It does require food in order to metabolize correctly. Personally, I took a few hours before bedtime so it had time to kick in and help me sleep AND because if I took it much later than about 7PM, the drowsiness in the morning was horrendous. Eventually I just had to stop taking it because the drowsiness was just to extreme for me no matter how early I took it. It worked for my symptoms well, but the sedation was overwhelming and never improved.