Getting enough sleep can benefit everything from your mood to your immune system. And if you’re looking to improve your quality of sleep, you can start by changing your food choices. What you eat can affect your sleep and incorporating some of the best foods in your choices can jumpstart you towards a blissful night’s rest.
We’ve listed down 8 foods that can help you promote a better night’s sleep.
Honey
Either eaten raw or mixed into a herbal tea, honey may be a perfect bedtime treat for you. The natural sugars in honey encourage sleep by carrying tryptophan, an essential sleep-inducing amino acid, through the blood stream and into the brain. Honey can also quiet cough, helping you to sleep more soundly even when you’re sick.
Tea
Herbal tea has tons of snooze-promoting properties specially chamomile tea has an excellent calming effect on the brain and body. A clinical study on chamomile tea by the National Institutions of Health found that consuming some of it before bed can help you sleep better throughout the night and fall asleep faster.
Bananas
Because bananas contain tryptophan, magnesium and potassium, eating it before bed can help you fall asleep faster. The magnesium and potassium in bananas serve as muscle and nerve relaxants.
Cherries
The best way to get a good night’s sleep is to increase your melatonin intake, and cherries are your food-to-go to. When eaten in a regular basis, cherries can help regulate your sleep cycle. There is also a study that drinking a glass of tart cherry juice in the mornings and evenings can promote more restful sleep and even treat insomnia.
Almonds
A clinical study by the National Institutions of Health found that consuming almonds everyday can help fight insomnia. This is mainly because almonds are rich in magnesium and tryptophan which both help to naturally reduce muscle and nerve function while also steadying your heart rhythm, giving you a good night’s sleep.
Oatmeal
Eating a bowl of oatmeal as an evening snack can help you sleep through the night. Grains in oatmeal trigger insulin production, causing your blood sugar to naturally rise which promotes a sense of drowsiness. Oats are also another natural source of melatonin.
Eggs
Eggs are also a good source of tryptophan. They are also highly nutritious, offering protein and iron, among other essential nutrients. Eat a hard-boiled egg alongside a cup of tea with honey to get your sweet dreams started.
Milk
Milk has long been known to promote sleep. Dairy is a natural source of the amino acid tryptophan, which helps you sleep by boosting melatonin, the hormone that promotes a regular sleep cycle.
Adding these foods into your choices is an easy step towards better sleep. Keep in mind that this list only includes 8 suggestions, but there are still a number of other sleep-promoting healthy foods in the market.
For a better sleep experience, try out using Sleep Hive’s Adjustable Beds that allows you the optimum rest throughout the night.