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So we know our way around an immunity gummy in the Gummy Galaxy, and we feel pretty confident when we run our eyeballs down a list of ingredients. From Zicam to Bee Propolis, weâve done some thorough explorations of what can help keep our immune systems supported.
But we got excited when we discovered that SmartyPants offered an immunity gummy, and not just because SmartyPants is one of our (legit) favorite brands around.
Quick intro: SmartyPants creates delicious non-GMO gummies, has rigorous testing standards to deliver top notch vitamins, and they are continually delish. Their gummies don’t contain synthetic colors, artificial flavors, artificial sweeteners, or other additives, plus they’re Clean Label Project certified. These are truly premium gummy vitamins.
But we were also nerding out that their immunity gummy comes with our all-time favorite molecule: melatonin. The glorious dream bean that carries us to sleep town and calms our worried minds.
So we were over the moon when SmartyPants sent us some of these to try.
đ Quick aside: We canât recommend our Sleep Gummies 101 blog enough if youâre new to melatonin. We combined our most probing questions about melatonin with some of Adobe Stock’s weirdest sleep images to bring you a missive with all you could want to know about this incredible and trendy hormone. (And if thereâs a question you have that we missed, feel free to hit us up!)
Ingredients
But letâs start with the immunity boosting ingredients in this adorable star! (Seriously, this gummy is shaped like an adorable star.)
As we make our way down the list, we notice that a lot of the ingredients are the classics: Vitamin C, Vitamin D3, and Zinc. These are basically the hallowed trifecta of immunity support, and we love to see it.
But thereâs a grand gaggle of other minerals and boosters that you might not know about!
We were excited to find vitamin B6 was included in here. A lesser-known B, B6 works harmoniously with your body (and your potentially insomniac mind), to impart some tranquility1. One study indicated that B6 can help strengthen melatonin biosynthesis2, and your body struggles to produce melatonin if you’re B6-deficient.
We also recently dove into B6 when we did some recon for our Flo PMS Gummies review, and we learned that B6 can be great for mood and irritability. So it doubly makes sense to include B6 in a sleep gummy! We personally hate when our irritated, moody minds get in the way of our sleep. (Yes, it does happen)
As we make our way further down the ingredients list, we find our familiar friend l-theanine, who pops up in various sleep gummies all the time. L-theanine is the go-to amino acid for epic chill, and when we see it on the ingredients list, we almost always have to try it.
L-theanine is presumed to work by decreasing the excitable chemicals in your brain that can lead to anxiety and stress in the body. It has also been shown to lower your heart rate.3Â Ahhhh, L-theanine, take us away.
đ (Pro tip: the great thing about L-theanine is that you donât just have to take it at bedtime to get the benefits.  For example, Ollyâs Swift Energy includes it to give you chill focus instead of chill sleep. L-theanine works both when you need an energy boost or when youâre checking out for the day.)
SmartyPants also throws in 1 Billion CFU of probiotics for good measure: 10mg of LactoSporeŸ Bacillus coagulans to be specific.
Bakerâs Yeast for immune support?
So we thought we had seen it all, but the addition of Bakerâs Yeast in these gummies kind of threw us at first. But then we did a little bit of digging and learned that Bakerâs Yeast (aka beta-glucan extract) has a lot of interesting potential immunostimulating effects!
The specific form of Baker’s Yeast extract in these immunity gummies is a product called M-GardÂź, which SmartyPants says has been clinically proven to support healthy immune function.*
M-Gard, aka beta-1,3/1,6-glucan, is the Norwegian brainchild of Biotec BetaGlucans, and the research into beta-1,3/1,6-glucan is pretty fascinating.
So yeah. Bakerâs yeast! Who knew?
To sum it all up, we’ve got our vitamins C, D3, B6 (plus a little B12), zinc, beta-glucans, probiotics, l-theanine, and of course, melatonin. This isnât your grandmaâs vitamin C! This is an immunity gummy for the future. đœ
A note on the melatonin dosage
With the full two-gummy recommended serving size, these contain 2 mg of melatonin. We consider that to be a modest, but completely effective dose. (Honestly weâre intimidated by the sleep gummies that boast 6 (or 11!) milligrams of melatonin. Two to three mg is kind of our personal sweet spot.)
Of course, if youâre sensitive or new to melatonin, you can always start with one gummy. Or, if you find that 2mg is not enough for your bodyâs powerful resistance to sleep, check out SugarBear Sleep Vitamins.
Tasting Notes
It kind of made us chuckle that these are Elderberry âflavoredâ. Many will recognize Elderberry as a pretty common addition to immunity gummies and supplements, but the funny thing is that thereâs actually no elderberry extract in this gummy. (There is 110mg of elderberry extract in SmartyPants’ Immunity Daytime gummies, though.)
We love elderberry, so we were a little sad it wasnât included, but we can always go to Vitafive’s Elderberry Immunity or the strangely compelling Zicam gummy if we want a helping.
But either way, it works as a flavor. These are tangy, bright and fruity. We sort of donât understand their choice to flavor these with Elderberry but not actually include any extract, but we will say, these are delicious!
Overall, we love these, and are sad that the bottle we got only includes a 28 count. If youâre taking two a night, thatâs only a two week supply. Luckily, SmartyPants also offers 28, 42, and even 84 count bottles.
citations
- Lemoine, Patrick et al. âA combination of melatonin, vitamin B6 and medicinal plants in the treatment of mild-to-moderate insomnia: A prospective pilot study.â Complementary therapies in medicine vol. 45 (2019): 104-108. doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2019.05.024
- Pyridoxine (vitamin B6) influence on endogenic melatonin production during the experiment. Georgian Med News. 2007 Dec;(153):35-8. Russian. PMID: 18250494.
- Williams J, Kellett J, Roach PD, McKune A, Mellor D, Thomas J, Naumovski N. l-Theanine as a Functional Food Additive: Its Role in Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Beverages. 2016; 2(2):13.
- Akramiene D, Kondrotas A, Didziapetriene J, Kevelaitis E. Effects of beta-glucans on the immune system. Medicina (Kaunas). 2007;43(8):597-606.
