Types of Foods That Help You Sleep Better

Sleep is an essential part of the body’s overall health. To successfully sleep at night, the brain produces hormones and neurotransmitters that help your brain to relax and your body to gently drift off. To manage to function properly the brain needs certain nutrients to produce these sleep-inducing hormones. Therefore, consuming the right foods will help produce these sleep hormones adequately. Eventually, it gets easier to fall asleep in comparison to when you eat poorly. Choose wisely the types of foods that you eat to provide the right nutrients and micronutrients needed by the brain.

Some of the necessary micro nutrients that help you sleep better are tryptophan, vitamin B6, calcium and magnesium among others found in the various foods below.

Bananas 

Do you always have a snack before getting on your puffy mattress to sleep? Bananas are a great source of snack for they are rich in magnesium and potassium that help your muscles to function well. They do also help your muscles to relax and therefore aid in falling asleep fast. The tryptophan in bananas has sedative effects that help one to sleep well. Another important mineral that the body needs to produce the hormone melatonin is vitamin B6 found in bananas too. All the nutrients that are present in bananas help in different ways to aid in proper sleep health. Eat a banana an hour to your sleep time so as by the time you go to bed its sleep-benefiting nutrients are active.

Fish 

Not any type of fish, but fatty fish helps you sleep. The minerals that are contained in fatty fish are omega-3 and vitamin B6. The omega-3 is known for its numerous benefits in improving the functions of the brain and fighting inflammation. It aids in the increased production of the melatonin hormone that helps you sleep fast. Along with this, the neurotransmitter serotonin which helps in regulating sleep is produced by vitamin B6. Examples of the fatty fish that you should eat are like tuna, halibut, and salmon during dinner for they help you fall asleep fast and stay asleep longer.

Chamomile tea

Herbal teas are popular among most people to help calm their nerves and promote sleep. Chamomile tea is one that people are used to consuming for many years now. It has Apigenin that is an antioxidant that when you consume this tea it helps you reduce anxiety by binding some receptors in the brain. Therefore, you can relax properly at night and wake up rested. People who consume chamomile tea constantly, fall asleep fast and stay asleep longer compared to those who take none at all. Anyone suffering from insomnia can try taking chamomile tea to sleep quicker and soundly.

Dark chocolate 

Use better sleep as an excuse to indulge in a late-night snack of dark chocolate. As specified it is not just any type of chocolate for others contain caffeine that will keep you awake. It contains magnesium that helps in regulating the sleep and wake cycle. Also, it is known to regulate the heartbeat, body temperature, blood pressure, and blood sugar all of which help in achieving better sleep. Just like chamomile tea it has powerful anti-oxidants that reduce anxiety as well and help you relax to sleep faster and better. In addition to this, sugary dark chocolate will not work as intended for it can lead to weight gain and the sugar keeps your brain alert. This is because the original dark chocolate that is best for use in this context has a naturally bitter taste due to high levels of cocoa in it.

Orange fruit 

Isn’t it interesting that eating an orange fruit before bedtime helps you fall asleep fast? Well, it is possible due to its high vitamin C content. The vitamin C mineral is important to not only help you sleep but help in the recovery of illness. Those who have insomnia, vitamin C deficiency, and restless leg syndrome should consider eating oranges more often. This will boost their health and once insomnia clears through sleeping better you recover faster from other illnesses. Boost your vitamin C levels, not just with oranges but other similar citrus fruits such as grapes. Oranges are also known as good antioxidants that also improve your overall health.

 Walnuts

Walnuts also help you sleep better at night for they contain omega-3 fatty acids. Other than the omega-3 they have vitamins and minerals for overall good health. In addition to this, they contain melatonin that helps regulate your circadian rhythm. Snack on a few walnuts before going to bed to increase the levels of sleep hormones in your body that are better than sleeping pills. Take walnuts an hour before bedtime and in controlled portions to avoid getting uncomfortable and disrupting your sleep.

Kiwi fruit 

Although kiwi fruits in most parts of the world are expensive. The health benefits that it provides makes it worth its cost. Its high oxidant levels help boost the immune system plus the respiratory and circulatory systems. As all these systems improve the result is obvious with other body functions like sleep. Serotonin that is a neurotransmitter is also contained in kiwi fruits and it aids in promoting sleep. If possible have one or two kiwi fruits before bed to sleep sooner and obtain deep relaxing sleep.

In summary, foods that you eat especially at night can induce or disrupt sleep. Although there are many misconceptions about what you eat helping you to sleep. Many people think that alcoholic beverages help them sleep faster. However, the type of sleep they get is not quality for the contents make them sleep poorly and wake up fatigued. Other meals like turkey help one to fall asleep easily due to the protein they have.

That makes them feel tired and sleepy. Although others believe that overeating of various meals during thanksgiving dinner is what causes them to feel sleepy. Choose the right meals to promote sleep and avoid taking pills for the same reasons.