Bananas
Packed full of magnesium, potassium, and tryptophan, a banana is your ticket to a relaxed mind and peaceful sleep—swap sugary evening desserts for a banana instead.
Chamomile tea
Swap your usual caffeine for chamomile: It helps calm the mind by reducing anxiety and stress, while inducing a nice kind of drowsiness, thanks to an antioxidant called apigenin.
Fatty fish
Fatty fish (like salmon, mackerel, sardines, and trout), are high in vitamin B6 and encourage the body to produce melatonin, helping you to get sleepier, quicker.
Milk
A classic for a reason. Not only is it filled with tryptophan, but calcium is also known to help us drift off.
Tart cherry
A natural source of tryptophan and melatonin, tart cherry can help you drop off more easily. Plus, it contains other phytochemicals that help protect tryptophan from breaking down in the body, extending the time it can work on improving sleep.
Mushrooms
Mushrooms naturally contain small amounts of tryptophan—opt for cremini, portobello, or white button mushrooms.
Eggs
A rich source of tryptophan, eggs can help bump up your melatonin stores before you hit the hay. One large egg will tick off 30 per cent of your daily tryptophan needs.
Why does the sleepy girl mocktail work?
You may have come across the “sleepy girl mocktail” on TikTok: it uses tart cherry, magnesium powder, and sparkling water to create a drink that promises to lull people off to sleep. Advocates say it helps them drop off more quickly and stay asleep throughout the night. The reason it works, Bare Biology nutritionist Kirsten Humprehys explains, is that tart cherry naturally contains melatonin. Paired with magnesium – another sleep aid thanks to its calming effect in the central nervous system—the “cocktail” works on inducing sleep as well as sleep duration and quality.
“Some people find it helpful as part of a relaxing wind-down routine, but it’s not a standalone cure for insomnia,” she continues. She also cautions against drinking such a large drink before bed, as it may have you waking up in the night to use the bathroom, which, of course, disturbs sleep.
Soylucicek says to be conscious of portion size when serving up your cocktail. “Many commercial juices are high in sugar, which can destabilize blood sugar overnight.” She says to stick to a 100 ml serving, always include magnesium, and drink it alongside a protein-rich snack to buffer the impact on blood sugar.
Foods to avoid for better sleep
“Alcohol, caffeine, and sugar are right at the top of my list of things to avoid,” says Khan. “Alcohol and coffee are both stimulants and major diuretics, making them seriously dehydrating—they literally leach water from your body. And while alcohol causes sleep problems by affecting the neurotransmitters in the brain, caffeine keeps you awake. I advise not having either past 6 p.m..” She also recommends avoiding anything sugary, and not just sugary desserts, but also processed carbs like white bread and pasta. As tough as it sounds, snacking on buttered white toast before bedtime needs to become a thing of the past if you’re struggling to sleep.
Worst foods for sleep
- Caffeine, when consumed later in the day, directly suppresses melatonin. “This includes coffee, certain teas, and energy drinks,” Soylucicek says.
- Alcohol, even though it initially induces feelings of sleep, can disrupt the secretion of melatonin and therefore suppress its production.
- High-sugar, ultra-processed foods can destabilise blood sugar, “leading to nocturnal wakefulness and impaired circadian rhythm signaling”, concludes Soylucicek.