10 Best Foods for a Good Night Sleep

If you are having sleep problems just try some of the 10 best foods described in the article below for a good night sleep.

How many times did it happen to you to have a bad day!?! How many times did it happen to you to not be in the mood for anything!?! Well, it might help you to know that sometimes bad days or bad mood are the result of not having a good night sleep.

Sleep brings more energy into people and can make us think clear and in a more positive way. In addition, sleep can also be considered as a method of reliving stress build up during the day.

It is recommended to sleep around 7 or 8 hours a night in order to function at maximum capacity. From a personal point of view, I think that decreasing a little the number of slept hours will not cause any problems. However, exceeding this period can make us feel heavier and lethargic. We should also bear in mind that the time frame allocated for sleep it is important. Going to sleep earlier or later than we have to can also have a negative influence on our after sleep mood. For example, you will fell better even if you sleep less during the normal night period as compared to sleeping more hours but in the day, morning, etc.

Research has shown that less or bad sleep during the night can affect our health. Sleeping 4 hours or less for several days can gradually affect our ability to perform complex tasks. This can also cause several changes in the immunological system, e.g. increase in CRP (C-reactive protein), which is a defense reaction indicator. Other surveys found social inequalities in sleep problems with less sleep recorded for people with low income and low education. A group in Munich and Ingolstadt had determined an influence of a chronic sleep disorder going along with severe sleepiness (narcolepsy) on the processing of emotional stimuli in the human brain. This last finding is a very important proof of the fact that disturbed sleep regulation affects our well being and the interaction with the environment.

Food can help when it comes to getting a good night sleep. The following 10 foods are known to stimulate sleep-inducing hormones like serotonin (an important neurotransmitter involved in the regulation of sleep, anger, aggression, body temperature, mood, etc.) and melatonin (melatonin regulates our body’s perception of night and day and stimulates sleep when night falls. People suffering from insomnia do not produce enough melatonin. Also, stress can reduce the level of melatonin produced by our bodies). In addition, these foods have other positive side effects like relaxing tense muscle, calming stressed minds, etc.

1. Eat bananas for a good night sleep

Bananas contain melatonin and serotonin which are practically some of the best sleep stimulating substances (such substances are frequently used in pharmaceutical industry). In addition, bananas contain magnesium which has a relaxing effect on muscles.

2. Warm milk

As probably a lot of us know from childhood, a glass of warm milk was the solution when we couldn’t fall asleep. The explanation for this would be that milk contains tryptophan, which is an amino acid that has a sedative effect. Moreover, calcium contained by milk helps the brain use tryptophan.

3. Chamomile tea

Chamomile is one of the oldest garden herbs which was considered a universal remedy in ancient Egypt. The plant is usually used for tea making and, as we all know, tea has a relaxing effect and is most often used for this purpose. Chamomile tea is generally known not only for its relaxing effect, but for its sedating effect as well, being in this way the perfect natural antidote for stressed minds and bodies. Drinking one cup of Chamomile tea might be your solution for a good night sleep.

4. Honey

Usually, sweet food products provide an extra quantity of energy to our bodies. When we think of extra energy, we definitely do not think of sleeping. However, recent studies have discovered that glucose (like the one contained by honey) can stimulate the brain to reduce the quantity of orexin. Orexin is a recently discovered neurotransmitter that is connected to alertness.

5. Potatoes

Potatoes clear away acids that can interfere with tryptophan amino acid. Baked potatoes can have an even greater sleep inducing effect if they are combined with warm milk when eaten.

6. Almonds

These nuts contain both tryptophan (sedative effect) amino acid and magnesium (muscle relaxing effect).

7. Oatmeal

Oats are good for a good night’s sleep because they stimulate the production of melatonin.

8. Whole-wheat bread

Eating bread will cause insulin to be released into the body. This helps tryptophan get to the brain where it’s converted to serotonin.

9. Turkey

Turkeys are a very good source of tryptophan. However, bear in mind that tryptophan is most effective when the stomach is basically empty, not full, and when there are some carbs in the stomach, not lots of proteins.

10. Flax seeds

These little seeds are rich in omega 3 fatty acids, acids that act as natural mood lifters. So, when feeling down is what’s keeping you up, these seeds should be considered as antidote.

Include these products in your diet, rotate them and see what works best in helping you have a good night sleep.

52 thoughts on “10 Best Foods for a Good Night Sleep

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  • January 18, 2010 at 7:30 PM
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    #9 sounds a bit oxymoronic although tryptophan does work.

    Reply
  • January 18, 2010 at 7:37 PM
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    How’s this for a snack before bedtime… a small bowl of oatmeal cooked in milk then topped with sliced banana, chopped (better yet, ground) almonds, a sprinkling of flax seed meal (seeds in general don’t digest well unless veeery well chewed), and a drizzle of honey along with a small mug of chamomile tea (not so much that you’ll wake up to pea an hour or so after falling to sleep). Just might do the trick!

    Reply
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  • May 18, 2010 at 10:09 AM
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    I enjoined reading your article. But I like drinking milk in the morning does that make me sleepy through the day? 😀

    Reply
  • May 18, 2010 at 10:23 AM
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    Dear Ulqy88,

    Thank you for the comments.

    Milk is very nutritious and I definitely recommend it for breakfast. I do not think it will make you sleepy (still, if you had less than 3-4 hours of sleep, anything will make you sleepy the next day 🙂 ).

    The combination of warm milk with honey has a very relaxing effect, which after a long stressful day will make you relax and sleep better.

    Reply
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  • September 9, 2010 at 6:27 PM
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    Fully agree with your Bananas tips. I tried and its really result oriented. I enjoyed your post really, thanks for sharing with me…

    Reply
  • October 18, 2010 at 11:57 AM
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    We will post today an article related to honey benefits on our health…so stay “tuned” 🙂

    Reply
  • December 26, 2010 at 12:53 AM
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    I completely agree with the warm milk 🙂 At night I tend to have warm milk with a bedtime snack. I tend to not warm up my milk in the morning though because I would like to wake myself up, I wonder if this is a wrong conception. Thank you for the article.

    Reply
  • April 20, 2011 at 5:13 AM
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    I could not sleep so tried the warm milk and curled up around my body pillow and was out quick. Thanks for the info.

    Reply
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  • October 28, 2012 at 6:36 PM
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    This the first time I heard that banana can stimulate sleep, nice list by the way, I will have to check and try them all to see what works best for me, thanks 🙂

    Reply
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