Trying to get a good nights sleep can be agonizing for insomniacs who find themselves unable to get to sleep and toss and turn for hours. Desperate to remedy the problem they will often turn to medication not realizing that the answer could be as simple as eating the right foods and avoiding the wrong ones.

Food can make you sleepy. Think about the times you have a meal like a turkey dinner after which you almost always feel the need to lie down and have a rest or sleep. This is caused by the chemical tryptophan will aids your body in producing the L-Tryptophan amino acid. This is essential in producing the melatonin and serotonin neurotransmitters which help you to relax, quieting your mind and letting you sleep more and think less.

Maybe you don’t like turkey, or even if you do you wouldn’t want to eat it every single day! Well there is no need as you can find tryptophan in lots of other foods and eating a little of these before you go to be can help to make you sleep better.

Sources of tryptophan

• Hummus
• Eggs
• Beans
• Meat (particularly poultry)
• Soy
• Nuts
• …and most high-protein food.

It is not quite that easy however as the same foods that have this chemical will have tyrosine as well which is the amino acid that makes you feel more alert. If you eat these foods by themselves the two amino acids will have a counteracting effect on each other without making you feel too energized or too tired. What you want to do to improve your sleep is combine them with other food will be help you use just the tryptophan. Carbohydrates are excellent for this as they keep the tyrosine busy while the carbohydrates promote the production of insulin, leaving just the tryptophan to reach your brain. Everything in moderation however as too much carbohydrate and simple sugar will mean you might produce more insulin than you need or want, as it can make you wake up shortly after falling asleep.

You could also try eating foods that optimize the absorption of tryptophan by your brain. Calcium is one of the best ways to do this which can be found in dairy products - an excellent source of tryptophan. This is the science behind why our mothers would have given us warm milk before sleeping to help us relax.

When you are struggling to get to sleep at night try a snack with food that contains this important amino acid. A snack will be much more effective than a big meal which will more than likely wake you up just a few short hours later.

So instead of going to your medicine cabinet when you are suffering from insomnia, try going to your fridge instead. You can promote restful sleep simply by eating the right foods, in the right amounts, at the right time. Medication can become addictive, even if just psychologically because you are desperate for sleep and may convince yourself you won’t be able to sleep without it. Whereas food will not only help you sleep better, it will also nourish your mind and body.