8 Foods & Drinks To Have The Best Sleep
Morning exercise has so many health benefits, especially over the holiday period to help you maintain routine and feel the best you can. It’s all well and good to aim to be exercising early of a morning, however if you’re waking up sluggish, the last thing you feel like doing is getting out of your comfortable bed to exercise.
Nailing your 7-9 hours of sleep per night is paramount to feeling refreshed and ready to conquer the day. Enough sleep may also reduce your risk of developing illnesses, improve your immune system and keep your brain healthy.
How you feel and operate the next day all starts with the hours leading up to your sleep. This could involve the length of your screen time, your routine leading up to bed or even what you eat and drink. It is shown what you eat and drink can affect your ability to fall asleep and the quality of sleep you get throughout the night. Over the holiday period, we may also be eating foods and drinking drinks that we don’t normally have that could compromise our sleep quality.
See our top 8 foods and drinks to include this holiday season that’ll have you feeling refreshed after a night’s sleep.
Walnuts
Walnuts have a certain protein that helps produce more melatonin. Melatonin is the hormone that plays a role in falling asleep. They also contain naturally occurring melatonin too – so you’re getting great bang for your buck with this nut! There’s no set amount you should be eating; just include them as part of a balanced daily diet.
Almonds
Almonds contain magnesium which is a powerful mineral to help you relax before sleeping. Not consuming enough magnesium can cause problems with falling and staying asleep. Again, there’s no set amount of almonds you should be eating but you should include them in your diet.
Tart cherry juice
There’s a difference between the sweet cherries and tart cherries. Tart cherries are brighter in colour and have a sourer flavour. They are an excellent source of naturally occurring melatonin. Try having one cup of tart cherry juice more than 1 hour before bed.
Low-fat yoghurt
Low-fat yoghurt contains a mineral called calcium. This is an important mineral to produce melatonin in your body. A lack of calcium can cause you to wake up during the night and trouble falling asleep. It also contains magnesium to help you wind down to sleep and to stay asleep. Another powerful food source with many important sleep-inducing factors to be included daily.
Tomato
Tomatoes are a great natural source of melatonin, so try to eat them daily for good sleep. For a tasty fill of tomato, see our recipe for Healthy Baked Beans recipe.
Olives
Olives are jam packed with melatonin. They’re great in a salad, on a cracker – or even just to snack on. If you’re consuming these a part of your daily diet, you will also see benefits to your skin too from all the healthy fats and oils
Cucumber
Another excellent source of naturally-occurring melatonin. This veggie is also low in energy, so it’s a great healthy option when you’re craving that crunch factor without overconsuming. Perfect as a snack or part of a salad for your lunch or dinner.
Chamomile tea
Chamomile tea has been shown to have a mild relaxing effect to induce sleep and improve the quality of your sleep, so you wake up feeling refreshed. Consume 1 cup of chamomile tea over 1 hour before bed.
Many of the vitamins and minerals exist in these types of foods and drinks that help produce melatonin, or they naturally contain melatonin themselves. You really can’t go wrong with this Mediterranean-style snack platter, as a Mediterranean-style diet is full of antioxidants and fibre, providing overwhelming health benefits that also include improved sleep quality.
