Core Nutritionals is one of the few reliable supplement companies out there, and by reliable we mean its products are almost always well put together. When you combine that with the fact that the brand just launched a nighttime formula, a type of supplement we’re big fans of, it was only a matter of time before we got it in for review. The item we’re talking about is Core Zzz, a product that makes all the important nighttime promises.
Generally there are two sides to a nighttime formula, the night and morning. At night we tend to look for how well it gets you to sleep and keeps you asleep, and in the morning how easy it wakes you up and recovered you feel. While Core Zzz does promote both sleep support and recovery, after using it for a handful of weeks we can say it does deliver but not in every area or consistently.
Out like a light
Firstly we have one of the things Core Zzz is extremely good at, and that is getting you to sleep. It is your typical knockout type supplement where you take it, then anywhere between 10 to 30 minutes later you’re out like a light. Before you switch off though it does ease you into bed by making your eyes feel heavy and body weak, which is always a handy effect to have and not something all nighttime formulas feature.
Not a deep sleeper
The next effect on the list is how well you sleep on Core Zzz, an area where the product doesn’t do overly well. It has a light level of sleep where things like an alarm or similar volume noise near you still get your attention, and that’s anytime of night. To be honest we don’t believe there is too much difference between a sleep on Core Zzz and your usual good night’s sleep. We don’t have sleep problems so it may be different for someone who has trouble during the night, regardless it certainly didn’t deepen our sleep like other more effective nighttime competitors.
Difficult to get back to sleep
We now move on to an effect that actually links in with how well you sleep on Core Zzz. Basically the supplement makes waking up very easy, as the minute you open your eyes you’re fully alert and ready for the day. Unfortunately that is the case when ever you wake up which doesn’t go well with Core Zzz’s light sleep. Say a random noise gets you up in the middle of the night or you just need to go toilet, you will have a difficult time getting back to sleep. This proved to be a problem on a number of occasions with three hours sleep being the shortest amount of time we experienced with the issue. It almost seems like a side effect of the light sleep and how alert it makes you when you open your eyes.
No help with recovery
Last but not least we have the most important effect in a nighttime recovery product and that is simply recovery. For us we didn’t quite feel Core Zzz offered anymore in this area than your usual good night’s sleep. The quick wake up effect is refreshing and does give you a sense of revitalization especially if you stay asleep the whole night, however it’s not the improved recovery we get from the likes of Amino PM. In short if you think you’re going to be sore or tired the next day for what ever reason, Core Zzz won’t change that or at least it didn’t for us.
Somewhat effective but not reliable
Overall Core Zzz is effective although it has a few things that hold it back from being competitive. The supplement is really good at getting you to sleep, and on most nights it’ll keep you asleep and make sure you’re wide awake but not recovered, when you open your eyes in the morning. Unfortunately the sleep isn’t that deep which combined with how well it wakes you up, results in you having a lot of trouble closing your eyes again if you get up in the middle of the night.
Strangely enough most nighttime products tend have the opposite effect, where it’s almost impossible to break up your sleep and even when you do your eyes slam shut again. The majority of the time Core Zzz does get the job done, however “majority of the time” isn’t the kind of reliability you want in a nighttime supplement. What makes it even harder on Core Zzz is that there are products out there that do the things it does badly, extremely well, and a lot more consistently.
