Well, okay, not just anything—chow down on the wrong stuff and you’ll be up all night. For example, a University of Cambridge study
found that eating protein-rich foods fires up the cells in your brain
(called orexin cells) that make you alert and energetic. And if you
drink before bed, 4 hours into sleep the alcohol wears off, leaving you
in a more activated state, says Men’s Health advisor Christopher Winter, M.D., medical director of the sleep medicine center of Martha Jefferson Hospital.But the right bedtime snacks can put you in prime position for a stress-free evening—one with hours and hours of sleep ahead.
So where do you start? Here are six surprising sleep-inducing foods to add to your grocery list today.
Bananas
A little sugar counters the effects of your orexin cells, says Dr. Winter. Try a banana before bed—it will give you just enough sugar to calm your orexin cells, plus magnesium and potassium to help to relax your muscles.
Passionfruit Tea
An Australian study
found that when people drank a cup of either passionfruit or parsley
tea, the passionfruit drinkers slept more soundly. Researchers believe
chemicals called harman alkaloids—high levels of which are unique to the
passionfruit flower—act on your nervous system to make you sleepy.
(From white to green and everything in between, discover the 9 Healthiest Teas.)DID YOU KNOW? Red wine contains some of the world’s best medicine—and you don’t have to go broke to reap the benefits! Try one of these 10 Best Wines Under $15.
Hummus
While L-tryptophan—the amino acid that supposedly makes you crash after Thanksgiving dinner—does make you sleepy, there are better sources than turkey. Consider elk instead, says Christine J. Jones, sleep researcher at Charlottesville Neurology and Sleep Medicine. At 746 milligrams (mg) a portion, it far surpasses turkey (333 mg). Game meats not your thing? Sesame seeds (120 mg) and hummus (usually about 600 mg) are packed with L-tryptophan too.FIX IT WITH FOOD: Check out our list of the 40 Foods with Superpowers—foods that, even in moderation, can strengthen your heart, fortify your bones, and boost your metabolism.
Dates
L-tryprophan
works best when combined with carbs. Carbs trigger your body to secrete
insulin, which uses up other amino acids in your bloodstream first,
leaving more L-tryptophan to sedate, says Dr. Winter. The best foods for
the job? Carbs that raise your blood sugar levels fast, since
slow-acting carbs don’t produce the same kind of insulin response. Go
for a healthy handful of dates—they’re high in carbs and have a fair amount of L-tryptophan. Fruit and air-popped popcorn are other healthy fast-acting carbohydrates.Which snacks are actually good for you? We read the labels so you don’t have to! Find out the 125 Best Foods for Men.
Chinese Food
GABA
(gamma-Aminobutyric acid) is an inhibitory neurotransmitter in your
body—in other words, it’s your brain’s brakes to calm the party down. It
plays a role in regulating the excitability of neurons throughout your
nervous system. The only problem: “It’s not found in food, so you can’t
really eat GABA-rich products,” says Dr. Winter. Instead, you can eat
foods high in glutamic acid—a precursor to GABA that turns into the
neurotransmitter in your body. Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is the salt of
glutamic acid, and it’s usually added to Chinese food. While MSG sometimes gets a bad reputation because it makes food “addictively” good tasting, the FDA has declared it a safe food additive. MSG can be made simply enough by putting salt on a tomato, Dr. Winter says. Other natural options: raw seaweed/spirulina (6,648 mg glutamic acid), Chinese cabbage (6,232 mg), or low-fat cottage cheese (7,455 mg). Still, if you experience the symptoms often associated with MSG, you should avoid it.
Cherries
Recent research in the European Journal of Nutrition
found that drinking an ounce of cherry juice twice a day—once in the
morning and once at night—for a week helped people sleep an extra 25
minutes. Why? It’s laced with L-tryptophan, which can convert into
serotonin, and eventually melatonin—the compound that influences your
sleep cycle, says Jason Ellis, Ph.D., the director of the Northumbria
Centre for Sleep Research. Increase the melatonin circulating in your
body, and you’ll increase the chances of a good night’s sleep, too. Try
an ounce of juice or a cup of cherries before bed. Since there are no
foods high in melatonin, you want to look for foods that can produce it,
says Dr. Winter. A few to keep in mind: milk, yogurt, oats, eggs, and
peanuts.By Bill Phillips and the Editors of Men's Health
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