications.

As for the sleep benefits of the drink, tart cherry juice and magnesium help target sleep stages 1 and 2, the stages of light sleep before you enter deep REM sleep. In targeting these stages, Singh says that the properties of tart cherry juice and magnesium may help you fall asleep faster.

“Tart cherry juice has melatonin in it. And generally, if it’s consumed about an hour before going to bed, it raises your melatonin levels a little bit, just enough to get you to stage one, stage two sleep,” Singh said.

Tart cherry juice, made from tart montmorency cherries, naturally contains trace amounts of melatonin, and according to a 2012 study published in the National Library of Medicine, “​​provides an increase in exogenous melatonin that is beneficial in improving sleep duration and quality.”

As for magnesium, more caution should be exercised when deciding which supplement to take. Magnesium powder, the recommended form of magnesium for the drink, comes in different varieties, and some may cause laxative effects.

Singh recommends starting with a lower dosage of 200 milligrams and working towards a dosage of 400 milligrams if needed. He also recommends staying away from magnesium citrate or oxide and using more gentle forms of the compound, such as magnesium threonate or glycinate.

“Magnesium threonate is a form that is easily absorbed and crosses the blood brain barrier very easily. And that’s why it’s really effective for sleep. Other types of magnesium forms, like magnesium citrate, are poorly absorbed and are pretty much used as a laxative. I tell folks to avoid magnesium citrate and stick to something like magnesium glycinate, or magnesium threonate, that is more effective for sleep than diarrhea,” Singh said.

The Cleveland Clinic affirms this advice, suggesting to take magnesium glycinate at 200 milligrams for sleep. Magnesium works particularly well for sleep because it relaxes the muscles, allowing you to fall faster into those first couple stages of sleep. When using a powdered form of magnesium, it should be dissolved before ingesting for proper consumption.

After looking at the science, it seems like this mocktail might actually work for the regular person, but Singh recommends consulting a doctor if you are fearful of any underlying issues with trouble sleeping.

As for the added health benefits, tart cherry juice is also an antioxidant and has anti-inflammatory properties.

Enjoy away your sleepy girl mocktails for a restful night of sleep, as long as you exercise the proper amount of caution.