Foods That Make You Sleepy

Saturday, Aug 15, 2020, 8:17 am

By:Tony Williams

1.Cherries

Drinking cherry juice before bed can help you get to sleep faster and stay asleep longer. It boosts melatonin in the body, helping to regulate sleep. You might think the sugar in cherries would have the opposite effect, but cherries are a low glycemic fruit. A few cherries at night before bed are fine.

2.Tuna

Tuna is high in Vitamin B6 which helps your body to produce melatonin as well as serotonin. We all know that both melatonin and serotonin promote well being and healthy sleep. Don't feel like tuna before bed, try a Vitamin B6 supplement at bedtime. However, eating tuna in the day, regulates your sleep cycles, putting you on a better sleep schedule and promoting better sleep.

3.Lettuce

Lettuce contains lactucarium which is great for sleep. Lactucarium has a sedative property that when eaten before bed, can promote healthy sleep. If you don't feel like a salad at bedtime, try simmering the leaves in water for 15 minutes and drinking it, or add it to a smoothie made with just almond milk.

4.Hummus

Hummus is another great food that can help regulate sleep cycles. It's actually the chickpeas that are loaded with tryptophan, helping to promote sleep. They are also packed with protein, aiding in muscle building and muscle retention. Make your own, for a less fattening dip, or choose more natural brands with less ingredients.

5.Kale

Kale is another healthy way to induce sleep. Packed with calcium and tryptophan, it gives you a double whammy when it comes to promoting sleep cycles. Add to that the fact that kale is filled with antioxidants that help fight free radicals in the body and protect cell damage that can lead to disease.

6.Chamomile Tea

Chamomile tea is a sleep inducer for when you want to relax and fall asleep. The tea increases glycine in the body that is known to relax the nerves and muscles. Acting like somewhat of a mild sedative, chamomile tea is great to drink at night, to prepare your body for a sound sleep.

7.Cereal

Cereal is probably the worst thing you can eat in the morning. The added sugar is not even the most worst part. The processed grains in the cereal turn to sugar in the bloods stream, so if a serving reports 10 grams of sugar, you are really getting a lot more. What comes after a sugar high? A crash of drowsiness.

8.Rice

Rice is another high glycemic food that will cause you to crash. It also causes weight gain and makes you drowsy when you don't want to be. A higher glycemic index rating of food makes blood sugar levels spike and then you experience a crash shortly afterward, making you sleepy.

9.Cheese

There's truth to the old adage that milk can help you sleep. It's the calcium in the milk that did the trick by increasing tryptophan in the brain. Cheese does the same thing. So next time you can't sleep, grab a slice of cheese or drink some warm milk, it really does work.

10.Walnuts

Walnuts, like turkey, are high in tryptophan. They are healthy for the body in so many ways, but the melatonin they produce regulates the sleep/wake cycle in the body. A diet that includes a moderate amount of walnuts can get you back on track if your sleep is off.

11.Pretzels

Pretzels are not the healthiest food to eat because they are high on the glycemic index, causing a spike in blood sugar levels, an increase of insulin and a crash. This will make you sleepy at your desk, and is a big reason why workers get the 3pm slump after a particularly high glycemic lunch or snack.

12.Turkey Breast

Why do you think you fall asleep after a Thanksgiving meal? Sure you are super full, so that contributes to it, but it's the amino acid tryptophan. This amino acid helps the body make melatonin and serotonin, which are responsible for your sleep cycles. Don't worry it won't make you nod off during the day.

 Share on facebook

Share on twitter

 

Related Content