In this article, I will show you how to save 400$ per year by making your own sleeping aid.
A good sleeping aid is usually herbal (excluding melatonin which is relatively cheap and ranges from 3 to 5$ per bottle), costs around 25-30$ per bottle, contains 30 to 60 pills and lasts about 1 month. For that kind of duration, you should expect to spend around 300-360$ per year on that supplement alone.
Here’s what you will need:
Table of Contents
Herb content for 1 capsule (extracts)
These are the doses you will need if you are using herbal extract powders:
- Valerian root (Valerianae officinalis radix) 5:1 extract 150mg,
- Hops or Lupulin (Humuli lupili flor) 5:1 extract 75mg,
- Passion Flower (Passiflora incarnata) 5:1 extract 50mg.
As you can see, we will use an analogy of 3:2:1 for Valerian/Hops/Passion flower.
Herb content for 1 capsule (herb powders)
If you are not using extracts and you are using normal herb powder, then the doses change to:
- Valerian root (Valerianae officinalis radix) 300mg,
- Hops or Lupulin (Humuli lupili flor) 150mg,
- Passion Flower (Passiflora incarnata) 100mg.
Note that the effectiveness of the herb depends on the individual. The same dose for person A might be insufficient and not potent enough while it might be too strong for person B. Herb potency and personal effectiveness are something that you will need to experiment with so I do suggest using extracts for this recipe.
Equipment required
- Capsule Making set,
- Gelatin or vegan capsules,
- Measuring spoon.
First up, you will need a capsule making set. The mini version includes around 12 capsules and costs around 25$ and 100 to 1000 500mg capsules can cost from 7 to 20$.
You will also need a measuring spoon, which costs around 12$.
Note that the capsule machine and the measuring spoon are one-time costs, meaning you do not have to buy new ones again (unless you break them).
Total Cost of herbs
The herbs themselves should cost around
- Valerian root extract 60g 5e or 6$ ,
- Hops or Lupulin extract 30g, 7e or 8$,
- Passion Flower extract 15g, 8euros or 10$.
You can find much cheaper herbs online but I got these from a store close by. Just make sure it is a reputable seller with high quality herbs.
For the purpose of this experiment, let’s say we have a total weight of 70g, costing 22euros or 25$.
So for each batch of 12 tablets we will need:
- Valerian 300mg times 12 =3600mg = 3.6g,
- Hops 150mg times 12= 1800mg = 1.8g,
- Passion Flower 50mg times 12 = 900mg = 0.9g.
Mixing everything
Put the mix in a small container and mix it or shake it up. You want all the ingredients to incorporate together. The mix should be around 6.3grams.
Filling the capsules
Set up the capsules according to the instructions of the set and then use the spoon to pour the mix into each capsule. Then use the tool to pack the powder down and repeat adding mix to the capsules. Do that until that they are almost full.
Use the card included in the capsule set to swipe the mix that fell out around the capsules into them until the deck is clean. Then add the top part of the capsule and connect the 2 pieces together using the equipment included. Then push all of the capsules out. This is your first batch.
Final calculations
For a month’s supply, you will need 60 capsules, which means you need to repeat the process another 4 times (4 times 12=60) and you will spend 6.3gr of herb mix per batch, times 5 batches = 45gr
With 90gr of herb mix, you can make approximately 10 batches for a 2 month supply.
And all of that cost you a total of:
- Total Herb mix = 15-20euros or 17-25$
- Weighting spoon = 5-10euros or 8$
- Capsule making set = 22euros or 16$
- 750 capsules = 8euros or 10$
- Grand total = 41-50$ out of which 24 are onetime costs plus 10 for the capsules= 24 for 2 months.
Now that is exactly half the amount you would pay for getting 1 month supply of the supplement. So for a year you would spend 144$ instead of 300-360$ that you usually spend buying a supplement.
But this article has more applications than you might think. Behold a few other suggestions for making expensive supplements for less.
More Sleep Supplement Ideas
This herbal recipe is just a start! Once you learn how to make your own tablets, you can combine other ingredients and create your own stacks. Just make sure to do the necessary research and pay attention to their side effects and contraindications.
And more!
The possibilities are endless and the ideas literally inexhaustible. You can find around 100 supplement recipes in my upcoming book that will help you build muscle, lose fat, sleep better, get healthy or all of the above!
Have you tried making your own supplements? How much money did you save from the process? Let me know by leaving a comment below.
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Also if you have any comments or questions, feel free to leave a comment and I will get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks!
by Nick Sigma
CWC, EH, E-YRT200
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