Five foods to sleep by

Trouble snoozing? Try eating your way to sleep with one of these five foods, all of which contain the right sort of naturally-occurring substances.

Cherries

Behind that rosy red exterior, cherries are hiding a hormone called ‘melatonin’ which plays a vital role in controlling our sleep patterns (that is, it helps regulate our circadian rhythms). Eating fresh or dried cherries before you go to bed will help top up the melatonin that already naturally occurs in your body.

US studies conducted at the University of Texas Health Science Centre found Montmorency cherries contained 13.5 nanograms of melatonin per gram - much higher than the amount normally found in our bodies. Cherrygood juice, which uses Montmorency cherries, swears by the sleepy properties of its drink, and fondly refers to melatonin as ‘nature’s sleep regulating hormone’.

Cottage cheese

The next sleepy substance to remember is ‘tryptophan’. It’s an amino acid which naturally induces sleep in the body by facilitating the production of serotonin, a neurotransmitter which helps regulate sleep. Tryptophan is found in a lot of dairy products and so as well as cottage cheese (much lighter and easier to digest than hard cheeses), a small bowl of wholegrain cereal with milk would work too.

You don’t have to eat cottage cheese from the tub – try spooning some onto crispbread, or having it with lettuce. Besides, light, high-carbohydrate foods (like crispbread) boost levels of serotonin in the brain without overloading the digestive system, so it’s a good food group to snack on late at night.

Peanuts

Peanuts are another foodstuff packed full of tryptophan, so either crack open a bag of monkey nuts, or indulge in a slice of wholegrain toast slathered in the far creamier (and perhaps tastier) option – peanut butter. You can even learn how to make your own nut butters here.

Also, peanuts are a rich source of niacin, a nutrient which helps increase the release of serotonin in the body. Remember, nuts are high in fat and calories so don’t eat too many before bed time. Carbohydrate is by far the best food group to eat late at night, while trying to digest too much fat could activate digestion and keep you awake.

Warm milk

A favourite old wives’ tale, drinking a glass of warm milk before bedtime can indeed help you fall asleep quicker. As well as containing that all-important tryptophan, warm liquid provides a soothing, relaxing effect – like a cup of Horlicks.

On top of all that, milk is obviously high in calcium, one of many substances which helps regulate the production of melatonin (that cherry hormone we’ve already talked about). Sweeten your cup up with a tablespoon of honey, both for flavour reasons and because honey is a carbohydrate which will further serotonin release.

Onions

No real medical research backing this one up, I’m afraid. But some say that eating a lot of onions makes you feel sleepy, and there are endless online solutions for insomnia involving onions. Keep a shredded onion in a jar covered with a cloth, then inhale the fumes several times before bed; boil a whole onion in just enough water to cover it and then drink the reserved onion water after it has had time to cool; or simply sleep with a whole onion under your pillow.

Giant bhajis before bed it is, then. 

Do you have any top edible tips for a good night’s sleep? Or do you think the whole thing is a load of nonsense? Talk to us in the Comments box below.

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