5 Foods That'll Help You Sleep Tonight

5 Foods That'll Help You Sleep Tonight 

Lack of sleep can ruin a lot of things: Our mood, our patience, our focus and our sense of enjoyment in life. We've all had those sleepless nights. But taking sleeping pills is usually a problematic strategy, because they don't give you the same natural sleep that strengthens you, and they can become quite addictive, until you can't sleep without them. Better to eat something that will help you fall into a relaxing, renewing, deep sleep.

Here are five recommended foods to put you to bed:

Frozen Bananas

Frozen bananas become a thick and tasty ice-cream. All you need is the right technique of consistent mixing. The idea is to mix for several minutes, until the bananas become a creamy delight. Add a handful of chopped peanuts for an extra tryptophan boost and you have a great combination. Not only will the potassium in the bananas help you fall asleep faster, it can also prevent you waking up for no reason in the middle of the night.

 

Low Fat Popcorn

The carbs in popcorn will help your body better utilize a checmical calledtryptophan. This chemical is known to relieve tension and put you to sleep. This happens because the tryptophan is converted to serotonin, which is responsible for putting you to sleep and waking you every day. Since a heavy meal about 2 hours before sleep can actually keep you awake at times, a low calorie popcorn bowl is a recommended treat for late night snacks. If you want to add some flavor, we suggest some curry powder or garlic, instead of butter. 

Halibut

The halibut fish comes with two great sleep aides: Tryptophan and vitamin B6. It has a meaty, gentle texture that is recommended to sea fruit lovers.

 

Other foods rich in Tryptophan:

Chicken, Beef, soy, yogurt, bananas, peanuts and eggs.

Mango shake

Mangos are packed full with antioxidents, proteins and vitamins and is also a natural treat that may put to bed your need for something sweet without blasting your body with sugar.

To make a mango shake:

Cut up a fresh mango and but it in the blender. Add a scoopfull of ice, a small scoop of low fat greek yogurt and just a little splash of milk or water. If you want it a bit sweeter still, you can add a bit of honey. 

And if you don't like mangos, the same can be done with strawberries in winter and watermelons in summer.

Dried Cherries

A handful of dried cherries won't only give you carbs and serotonin, but also is one of the better known sources of melotonin, known as a sleep inducing hormone (also good against jetlag). If that's not enough for you, they also come packed with antioxidants.