Looking to sleep better longer? Desperate for a cure for insomnia? Avoid caffeine six hours before your bedtime. Do your body good and sip a warm cup of milk instead, like the old wive’s tale suggests.
Actually, almost any dairy food will generally entice Mr. Sandman to gently nudge your sleepy eyelids downward. Milk products like yogurt and cheese, whether from cows, goats or sheep, are rich in calcium. The essential mineral helps the brain release the sleep-inducing melatonin hormone.
But dairy products are far from the only nourishing foods that can help people fall asleep. Kiwifruit, originally called Chinese gooseberries, have also been shown to promote zzzs. The emerald, pulp-filled fuzzy brown orbs are packed with nutritive calcium, folate, magnesium and phosphorus. Nosh on the black-seeded sweet treat two hours before bed and, chances are, you’ll be yawning in no time. Just don’t forget to brush kiwi’s natural sugar off your pearly whites before lights out.
Related: 10 Ways to Make This the Year You Sleep Better
Spinach, Popeye’s favorite power food, isn’t typically the first edible to pop to mind when brainstorming nighttime snacks to help you nod off. Nonetheless, the calcium- and iron-loaded leafy green gets the job done. Bonus: It also strengthens your weary bones while promoting sleep. Toss a few small spinach leaves into a bedtime fruit smoothie for an extra slumber-enhancing boost. Then, if you have them on hand, chase your green smoothie with a handful of selenium-filled Brazil nuts and you’re primed and ready for some restorative shut-eye.
For a full menu of 10 tasty foods you can eat to promote sleep, dig into the appetizing infographic below, which comes to us by way of Amerisleep, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based mattress manufacturer and retailer. Sleep tight, dreamers, and bon appetit!
Related: How This Produce Pioneer Popularized the Kiwi and Forever Changed the American Palate
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