Avoid;
Alcohol, spicy foods, fatty foods (as it is harder to digest), coffee and caffeine 4 – 6 hours before bed. Dark chocolate (5 hours before bed) as it also contains caffeine and theobromine; another stimulant increasing your heart rate and sleeplessness).
- Cherries; fresh and dried are one of the only natural food sources of Melatonin; the chemical that controls the bodies internal clock to regulate sleep.
- Almonds; a handful of heart healthy nuts, contain Tryptophan and muscle relaxing magnesium. Protein maintains stable blood sugar levels.
- Honey; a little glucose tells the brain to turn off Orexin neurotransmitters linked to alertness; it promotes relaxation.
- Bananas; are like a sleeping pill in a skin! Providing Potassium and Magnesium which are natural muscle relaxants and the amino acids L-Tryptophan gets converted to 5-HTP which gets converted to Serotonin (relaxing neurotransmitter) and Melatonin.
Sleep well!