How to Choose Foods to Cure Insomnia

If you're struggling to fall asleep or stay asleep at night, but don't want to rely on drugs to fight insomnia, look no further than your pantry to find a natural remedy for sleeplessness. Many healthy foods contain ingredients that can act as sedatives or boost certain hormones to induce sleep. By altering your diet, particularly the foods you eat right in the hours before bedtime, these natural cures for insomnia will have you sleeping peacefully. Consider these tips to choose foods to cure insomnia.

Tips

1. Opt for items that are calcium-rich when you're trying to choose foods to cure insomnia. By drinking an eight-ounce glass of low fat milk a few hours before you go to bed, for example, you can increase serotonin levels in your system to help you get a sound night of sleep. Other foods in this group that cure insomnia include yogurt, cheeses or frozen yogurt. If you can't eat dairy, consider curing sleeplessness with items like tofu, salmon or calcium-fortified orange juice and cereal.

2. Eat foods that reduce stress levels that can lead to sleeplessness. Choose foods to cure insomnia like nuts (particularly cashews, pine nuts and almonds), wheat and oat bran, artichokes, spinach and black beans that are high in magnesium to help combat the anxiety that keeps you awake at night.

3. Add bananas to your diet to serve as natural remedies for insomnia. Featuring a high level of vitamin B6, bananas can also help generate serotonin to keep your internal clock functioning properly to both prevent fatigue during the day and help you fall asleep at night. Other foods that fit into this insomnia cure include bell peppers, tuna, chicken, spinach and halibut.

4. Consider items with a high glycemic index when you choose foods to cure insomnia. Eating items like potatoes, crackers, white bread, brown rice, pretzels and dates within five hours of bedtime has been shown to be a treatment for insomnia by having a sedative effect. Because of their affect on blood glucose and insulin levels, however, this insomnia cure should be used with caution if you have a medical condition like diabetes or are trying to reduce carbs to lose weight.