Insomnia: 7 Useful Foods

Insomnia can be a consequence of psychological problems and lead to further health problems.

Counting sheep is one of the less effective home remedies for insomnia, but try bananas and other home remedies and foods that help you sleep in the evening.

A common disease: what helps against insomnia?

Not being able to fall asleep in the evening torments many. Everyone is familiar with difficulty falling asleep and the consequences of insufficient sleep the next day are also known. If the problem persists, serious health problems can occur:

Sleep disorders make you depressed in the long run. Many people who are depressed or who suffer from depressive moods had sleep disorders or a lack of sleep due to stress or other causes before these emotional problems occurred.

Also, our heart sensitive to insufficient sleep. It doesn’t always lead to this, but high blood pressure and arrhythmias are often linked to insufficient sleep.

The metabolism changes when the body gets too little sleep. Weight gain inevitably follows, as the nocturnal fat burning is disturbed (or does not take place at all) by too little sleep.

In addition, lack of sleep makes you hungry and appetite for unhealthy sweets.

Daytime sleepiness increases and leads to “blackouts” and microsleep, which endanger safety (including in traffic).

A lack of concentration also leads to slower reactions, which can be a considerable risk, especially at higher speeds or in city traffic. The ability to learn and remember decreases.

Neurologists suspect that too little sleep can even cause lasting damage to the brain. One thing is certain: those who have slept too little are less “fit in the head”, do significantly worse in concentration exercises and are much more difficult to remember things.

Lack of sleep also damages the immune system, because our body needs the regeneration of deep sleep in order to remain resilient and to keep our immune system intact. Too little sleep puts our immune system under stress and weakens it.

Tips & tricks against insomnia

We have compiled a list of home remedies and foods that can help with insomnia.

Not every home remedy always works the same for everyone, so try out what is best for you. Maybe it is a combination of several home remedies?

honey

All sorts of wonderful properties are ascribed to honey. And now you want him to help you fall asleep?

Yes! The explanation for this is very simple: Due to its sweetness, it throttles the production and distribution of orexin in our body.

This is the body’s own “stimulant”. The less of it there is in our blood, the easier it is for us to fall asleep. So that’s why honey is also good as a sleep aid!

soy milk

Soybeans are particularly rich in tryptophan, a substance that releases the sleep-promoting happiness hormone serotonin.

This also has a relaxing effect! Warm soy milk with honey or soy yogurt with honey and cashew nuts (which also contain a lot of tryptophan) helps you fall asleep.

banana

Bananas are also rich in the relaxation hormone tryptophan, which can be effective against insomnia due to its calming effect.

As with honey, the banana prevents hypoglycemia and hunger when falling asleep and also throttles the body’s own stimulant orexin.

So how about some banana soy milk, sweetened with honey and a few cashews with it? It couldn’t be better!

hop

It seems like every child knows that hops help to fall asleep.

That also seems to be one of the many arguments why beer in the evening is classified as “sleep-promoting” and therefore “healthy”.

Unfortunately this is not the case! Studies show that alcohol makes you fall asleep faster, but you wake up more often at night or sleep more restlessly, because alcohol has a stimulating effect when it is broken down in certain concentrations.

So it does exactly the opposite of what you want to achieve! In addition, alcohol shortens the REM phases of sleep, making sleep less restful.

So it is only the hops that should interest you! You can get it dried in the pharmacy and you can make a tea from it.

Lemon balm

The lemon balm is used against restlessness and difficulty falling asleep.

Its effective ingredients are especially the essential oils it contains. You can use the delicious leaves to season salads, smoothies, shakes or vegetables or you can make a strong tea from dried lemon balm leaves.

lavender

We only have lavender in ornamental gardens. If you want to use lavender to help you sleep, you should make sure that it is real lavender and not an ornamental shape!

Studies have shown that substances contained in the essential oil of lavender reduce the release of certain stress and anxiety hormones.

Thus, lavender is definitely effective against nervousness, calms anxious nerves and promotes sleep.

You can take pure, essential lavender oil on a lump of sugar or you can make a tea from the dried flowers (from the pharmacy).

valerian

Valerian is a classic herbal remedy that has a calming effect. The root, which you can buy pure in the pharmacy, is used for this.

Unfortunately, valerian tastes a bit bitter, which is why it is often combined with other herbs, for example with hops, lavender or lemon balm.