Foods that make you sleep better 

Image courtesy of Pixabay/jackmac34

Did you wake up refreshed this morning? Do you often struggle to get a good night sleep?

I began sharing my thoughts on this topic with you in my other posts.

Good sleep is the foundation for improving your focus and decreasing stress in your life.

During my college days, I took a course in pharmacokinetics to learn what happens to medications when they’re given to humans.  This course was more challenging for me than other subjects.

It was difficult to fall asleep the night before an exam.  I twisted and turned, thinking about the day or what would come tomorrow.

I remember waking up in a cold sweat from nightmares of failing the class. Despite my fears not realizing, I’d have a recurrent dream of flunking every time before a big exam.

Even now, this happens to me from time to time, usually before an important presentation. In my dreams, I find myself standing speechless in the middle of the stage.

Why am I telling you this story?

Mostly because this is my first recollection of sleep problems related to school/work performance.

I speak with my students and young professionals about their struggles these days and often discover how much performance anxiety affects their sleep.

Today I wanted to take you to your kitchen in case you find yourself in a similar situation.

You actually have a lot of good useful tools right there, in your cabinets and refrigerator.

A recent research serves as a great reminder just how significantly your sleep is affected by the foods you eat. If you’d like to dig deeper, interesting information has been published about sleep-promoting mechanisms of functional foods.

I’d like to share with you 5 categories of foods that make you sleep better:

1. Melatonin-containing foods

Cherries and pineapple are great examples.  Research suggest that tart cherry juice is helpful in improving sleep quality in healthy people, and even those that might have disturbed sleep.

2. Tryptophan-rich foods 

Do you remember how sleepy you felt after your last Thanksgiving meal? Tryptophan is a compound found in turkey, milk and other types of protein. And it’s known to promote sleep.  Maybe, after all, this isn’t just old wive’s tales.

3. Magnesium-rich foods 

Nuts and seeds like almonds, walnuts, peanuts and pumpkin seeds, are great sources of magnesium and are shown to have sleep enhancing effects.

4. Potassium-rich foods 

Sweet potatoes, bananas and beans are known as good sources of potassium.  In many of these, you will also find quite a bit of fiber as well.

5. Complex carbohydrates 

Some examples of complex carbohydrates include jasmine rice and oatmeal. Researchers in 2007 study suggested that those who ate jasmine rice several hours before going to bed fell asleep quicker.  

One of the explanations that was provided, is that high-glycemic index foods like jasmine rice can potentially increase your melatonin and serotonin, compounds responsible for your sleep.

[tweet]There are 5 categories of food that help you sleep better.[/tweet]

Questions: Which of these are you likely to try first?  Do you have other foods that make you sleep better?