Falling asleep is easy. Most nights, I’m unconscious about five minutes after my head hits the pillow…until 2 a.m., when I’m too hot and throw off the covers. And 2:30, when I have to pee. And 2:45, when I hear a weird creak in the other room and go investigate. And 3:15, when I totally give up and start reading The Rules Do Not Apply.
So for the last few months, I’ve been taking melatonin chews to help me through these restless nights. But I don’t love the idea of having to rely on medication, even if it’s over-the-counter. So when I discovered a bracelet that promises to stimulate melatonin naturally in order to help me sleep, I was intrigued.
The Philip Stein Sleep Bracelet looks like a wristwatch—but the face is actually a metal disc that acts as an antenna, picking up natural frequencies and channeling them into the body. Hmm, OK. If this were a $15 holistic bracelet being sold at the health food store, I might give it a shot. But this thing is $400, so I was going to need a little more scientific evidence than that.
I checked in with Dr. Neil Branda of Simon Frasier University, who has been conducting studies on the Philip Stein Bracelet, and he helped break down the science for me. “Many of the frequencies [picked up by the bracelet] have been measured in the brain using EEG analysis during different stages of sleep,” he explained. “Our studies have shown a statistically significant increase in the melatonin produced when exposed to the technology.”
