Healthy Foods That Are Natural Sleep Inducers
A bedtime snack that combines a concentrated source of tryptophan that is also high in carbohydrates can be a huge help in inducing sleep if you are having trouble sleeping.
Tryptophan is an amino acid that your body doesn’t make itself. You must get it from the foods that you eat. Once tryptophan your brain, it is used to make a hormone called serotonin. Serotonin acts within your body to promote feelings of sleepiness, calm, and relaxation.
If you don’t have adequate levels of serotonin in your system, you likely won’t feel sleepy enough to rest soundly. Without adequate levels of tryptophan within your brain you will not be able to produce significant amounts of serotonin.
Here’s the challenge. Tryptophan has to compete with other amino acids for access to the limited number of channels that line your blood-brain barrier. Tryptophan is usually outnumbered by other amino acids in natural foods.
The key is to combine a tryptophan-rich food with a carbohydrate-rich food before bedtime. Ingesting a carbohydrate-rich food causes your body to release insulin and this diverts many of your other amino acids away from your brain. This leaves tryptophan with easier access to the blood-brain barrier to gain access to your brain.
Healthy foods that are naturally rich in tryptophan:
- Beans
- Whole grains, including rice
- Lentils
- Chickpeas
- Hazelnuts
- Peanuts
- Eggs
- Sunflower seeds
- Sesame seeds
- Miso
- Raw dairy products
