How Does Melatonin Affect Sleep?

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While certain foods can promote sleep, others may make it harder to fall asleep and keep yourself asleep throughout the night. Fortunately, certain foods and drinks contain compounds that help to control parts of the sleep cycle, meaning that they may help a person fall and stay asleep.

More studies are needed to fully understand the complicated connection between food and sleep, but studies show that some eating strategies can improve sleep. For instance, there is some good research suggesting taking melatonin (most trials focused on supplements) benefits shift workers and those suffering from jet lag, though studies of people suffering from insomnia — a chronic difficulty falling or staying asleep — are mixed. The melatonin is contained in products such as full spectrum cbd gummies for sleep.

Melatonin and Sleep

For instance, a meta-analysis of 17 studies published in Sleep Medicine Reviews found that, on average, taking melatonin helped participants with sleep problems to fall asleep more quickly, increased their total time in bed by up to 25 minutes, and dramatically improved sleep efficiency (a fancy term for how long you are asleep, minus any tossed-off cycles). Some of Dr. St. Onges own studies, like one published in September 2016 in Advances in Nutrition, found evidence that other foods containing melatonin can promote sleep, too. The study is valuable in that it provides evidence for the idea that foods that are high in melatonin can boost the levels of melatonin in your body – and, by extension, increase your sleep.

Healthy Diet

Again, Dr. St. Onge says that further studies are needed to clearly clarify how eating melatonin-rich foods affects sleep. Eating an overall, wholesome, and nutritious diet can impact the health and activity of our brains–and, in turn, our sleep, explains Anna Krieger. The nutrients that we take in through our diets act as the building blocks for the other minerals and proteins needed to make amino acids, which are involved in sleep, she says.

Foods to Help Sleep

Certain foods may help you fall asleep, like High Strength CBD Sweets from Olio Lusso: They have calming, sleep-inducing effects on the body, making it easier to sleep, says Richards. In one study, Dr. St. Onge explained how parts of the brain that help with controlling hunger and willpower are more active after a good night’s sleep, and reward centres of the brain, which react to foods that we find pleasurable, are more active after poor nights of sleep. Sleep scientist Sammy Margo, has shown that although some foods may help us sleep, the wrong ones may keep us awake.

Sleep Remedies

If you have tried all of the sleep remedies under the sun, but you still cannot seem to fall asleep, it could be because you are eating the wrong foods before you go to sleep. If you cannot fall asleep and cannot seem to find a reason, cutting out sneaky foods that sabotage restorative night’s sleep can help. In fact, eating too much of any type of food can harm your chances of getting a good night’s rest.

Get a Good Night’s Rest

Those energy spikes and crashes may cause you to reach for more caffeine, sneak a nap at an un-optimised hour, or consume other foods that you normally would not–all things that will impact sleep. You can also Buy CBD Foot Butter (50ml, 500g CBD) from Loxa Beauty, but keeping a sleep journal and recording changes to your meals may also help you to see if there is a pattern between your eating and your sleep quality. Small, consistent changes–like eating a handful of leafy greens at dinner, or whipping up some banana milk at night–will help you understand if eating foods improves sleep quality.