ZMA

Regarding my friend… he did not eat ZMA. But still… it seems like cool stuff. Nice link too.

Can you find ZMA at any drugstores like Walgreens or Walmart? I’m experimenting Vitamins B (especially B-6) mixing with other stuff.

Not entirely sure :eh: (I live in the Uk & bought mine here on ebay).

I did a quick Google search & I think you can buy the ingredients separately at the places you mentioned (Walgreens will have them in the sort of quantities you need, atleast according to https://www.discussfitness.com/forums/f7/zma-making-my-own-what-amounts-too-high-22069.html).

Buying ZMA means you get the Zinc & Magnesium in the most available forms (Aspartate, which your body easily uses), but other forms should still work anyway.

The thing to remember is to take the B6, Zinc & magnesium at the same time, and on their own … leave atleast 1 hour either side of taking them before you eat/ take anything else, and especially avoid taking Calcium at the same time (this will stop the effect of the Zinc).

Actually, I just found this on wikipedia, which explains about this:

(Can’t post the url because it’s got brackets in it so this site isn’t recognising it, just search for +zma +wikipedia & you should be able to find it.)

Actually, if you buy the ingredients seperately you’ll be able to adjust the amounts to what suits you & experiment (ZMA comes in capsules full of powder, kinda messy & a hassle if you decide you want to split them for some reason, at least it would be for me… :tongue: :content: ).

I’m getting this, it will be good for my wrestling practices and give me some benefits in the dream world! :cool_laugh:

Got my ZMA today from GNC, it has these ingredients:

Riboflavin (Vitamin b-2) 6mg 353%dv
Vitamin B-6 6mg 300%dv
Folic Acid 300mcg 75%dv
Vitamin B-12 3mcg 50%dv
Magnesium 60mg 15%dv
Zinc 30mg 200%dv
Copper 2mg 100%dv

Hops Flower Extract 120mg
Valerian Root Extract 500mg

Other ingredients: Cellulose, Calcium Carbonate, Vegetable Acetoglycerides

I will post any results here.

I took two pills as recomended, on an empty stomache before I went to bed with water. After 5 minutes of trying to go to sleep, I had to vomit. :grrr:

So the effects of the ZMA didn’t work because I threw the pills up in the toilet.

I hope that doesn’t happen anymore.

First night- failure.

In the UK you can find it quite easily at Holland and Barret … just thought I’d mention that …quite expensive though… :eh:

My little jar with 60 pills only cost $12, I think its a pretty decent deal.

2nd night trying ZMA

Took two pills before I went to bed, didn’t vomit this time! :grin:

I didn’t notice anything in particular that was different. I’ll keep trying.

Is this a common side-effect with ZMA? :eh:

Stiffy,

ZMA normally only contains three ingredients ~ Zinc, Magnesium & B6 ~ the GNC version you’ve bought looks interesting, but will work in a slightly (maybe more than slightly?) different way, since it doesn’t include so much Magnesium but does includes Valerian.

The vomiting/ sickness you had was probably a reaction to the Valerian, or maybe to a combination of the Valerian plus other ingredients.

Try taking it for a few days (maybe, 4 or 5 days) and then take a break ~ normal ZMA is fine to take over a long period of time, but I’d be cautious about taking Valerian (especially 1g ~ i.e. 2 caps) every day to be honest.

Also, don’t forget it’s important to eat something beforehand (just leave a couple of hours after eating before you take the ZMA). If you’re taking supps’ (ANY supplement) on a completely empty stomach, you’re much more likely to get side effects or feel sick (~ from experience… :tongue: )

Anyway, let us know how you get on! :cool:

an effect, i.e. I’m actually writing stuff in my DJ now, but it’s hard to say how much because my sleep patterns are still messed up (I think I might have to stay awake for 36 hours & then go to bed completely exhausted at a ‘normal’ time, if all else fails… :eh: )

Well, the only negative side effect I’ve experienced is slight headache, after I’d taken 3 capsules (the max dose) for a few days.

Apparently, ZMA can cause headaches b/c Magnesium increases your blood flow (taken in large amounts), so I just reduced the dose to 2 caps & it’s fine.

I actually look forward to taking the ZMA b/c the effect feels very natural, kinda calming, and also because (apart from the dreams) I know it’s doing me good ~ Zinc & Magnesium are important minerals most people tend to be deficient in, and B6 (in small amounts) is also an important vitamin too I think?

Anyway I haven’t experienced any sickness from taking it.

Thank you foo fighter for your answer. I’ve done some googling and I agree with you. I didn’t found that Valerian could make you vomit but I don’t think it’s very good for LD’ing.

First of all, it has a slightly sedative and faint antidepressant effect, which seems to me contradict the results which are expected here. Second, it’s said to be a bit addictive when taken during a long time and in large doses so that when you stop it, it may lead to slight withdrawal symptoms (BTW, this was said too for some antidepressants like Prozac but it’s not true for most of the people).

Anyway, I don’t think it’s a good idea to take something different from the initial ZMA formula, cause you don’t really know what it’s done for. With hops flowers and valerian, those pills are certainly slight sedative.

I agree, I was slightly dissapointed to get a kind of offbrand ZMA with slightly different ingredients. I had asked my mother to pick me up some from the GNC, and thats what she picked. So I’m just going to use it till’ its gone and get the original.

Since I’m not using this only for dreaming, it’s ok though.

And Basilus, the second night I took it I didn’t feel sick at all. I think it mighta just been my stomache rejecting it for some reason the first night and it got over it or something the second. You should be fine if you try it.

I’ve gotten some ZMA too and even if I primarily didn’t get it for dreaming I’m hoping it will help with dream recall :cool: I’ll try tonight and if I remember I’ll post tomorrow and say if it had any effect on my dreams and/or sleep.

Well, tried it last night and so far I’d say it has a similar effect to b6. It does contain a 6mg of b6 but it’s effect was similar to about 10 times more b6. It might have made me a bit more tired when going to sleep but the tiredness could very well be because of something else.

//edit//

ZMA seems to have a creatine like effect on me, that is it draws water into the muscles. I’ve gained about 0.5kg in one day from only one dose of it :eek: :grin:

Now after using zma for a few days I’ve realised it does help with sleep and dreaming. I have better recall and if I wake up during the morning I’m not as tired as I used to be when waking up. It also makes me a bit sleepy about 30-60 min after taking it so it’s a little easier to fall asleep :content:

I have stopped taking ZMA right before bedtime after 2 weeks. I haven’t noticed any significant improvements in my dream recall at all. It’s still the same as before taking the ZMA. Most of the time I recall nothing at all, or sometimes a blurry flash of it.

I didn’t experience any other side effect -positive or negative- at all.

ZMA is no “dreaming-pill” for me…

Damn right. For best results, avoid taking with dairy or other calcium-containing foods or supplements. Take your 3 capsules on an empty stomach approximately 30-45 minutes before bed.

Yours has calcium. Or does Calcium Carbonate not have the same inhibitent affect on ZMA as calcium?

Only the patented version (by SNAC) is proven to work. ZMA should not contain any Calcium.

If you want cheap ZMA:

You live in Europe [mod]link to vendor removed - read guidelines[/mod]
I’ve just recently bought 160euro’s worth of supplements on that site.

Here’s another cheap supplement site for US, can’t find ZMA though: [mod]link to vendor removed[/mod]

Hi guys and girls!
I am new to the forum, but I hope this will bring a bit into the discussion of ZMA. I have taken it in the past for fitness purposes, but back then I did not notice any effects due to poor sleeping habits and a lot of stress.

Recently, I dug up a half-full tub of ZMA and began taking it (for fitness purposes again). But, prior to supplementing with ZMA I never remembered my dreams. A few days after beginning ZMA I started remembering most of my dreams without making any effort.

This night, although I slept shorter than usual, I was able to become lucid for a few moments within my dream. So it seems that the ZMA is doing it’s job well: results in the mirror after working out and spontaneous lucid dreams. Excited to find this community and hope to get more lucid dreams soon :smile:

That being said, I think ZMA is worth trying out. The brand name stuff is a tad expensive, but there is an alternative: you can get the zinc, magnesium, and vit. B complex separately. Just make sure that the minerals are aspartates, other forms of these supplements are not as well absorbent, so if it says Elemental Magnesium 600mg, your body can only absorb a fraction of it. You can, of course, take more pills, but that just puts unnecessary strain on your digestive system, and with a stomach full of pills you might end up vomiting, especially if you take it on an empty stomach.

As a side note, the recommended dosage (3 capsules) is intended for bodybuilding/fitness purposes. If you get a lot of exercise, your need for Zinc, Magnesium, and vit. B increases significantly. If you do not, I’d recommend decreasing it to 2 capsules a night. Also, if you are taking it for prolonged periods of time, you need to take a week’s break from ZMA every two months or so. This is due to the fact that the body gets accustomed to receiving the vitamins and minerals in easily bioavalable form and may become reluctant to extract them from natural sources (ie., food). Also saves you a couple of bills!