Do you know how serious getting a good night’s rest is? You probably think you do just because sleep is required for us to function, right? Yet, do you know just how dangerous it is to cheat sleep or get too much
According to studies, getting less than 6 hours or more than 9 to 10 hours of sleep can eventually cause serious health problems.1 When you have reoccurring health problems, sadly, this can result in a shorter life.
Therefore, people who really know how important it is to sleep, for example, people with sleep apnea or insomnia, look for remedies or solutions to help them more.
If you have trouble falling asleep quickly or staying asleep then these 10 drinks may get you going in the right direction.
10 Drinks To Help You Sleep
1. Ovaltine Malt
Ovaltine is high in iron, zinc, phosphorous, magnesium, and B vitamins. It also contains malt which has tryptophan, an amino acid which converts to serotonin and then makes melatonin. In summary, these ingredients are what control sleep states. Just make sure it is Ovaltine and it’s malted, you will experience sleep like never before.
2. Chamomile And Lavender Tea
Anything with chamomile and lavender is said to have a calming effect on us. It is also not only “said”, but a study by the University of Michigan Medical Center proved it. This tea, of course, has these ingredients and is sworn by many to help them get to sleep and stay asleep at night.
3. Banana Cherry Smoothie
Warm milk, banana, cherries, nutmeg, and honey are what you need to be sleeping like you were a teenager all over again. Milk has tryptophan, banana has melatonin and serotonin, cherries have melatonin, nutmeg is a natural relaxant, and honey has melatonin.
So we are not only talking about a delicious smoothie, but this is like anesthesia in a tasty shake! If that isn’t enough, you can add flax seeds and almonds which have more of the ingredients we just mentioned.
4. Tilia And Lemongrass Tea
Chamomile, tilia, lemongrass, blackberry leaves, hawthorn berries, orange blossoms, and rosebuds are the sleepy ingredients in this tea. Be sure to check out these ingredients as some people say they can cause side effects. Adjusting your body to all these new ingredients can take some time so in the beginning, you may notice some changes, but hopefully you will be sleeping like a baby!
5. Tart Cherry Juice
Again, cherries are the key here which have melatonin. A study was done using tart cherry juice on 2 different occasions, Journal of Medicinal Food and Journals of Gerontology, and showed great results in reducing insomnia.2
You drink it twice a day in 8 oz. increments; once in the morning and once 2 hours before bedtime.
6. Warm Milk
This is probably the oldest insomnia remedy in the book, at least according to all the wives’ tales. Drinking a cold or warm glass of milk can help you go to sleep according to more people than the researchers.
Some researchers claim that there is not any evidence that tryptophan makes us sleepy, but it is used in all sorts of these drinks that we have already gone over. Therefore, there has to be some kind of connection right?
7. Organic Rooibos Tea
Again, a tea that has calming, relaxing, “put you to sleep” ingredients. This tea has organic rooibos, orange peel, spearmint, chamomile, passion flower, stevia, and valerian root extract that helps you get good sleep.
8. Decaffeinated Green Tea
It has the amino acid theanine, which has been proven to help people with anxiety, stress, and of course sleep. Just think about it. Whenever we lie down in our bed with no stress or anxiety it will always be a plus for sleep right?
9. Lemon Balm Tea
Since the middle ages, lemon balm has been used to reduce anxiety and stress to promote better rest. This is what the University of Maryland Medical says.3 Lemon balm is very tasty when brewed into a tea and it’s easy to make your own tea. Just be sure to research a little before doing it or go the shortcut route and buy some.
10. Theanine And Melatonin Sleep Drink
The key ingredients in this drink are again, theanine and melatonin. This popular drink comes in mango and tangerine flavors and is a new drink that has been catching a lot of storms lately which can help you well with your sleep.
As you can probably see, it is all about the ingredients. These are 10 of the most popular drinks that help you sleep, but there are many other drinks that have some of these same key ingredients mentioned in these drinks.
Therefore, to summarize here’s the list of those ingredients.
- Melatonin
- Theanine
- Chamomile
- Passionflower
- Valerian root
- Tryptophan
- Serotonin
- Magnesium
- Lavender
Caution
- No matter what you decide to do, always do yourself a favor and research about these ingredients before using, because some of these can cause allergic reactions.
- If you are serious about trying some of these drinks, then start by trying one that sounds good to you.
- Don’t try to mix a bunch together thinking it will give you the maximum effect.
- There are many things in life that should only be taken in moderation, and the same applies to these drinks. Try one, and if it doesn’t work, try another and so on.
Happy sleep-drinking!
References
