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5 Sleep aids from your kitchen

Sleep aid foods

At the end of a long day, you finish you dinner, put back everything in place, put off the lights and fall in bed. While this should be the end of a bright day, for many it is just the beginning of a long and dark night. People are often troubled with sleeplessness. When it becomes a regular feature, it could trigger worry and panic because if you do not get a good night’s sleep, what do you do to fight fatigue and drowsiness the next day? Sleeping pills have their own ills. Medication should be the last resort. And this is because while pills and medications are effective, they often carry side effects. Some of these side effects could be damaging to many organs in the human body. Excessive usage of such medication is also known to have lead to death!

Going natural will definitely be a good solution. And science has come up with the best way to go natural – eating. Here are 5 sleep aids from your on kitchen that you could consume and ensure that sleep consumes you as soon as your head touches the pillow. Not only will they gift you sleep, they will also soothe your mind and rest your tired nerves.

1. Cherry

Tart cherries which are also called sour cherries have been found to provide panacea for the insomniac. But it does not come that easy. One has to drink about eight ounces of the juice in the morning and about the same amount in the evening too. Doing this for about two weeks relaxed and put to sleep even hardened insomniacs. Melatonin is a chemical compound that is known to make us sleepy. Cherries are a rich source of this melatonin.And so, in case you are not able to sleep soundly at night, have a cup of cherries for dessert and you will never have to desert your sleep.

2. Lemon Balm

This leaf is a member of the mint family and is known so because of the strong lemon scent it exudes. Having a cup of hot lemon balm tea and embrace sleep with arms open wide! To make this tea, just steep the dried lemon balm leaves in a cup of boiling water for about 3-4 minutes. Just drink the tea normally. A note of caution though – if you are a patient on thyroid medication, consult with your doctor for you may have to make some changes in your dosage. The herb helps in better digestion which also leads to a better sleep.

3. Fish

Tryptophan is an amino acid, the building block of many proteins, and a sleep inducer too. Tuna, halibut, cod and shrimp are sea creatures that contain generous amounts of tryptophan. And so, if you a fan of seafood and suffer from sleeplessness, you could enlist as a fan of tryptophan! Another note of caution here. The seas and oceans are increasingly getting polluted and so is the produce from them. If possible, ascertain the source of your seafood and stick to the produce like the Alaskan cod or the Albacore tuna caught on a pole. And when you have the seafood,

4. Vegetarian combo

If the seafood advice seemed a bit complex, you could seek your tryptophan from vegetarian sources as well. Milk is another very good source of tryptophan. A glass of warm milk just before you go to bed can induce a wonderful sleep. You could do even better by combining the protein in milk with some carbohydrates like cereals. this will do good because the tryptophan seems to work better in conjunction with carbohydrates. Consume a cup full of whole grain cereal along with warm milk before you hit the sack.

5. Herbs

Here is some ‘sage’ advice for sleep! Take 4 tablespoons of the sage herb in a glass. Steep it for four hours and then strain it. Use this for reheating and drinking before you go to bed. It is sure to get you good sleep. There are a host of other herbs too that you can make use of. Chamomile tea is a wonderful sleep inducer that is available in the bagged form in departmental stores or natural-food stores. Valerian tea is another pre-bagged option available from the same natural-food stores. The best thing about these teas is that you need not make the efforts to steep and strain to make them.

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