Zest 2.0 is now shipping • •Get Up To 35% off on Subscribe & Save • •Free shipping and easy cancellations • •30-day money back guarantee •

Zest 2.0 is now shipping • •Get Up To 35% off on Subscribe & Save • •Free shipping and easy cancellations • •30-day money back guarantee •

Zest 2.0 is now shipping • •Get Up To 35% off on Subscribe & Save • •Free shipping and easy cancellations • •30-day money back guarantee •

Zest 2.0 is now shipping • •Get Up To 35% off on Subscribe & Save • •Free shipping and easy cancellations • •30-day money back guarantee •

Shop Now
  • Our Story
  • Science
  • Learn
    • What is Sleep Inertia
    • Why You Shouldn’t Delay Your Morning Caffeine
    • Best Time For Caffeine
    • Blog
Account

Zest Wake-Up Pill

Morning Wakefulness

Zest is formulated to help you wake up alert, energized, and mentally clear — without needing to reach for coffee.

Clinical Trial Results

  • In a double-blind, placebo-controlled study, participants who took the delayed-release caffeine before bed showed a 400% increase in physical readiness to move
  • 71% increase in mental clarity
  • 80% improvement in ease of waking — within 15 minutes of opening their eyes
  • These results reflect rapid, measurable improvements across all domains of sleep inertia: physical, cognitive, behavioral, and emotional

Cognitive Performance

Zest supports faster thinking and better decision-making during the most cognitively vulnerable part of your day: right after waking.

Clinical Trial Results

  • Participants had significantly faster reaction times on the psychomotor vigilance test (PVT)
  • Showed improved neurobehavioral performance vs placebo — even after just 4 hours of sleep
  • This marks the first time a proactive, time-synced caffeine product has shown improvements in objective cognitive metrics immediately post-wake

Mood & Emotional Well-Being

Zest promotes a positive emotional state upon waking, helping you start your day with motivation and mental resilience.

Clinical Trial Results

  • On the PANAS (Positive and Negative Affect Scale), participants reported a significant boost in positive affect
  • A trend toward reduced negative mood within 15 minutes of waking
  • The caffeine formulation's effects were linked to dopamine activation in mood-related brain regions like the nucleus accumbens

Circadian Alignment

Zest is designed to complement your natural biological rhythms — amplifying your body’s natural cortisol spike in the morning without interfering with sleep onset.

Clinical Trial Results

  • Salivary cortisol measurements showed a significant increase in cortisol levels at 60 minutes post-awakening in the caffeine group vs placebo
  • Aligning with the natural cortisol awakening response (CAR)
  • This suggests Zest supports healthy HPA-axis function and wake-up hormone dynamics

Sleep Integrity

Zest is engineered for nighttime use — designed to activate about 8 hours later, without disrupting your ability to fall asleep.

Additionally, since the study, we've improved the formulation and capsule technology to prevent disruption of sleep from food-induced digestive activity.

Clinical Trial Results

  • Despite being taken at bedtime, the formulation showed no significant impact on sleep latency, REM sleep, or sleep efficiency in a restricted 4-hour sleep window
  • The only change was a minor (~17-minute) reduction in deep sleep (N3) under specific conditions where a meal was given mid-night.
  • This suggests that under normal fasting conditions, Zest preserves sleep quality

Dornbierer, D.A., Yerlikaya, F., Wespi, R. et al. A novel bedtime pulsatile-release caffeine formula ameliorates sleep inertia symptoms immediately upon awakening. Sci Rep 11, 19734 (2021). View Full Study

Science is in our core

Formulated for better days.
Validated by research.

We've partnered with leading Swiss sleep and pharmaceutical scientists to engineer a first-of-its-kind, clinically validated formula.

10+

Years of research

In collaboration with University of Zurich and other leading research institutions, published in Nature Scientific Reports, and more

2

Human clinical trials

Completed human clinical trials demonstrating robustness of release profile and improvements in sleep inertia

4+

Ongoing field studies

We are continuing to conduct studies to further demonstrate the benefits of our formulations

2

Patents

Proprietary capsule and delivery technologies are protected under 2 patents

A cure to sleep "hangovers".

Sleep inertia, sometimes referred to as a "sleep hangover", is that groggy, disoriented state many people experience upon waking. It typically lasts 30 minutes, but can last up to several hours, significantly impacting your morning productivity and well-being, with ripple effects throughout the day.

    • Reduced cognitive performance
    • Impaired decision-making abilities
    • Decreased reaction times
    • General feeling of fatigue and lethargy

What we know about sleep inertia:

  • Waking from deep sleep (slow-wave sleep) worsens symptoms, especially after short or poor-quality sleep.
  • Adenosine, a chemical that regulates deep sleep, plays a key role in sleep inertia.
  • Caffeine is effective in blocking adenosine and counteracting sleep inertia, but when consumed normally (e.g via a cup of coffee), takes 20–30 minutes to kick in when consumed after waking.

We've designed Zest to proactively release at the ideal time in the morning, with a sustained release of caffeine and other ingredients that work synergistically to reduce sleep inertia and improve morning alertness.

It's not magic, it's science.

1
Formulation
2
Outer capsule
3
Layering
4
Delayed Release
5
Extended Release
One daily capsule for better mornings.
1
Formulation
One daily capsule for better mornings.
2
Outer capsule
Outer delayed-release capsule ensures ingredients are protected from stomach acids and reach the colon, an optimal place for nutrient absorption.
3
Layering
A unique micropellet layering process evenly distributes the active ingredients throughout the capsule, and provides a more consistent and effective delivery system.
4
Delayed Release
Three layers of proprietary delayed-release coating allows for the release of the active ingredients at a specific pH level, at the ideal time.
5
Extended Release
An extended release core enables the active ingredients to deliver over a prolonged period of time, allowing for a more consistent levels in your bloodstream.

In-Vitro Caffeine Release Profile

With Zest
With a Typical Cup of Coffee

Our formulation's timed-release technology allows for optimal release and absorption of caffeine.
This means instant effects from the moment you wake up, instead of after 30 minutes, and no afternoon crash.

All-natural, clinically-validated formula.

Simple, but powerful ingredients you can pronounce.

We don't believe in spraying and praying, and throwing every ingredient out there into a pill.

We believe in science and precision. Each ingredient we've is hand-curated and validated to support morning energy, focus, and mood, as part of an engineered delivery system to maximize their impact on your mornings.

Caffeine

80mg

Caffeine

80mg

Found In

Coffee Bean

Sourced From

Switzerland

Benefits

  • Boosts metabolism
  • Enhances alertness
  • Improves focus

Why

Caffeine has been found to improve cognitive function in the morning, improve mood, and counteract symptoms of sleep inertia when taken in the morning. [1] [2] [3]

Vitamin B5

6.7mg

Vitamin B5

6.7mg

Found In

Oranges, Sunflower Seeds

Sourced From

Germany

Benefits

  • Supports mental performance
  • Reduces fatigue

Why

Vitamin B5 contributes to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue, to normal yielding metabolism, and to normal mental performance. [4]

L-Theanine

80mg

L-Theanine

80mg

Found In

Green Tea

Sourced From

Italy

Benefits

  • Supports mental performance
  • Reduces fatigue

Why

L-Theanine has been found to improve cognitive function in the morning, improve mood, and counteract symptoms of sleep inertia when taken in the morning. [1] [2] [3]

Vitamin B12

80mcg

Vitamin B12

80mcg

Found In

Avocados

Sourced From

Germany

Benefits

  • Supports cellular energy production
  • Supports nervous system function

Why

Vitamin B12 is essential for DNA synthesis and for cellular energy production, and deficiency is quite common. Vitamin B12 supplementation has been found to result in improved cognitive function, in those with a deficiency. [4] [5] [6]

Zinc

3.3mg

Zinc

3.3mg

Found In

Pumpkin Seeds

Sourced From

Germany

Benefits

  • Supports healthy cognition

Why

Zinc plays a significant role in energy metabolism, and has potential to improve cell motility and restore impaired energetic metabolism. Additionally, zinc has been found to have positive effects on cognitive performance. [4] [7] [8] [9] [10]

  1. Dornbierer, D.A., Yerlikaya, F., Wespi, R. et al. A novel bedtime pulsatile-release caffeine formula ameliorates sleep inertia symptoms immediately upon awakening. Sci Rep 11, 19734 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-98376-z
  2. Newman, Rachel A et al. “Caffeine gum minimizes sleep inertia.” Perceptual and motor skills vol. 116,1 (2013): 280-93. doi:10.2466/29.22.25.PMS.116.1.280-293
  3. Hilditch, Cassie J et al. “Time to wake up: reactive countermeasures to sleep inertia.” Industrial health vol. 54,6 (2016): 528-541. doi:10.2486/indhealth.2015-0236
  4. Tardy, Anne‐Laure et al. “Vitamins and Minerals for Energy, Fatigue and Cognition: A Narrative Review of the Biochemical and Clinical Evidence.” Nutrients 12 (2020): n. pag.
  5. Mayer, G et al. “Effects of vitamin B12 on performance and circadian rhythm in normal subjects.” Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology vol. 15,5 (1996): 456-64. doi:10.1016/S0893-133X(96)00055-3
  6. Ueno, Asako et al. “Influences of Vitamin B12 Supplementation on Cognition and Homocysteine in Patients with Vitamin B12 Deficiency and Cognitive Impairment.” Nutrients vol. 14,7 1494. 2 Apr. 2022, doi:10.3390/nu14071494
  7. Yang, Xuan et al. “Zinc enhances the cellular energy supply to improve cell motility and restore impaired energetic metabolism in a toxic environment induced by OTA.” Scientific Reports 7 (2017): n. pag.
  8. Maggini, Silvia et al. “Benefits of micronutrient supplementation on nutritional status, energy metabolism, and subjective wellbeing.” Nutricion hospitalaria (2021): n. pag.
  9. Huskisson, Edward C. et al. “The Influence of Micronutrients on Cognitive Function and Performance.” Journal of International Medical Research 35 (2007): 1 - 19.
  10. Chérasse, Yoan and Yoshihiro Urade. “Dietary Zinc Acts as a Sleep Modulator.” International Journal of Molecular Sciences 18 (2017): n. pag.

Join the early bird club

TwitterFacebookInstagramTiktok
  • Contact
    hello@takezest.com
    104 E 36th St
    New York, NY 10016
    1 (415) 343-5463
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Shipping Policy
  • Refund Policy
  • Your privacy choices

*The statements on this website have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Our products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. The information provided by this website or this company is not a substitute for a face-to-face consultation with your physician, and should not be construed as individual medical advice.

© 2025 Zest Labs Inc. All rights reserved.
Designed in California.


Payment methodsVisaMastercardAmexDiscoverDiners ClubShopPayApple PayMetaGoogle Pay