Getting a good night’s sleep is extremely important. Not only does it help you concentrate better the next day, it can actually help you lose weight or prevent weight gain. A good night’s sleep improves your athletic performance and can improve heart health, too. It’s an important factor in preventing depression, as well. Reducing inflammation and boosting your immune system are highly important for your overall health and a good night’s sleep can do it. What you drink before you retire to the bedroom makes a difference. Here are some drinks to have before bed.
Hot chocolate is soothing, but warm milk helps you sleep better.
A cup of hot chocolate often comes with fond memories, like Christmas morning or an evening around the fire with family. Sure, a cup of cocoa or hot chocolate can help you sleep, but the chocolate contains stimulants. It’s better to opt for warm milk instead. Milk has calcium and calcium aids sleep. It also is warm and prepares your body for sleep. It aids with stress reduction, too. The tryptophan in milk helps your brain to slow nerve activity.
Herbal tea is good before bedtime.
You’ve probably heard that chamomile tea is calming and good for insomnia. It helps lower stress levels and can aid in getting better sleep. Other herbs such as valerian, also have a soothing, destressing action. Green tea contains theanine and that can promote good sleep. It lowers the stress hormones that tend to keep you awake. Add some ginger, orange peel, honey or peppermint to your tea to improve the results.
A glass of cherry juice can help bring on the ZZZZs.
Cherries are known to boost the quality of your sleep. It’s the tryptophan content in cherries that make it a great sleep aid. Tryptophan is required to make melatonin that regulates your sleep/wake cycle. Cherries also have melatonin. Tart cherries have the most. One study found that drinking a cherry juice concentrate improved nightly rest. Another study showed that people who drank two cups of cherry juice a day boosted their sleep time by an hour and 24 minutes, while relieving symptoms of insomnia.
- Ashwagandha, also known as Indian ginseng, has been used to treat stress and anxiety. The root has compounds that increase sleep and the leaves promote non-REM sleep, which is when the body regenerates bones and tissue.
- Who doesn’t love the smell of peppermint? While the smell of peppermint may be invigorating, drinking peppermint tea may help you sleep. The reason hypothesized is it does that by relieving gastrointestinal problems that may be keeping you awake.
- Opt for golden milk, which is better than regular milk. Golden milk contains ginger, milk and turmeric, with all three providing compounds that help you sleep in a different way.
- If you can’t drink regular milk or simply want an alternative, warm almond milk is good for sleep. Almonds have minerals and other compounds that promote sleep and help you sleep sounder.
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