How to get to sleep … kitchen helper

There’s nothing more frustrating than laying in bed tossing and turning, unable to sleep. If you’re finding it hard to unwind and counting sheep doesn’t work, there are certain foods that can help you to sleep.

To understand how some foods can help with sleep we first need to have a little science lesson. Tryptophan is an essential amino acid that the body uses to make melatonin and serotonin.  Melatonin helps to regulate the sleep-wake cycle and serotonin helps regulate sleep, mood, appetite, and pain. Tryptophan occurs naturally in a number of foods and consumption of them may assist in promoting sleep. A great example is turkey; we all know that sleepy feeling that comes after Christmas lunch, and this is due in part, to the tryptophan that occurs naturally in turkey.

There’s plenty of other foods that are high in tryptophan including chicken, eggs, cheese, fish, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, milk, almonds, tofu and soy. Consuming these foods in the evening may be just what you need to get off to sleep. So next time you find yourself struggling to sleep, try a glass of milk and a handful of almonds as a natural remedy.  


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