Struggling with poor sleep? Switching up your diet can play a huge part in how you feel and sleep. Alongside lifestyle tweaks, the foods you eat can affect your sleep.
5 Amazing Foods for a Better Sleep
Ready to make some tasty changes that may also help improve your sleep? Here are five amazing foods to include often if you’re tackling poor sleep.
1. Kiwi
Why It’s Good:
Kiwi fruit is rich in antioxidants and nutrients such as folate, serotonin and melatonin. In one study, adults who ate two kiwi fruits (green) one hour before bed for four weeks fell asleep faster, slept more and had better quality sleep.
Try This:
To really benefit from Kiwi, why not blend it and have it over some yoghurt for dessert, or include it in a fruit salad? It’s that easy!
2. Salmon
Why It Rocks:
Salmon is a good source of vitamin D, omega-3 fatty acids and tryptophan, all of which are needed for a nourishing sleep. An omega-3 deficiency can reduce melatonin, our sleepy hormone. Omega-3’s improve sleep quality, reduce wakings and increase sleep duration.
Try This:
You can add all sorts of flavours to a salmon fillet, such as a honey and garlic sauce, and pair it with a salad for a simple and delicious meal!
3. Cherries
Why You Want It:
Adding cherries, in particular tart cherries, to your plate not only tastes good but also comes with loads of benefits like reducing our stress hormone cortisol and reducing anxiety and mood disturbances. Cherries are rich in melatonin and are anti-inflammatory, supporting both sleep quality and quantity.
Try This:
If you’re new to cherries, start by making a yummy cherry chia dessert. Download our free Foods and Nutrients for Sleep Guide for a free recipe!
4. Milk / Fermented milk
Why You Need It:
Milk contains high levels of the amino acid tryptophan which the body converts into melatonin. Milk kefir, fermented milk, has been shown to reduce the time taken to fall asleep and improve sleep quality.
Intolerant?
If you are intolerant to milk/dairy, you may be able to tolerate milk kefir. Discuss with your health professional as to whether it is suitable to try milk kefir. The large quantity of lactobacilli in the kefir eats the lactose, making milk kefir a low-lactose food. The good microbes in kefir also ‘digest’ the casein and other dairy proteins which make it suitable for most people who can’t normally tolerate milk.
Try This:
If you’re new to milk kefir, start adding to the diet in small amounts and gradually increase to a reasonable amount. Milk kefir has a sour taste, so most prefer it mixed with something sweeter. Try blending with cherries and then freezing into popsicles.
5. Bananas
Why It’s Good:
Bananas are great to enjoy any time of the day, and especially before bed if you are looking for a pre-bed snack. They are rich in magnesium which helps relax our muscles and reduces the negative effects of stress. Magnesium can reduce the time taken to fall asleep and increase sleep duration, and it is also needed for the synthesis of our sleepy hormone melatonin. Bananas also contain tryptophan which the body converts to melatonin.
Try This:
Mash bananas with chia seeds and cinnamon and make small flat ‘biscuits’ on a baking sheet. Bake and enjoy!
How Foods Help You Sleep Better
To make the hormones and neurotransmitters that help relax our body and sleep takes nutrients! It is always important when there is poor sleep to look at your diet. By adding kiwi fruit, salmon, cherries, milk or milk kefir and bananas to your diet on a regular basis, you’re not just eating better, you’re sleeping better.
Start experimenting to discover tasty, healthful ways to enjoy these foods every day. For more recipes download:
- The FREE Food and Nutrients to Support Nourishing Sleep in Adults and Children. It contains 5 sleep-promoting recipes. Download Now.
- One of our Recipe books full of delicious recipes rich in sleep-promoting nutrients. Shop Now.
Got questions or need personalised advice on your diet? Feel free to reach out or follow on socials for more handy tips and tricks.
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