Sleep Tight Snacks: Foods For Better Sleep

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Are you looking for foods for better sleep? Well, here are some that can help you sleep better.

Night owls are increasing, probably because of this pandemic. Aside from our jobs, Kdramas, movies, and other forms of entertainment are keeping us awake. We owe it to them because if it’s not for them, we will go crazy.

However, we should also think of our overall health and it includes sleeping properly at night. Many of us knew that staying up late and then sleeping the whole day is not good. We want to stop our habits, but our bodies won’t cooperate.

Maybe we need some help and I’m talking about food. So, here are some that can help us sleep better:

Cherries

Cherries are one of the few foods for better sleep because they have natural melatonin and they contain huge amounts. Melatonin is a chemical that promotes a healthy sleep cycle.

Cherries are powerful food for people who have insomnia, studies suggest. The American Journal of Therapeutics published a study featuring the effects of tart cherry juice to people with insomnia.

In the study, researchers from Louisiana State University gathered eight healthy men and women, who were 50 years old and older and having chronic insomnia. The researchers divided them randomly — one group to a placebo (2 weeks) and the other one with cherry juice (2 weeks) and separated by a 2-week washout.

Those in the cherry juice group drank 240 ml twice a day. When compared to the placebo, they indicated 84 minutes more sleep and there’s an increase in sleep efficiency.

Milk

When we were kids, our parents want us to drink warm milk. It’s true, milk can help us sleep better.

Aside from the calming effect, milk is a natural source of tryptophan — an essential amino acid that helps you sleep by boosting your body’s production of melatonin.

Nuts

Nuts such as walnuts, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds are also a great source of tryptophan. They are also rich in magnesium, which plays a supporting role in deep sleep by maintaining the right amount of GABA, a neurotransmitter that promotes sleep.

When you eat a handful of nuts before bedtime, you have taken enough to release serotonin, a chemical in the brain that is associated with sleep.

Bananas

Potassium and magnesium are known to make muscles relaxed, which essential to sleep. Bananas are a good source of such vitamins. They also contain tryptophan that can be converted to serotonin and melatonin.

Read: Banana Fritters or Maruya Recipe

Honey

Sleep disruption is usually caused by the brain waking you up and it was telling you to fuel up. This is because the liver is running of glycogen.

A teaspoon of honey before bedtime will re-stock the liver with enough glycogen to prevent the trigger. Also, raw honey can slightly raise the amount of insulin in the body, thus, allowing tryptophan to enter the brain.

Raw honey also contains vitamins and minerals that will keep the body relaxed.

Chickpeas

Chickpeas aren’t just delicious, they are also packed with essential nutrients that promote sound sleep. They contain B vitamins that are essential in making melatonin.

Leafy Greens

Leafy greens contain high levels of calcium, magnesium, and other nutrients needed by the body to transport melatonin and serotonin in the body. Eating a bowl of salad can help you sleep better.

Grapes

It’s just only recently that scientists from Italy found out that several varieties of grapes contain natural melatonin.

The team of Marcello Iriti, PhD, of Milan’s Istituto di Virologia Vegetale (Institute of Vegetable Virology), tested several extracts from eight types of grapes — Nebbiolo, Croatina, Sangiovese, Merlot, Marzemino, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Barbera — and they found evidence of melatonin.

Eat Better, Sleep Better

It came to the conclusion that eating healthy is the key to sleeping better and no one can argue against that. Healthy eating along with exercise can help you sleep better at night.

So, eat right, move right, and sleep right! The foods for better sleep in this article are enjoyable and healthy as well.