Insomnic diet : What to eat for sound sleep?

Insomnic diet enhances your quality of sleep. Changing your diet is an easy natural way to help cure your insomnia. With moderation and a healthy lifestyle, eating foods can help you get the hours of sleep you’ve been craving. The World Sleep Day 2022 is held on March 18 and the theme is Quality Sleep, Sound Mind, Happy World. So, what are the foods that might help you sleep? Here are the top 20 tips.

The most common sleep disorder is, insomnia. One in every three adults has occasional Insomnia while one in every 10 has chronic insomnia. For many people, insomnia is normally a phase due to a variety of factors like stress. Once the stress is gone, the insomnia is gone. This type of insomnia can usually be fixed by trying many natural methods.

Changing your diet is an easy, natural way to help cure your insomnia. By eating certain sleep-inducing foods each night, there is a possibility that you will experience better sleep. Now, this does not mean engorging these foods will guarantee you more sleep. Actually, eating too much of any kind of food will hurt your chances of getting a good night’s rest. However, with moderation and a healthy lifestyle, eating these foods can help you get the hours of sleep you’ve been craving. So, what are the foods that might help you sleep? Here are the top 20 tips.

1. Try a warm bath:

After a long and tiring day, soaking yourself in a warm bath will not only relax you but will also help induce sleep. Taking a warm bath with bay leaves two hours before going to bed gives a chance to your body to cool off and also triggers sleep at night.

2. Massage:

Massage therapy is the best technique to calm your body and mind. Taking massage at night reduces the feeling of pain, anxiety and depression and improves the quality of sleep. It is not necessary at all to take massage from a professional, you can do it yourself at home with the aroma oils.

3. Warm milk with honey:

Go back to the good old days and sip a cup of warm milk with honey. The combination of milk and honey along with a tspn of black sesame seed powder is the best to induce sleep and has been practiced for a long time. Milk contains amino acid tryptophan, which increases the amount of a hormone that works as a natural sedative.

4. Herbal tea:

Brew some herbal tea before going to bed at night. Having herbal tea reduces the time taken to fall asleep and calms your body. You can also try passionflower tea and chamomile tea at night or simply turmeric tea with honey.

5. Magnesium:

Magnesium is an essential mineral that is good for health. It helps to relax the muscle and relieves the level of stress. It also encourages healthy sleep pattern. You can either have magnesium supplement or can add one cup of magnesium powder (Epsom salt) in your bath water.

6. Bananas:

Banana peels contain tryptophan and the fruit itself is a modest source of magnesium. Both of these properties may help you get a good night’s sleep. Bananas are a powerhouse of muscle-relaxing minerals such as magnesium and potassium. The sweet fruit along with the tspn of roasted cumin seeds is one of the easiest to eat, and a must-have if you’re having trouble falling asleep. It too contains tryptophan, an essential amino acid that helps the body make certain brain-signalling chemicals such as serotonin that majorly control mood and sleep.

7. Watermelons:

These bright and highly enriching melons are indeed a blessing in disguise. A cup of diced watermelon pieces just before bedtime helps you to stay hydrated throughout the night and helps to keep post-dinner hunger pangs at bay. Therefore, since you are adequately hydrated before sleeping, the body doesn’t urge you in the middle of the night to fulfil its thirst requirements, and you land up sleeping peacefully. However, make it a point to consume these melons in moderation because they may wake you up in the middle of the night to make a quick trip to the washroom.

8. Pistachios:

Loaded with essential nutrients such as vitamin B6, proteins, magnesium, pistachios can help induce sleep. But again, consume them in moderation because anything that is high in calories can make you stay awake rather than inducing sleep.

9. Walnut:

This brainy nut and its benefits are well-known to most of us. But did you know that walnuts also help in regulating the sleep hormone Melatonin thereby improving your overall sleep quality? Walnuts also aid in the providing of ALA, an omega-3 fatty acid that gets converted into DHA by the body. This DHA increases the production of Serotonin, a sleep-enhancing brain chemical.

10. Dark Chocolate:

Dark chocolate can be consumed at any time of the day, literally! Holding the ability to raise the Serotonin levels, this sinful delicacy also helps to relax both the mind and the body!

11. Kiwis:

The very nutritious Kiwi is one of the best foods to consume before hitting the sack! The fruit not only helps you to fall asleep quickly but also ensure that you sleep well through the night without waking up.

12. Almonds:

Packed with highly healthy nutrients, almonds are also rich in magnesium. Magnesium is known to do wonders for people who have insomnia. Also helps to keep a check on the stress hormone Cortisol which is known to disrupt sleep. A handful of almonds right before bedtime (or any time of the day, for that matter) are said to improve sleep quality. You’re likely to sleep longer and deeper, since it’s a source of the sleep-regulating hormone, melatonin, and is abundant in the sleep-promoting mineral, magnesium. They’re also a great source of tryptophan, known to have soothing effects on the brain and nerves.

13. Cut the Fluids by 8 P.M.:

Staying hydrated throughout the day is great for your body, but cut it off before bed. You don’t want to have to keep getting up to go to the bathroom after you turn in.

14. Don’t Smoke to Relax:

Even if it’s one of your favourite ways to unwind, smoking isn’t a good idea — night or day. Nicotine is a stimulant, with effects similar to caffeine. Avoid smoking before bedtime or if you wake up in the middle of the night. Keep trying to quit — it’s hard, but it’s worth it.

15. Sweet Potato Toast:

Swap baked sweet potatoes for traditional night-time toast, “Sweet potatoes are great sources of potassium, magnesium, and calcium to help you relax,” Top with a drizzle of honey and pinch of sea salt or a tablespoon of nut butter with a tbspn of soaked poppy seeds for a post-dinner treat.

16. Figs:

Figs pack potassium, magnesium, calcium, and iron. “These minerals help with blood flow and muscle contraction, which are key for falling asleep.” Besides crushing your dessert craving, each fig also packs some additional fiber that’ll keep you full.

17. Oats:

If you want a light and filling dinner that is both healthy and doubles up as a sleep-inducer, look no further. A bowl of cooked oats before bedtime (just like rice) is high in complex-carbs and is known to induce drowsiness when consumed before bed. That’s because it is a known natural source of melatonin, a sleep-inducing hormone and the stress-relieving Vitamin B6.

18. Beans:

Beans naturally contain a B vitamin complex. Beans contain a nice little combination of B vitamins like B6, niacin, and folate, which help the brain in many ways. B vitamins have long been used to treat insomnia, and helps to alleviate stress and anxiety.

19. Chickpeas:

Chickpeas may just be the miracle legume; proven to help keep your appetite in check, they’re also high in vitamin B6. Vitamin B6 plays an important role in helping your body produce serotonin, the feel-good hormone.

20. Grapes:

Grapes are an example of a fruit that contains naturally-occurring melatonin, the chemical promoting restful sleep.

Keep some grapes in your fridge for a cool snack through the summer.