The Drink That Increases Sleep Time
Good sleep is important, so it sucks when you try to fall asleep and can’t because of insomnia. To struggle to sleep and watch your partner sleeping peacefully is frustrating, besides making you tired the next day for work or school. A special drink can help you fall asleep faster and stay asleep for an hour longer, which is fantastic news. Try this drink and enjoy peaceful relaxed sleep:
Tart Cherry Juice
New research presented at the 2014 Experimental Biology meeting showed that sipping on cherry juice can help you sleep 90 minutes more each night. The researchers tested 7 adults with insomnia, the average age was 68, and had them drink 8 ounces of Montmorency tart cherry juice twice a day for 2 weeks, then none for 2 weeks, followed by 2 weeks of a placebo beverage. When the results were compared, it was found that the 2 weeks of cherry juice resulted in 84 more minutes of sleep each night.
Tart cherries are a great natural source of melatonin, the hormone that regulates the sleep-wake cycle. There have been several studies that suggest tart cherries for better sleep. Frank L. Greenway, director of the outpatient research clinic at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center at LSU, says, “Proanthocyanidins, or the ruby red pigments in tart cherry juice, contain an enzyme that reduces inflammation and decreases the breakdown of tryptophan, letting it go to work longer in your body.”
Tart cherry juice also helps increase the availability of tryptophan, an essential amino acid and a precursor to serotonin that enhances sleep. Greenway believes it’s the unique combination of melatonin and tryptophan in Montmorency tart cherries that contributes to sleep duration. He says sipping on cherry juice is a better option than taking sleeping pills which have numerous side effects. He estimates that around 1/3 of American adults over 65 suffer from insomnia which can result in several health issues. He explains, “Sleeping pills in the elderly are associated with a 4-fold increase in the prevalence of falls which, at that age, can result in fractures that require surgery.”
The melatonin found in cherries is helpful for decreasing the time it takes to fall asleep, thereby increasing duration of sleep. The juice enhances sleep and increases day time alertness.
If you don’t like cherries try kiwi juice. A recent Chinese study showed that a glass of kiwi juice an hour before you go to your bed increases sleep duration by 13% and decreases mid-sleep waking periods by 29% after just 4 weeks.
The common thing in kiwi and cherries is that they boost serotonin and melatonin which are important for better sleep.
Drink 5-8 ounces of tart cherry juice in the morning. At night sip it, add 1 or 2 drops of vanilla extract to your juice about an hour before you go to sleep. Vanilla contains a soothing scent that does aromatherapy and helps you doze off quickly.
