Evidence supporting the use of: L-ornithine
For the health condition: Sleep (restless and disturbed)

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Synopsis

Source of validity: Scientific
Rating (out of 5): 2

L-ornithine is a non-proteinogenic amino acid that has recently gained attention for its potential role in improving sleep quality, particularly in individuals experiencing mild stress or disturbed sleep. The primary scientific support comes from a handful of small clinical studies, mostly from Japan, which suggest that oral supplementation with L-ornithine may help reduce stress and improve subjective sleep quality. For example, a double-blind, placebo-controlled study published in 2013 (Ikeda et al., Nutritional Neuroscience) reported that healthy adults who took 400 mg of L-ornithine daily for two weeks experienced reduced salivary cortisol levels (a stress biomarker) and reported improvements in sleep quality compared to placebo. The proposed mechanism involves L-ornithine's role in the urea cycle, which may help reduce ammonia levels and promote relaxation, potentially facilitating better sleep. However, the overall body of evidence is still limited: most studies have small sample sizes, short durations, and rely on subjective sleep questionnaires rather than objective sleep measurements (such as polysomnography). There is also a lack of large-scale or long-term trials to confirm these benefits. L-ornithine is not a traditional remedy for sleep in any major medical or herbal systems; its use for this purpose is based on recent scientific exploration rather than historical precedent. In summary, while there is some preliminary scientific evidence supporting L-ornithine for improving sleep in cases of stress-related disturbance, the strength of evidence is moderate at best and further research is needed.

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