First question is, are you on any medication that targets brain neurotransmitters? If you are, you probably shouldn't take this. Second, there are things in it that are best take without food and things in it that are best taken with food. However, since the two things best taken without food aren't in the right form to work, I guess it doesn't matter. GABA, the first ingredient, doesn't pass the blood/brain barrier so it's useless for almost everyone. Griffonia extract is also useless -- the only useful way to use this is to isolate the 5-HTP from it and take that, but they chose this way probably because it's cheaper. L-theanine, as a quasi-amino acid, might be better taken with food, but since it doesn't work very well for most people and not at this dosage, again, probably doesn't really matter. The rest are herbs that should be taken several times a day if you're trying to relax your system, but if you're just taking it as needed, then there's probably not enough of any of them to work very well. They're hoping together they will work, and they might. One of the herbs, kava, might adversely affect your liver if you have any liver problems, but probably is fine at this dose and in this non-standardized form.