Foods That Help You Sleep

We’ve all been there—rummaging through the fridge in the early hours, searching for leftovers to satisfy midnight cravings. However, what you snack on can significantly impact your sleep quality. Choosing the right foods before bed can help you drift off faster and enjoy a more restful night.

What we eat and when we eat play crucial roles in sleep duration and quality. Studies show that a balanced diet supports healthy sleep, making focusing on nutritious choices and a healthy lifestyle essential.

While certain culprits like caffeine and sugar can disrupt rest, carbohydrates are generally beneficial, as they help produce serotonin—a neurotransmitter that promotes relaxation and improves sleep quality. By nourishing your body with the right foods at the right time, you’ll set yourself up for deeper, more restorative sleep.

To help, we’ve rounded up a list of sleep-friendly midnight snacks that satisfy cravings and support a restful night.

1. Bananas

Bananas are great for a late-night bite because they contain the natural muscle relaxants magnesium and potassium, which promote a good night’s rest. They are also a natural source of melatonin, a hormone released from the pineal gland, which induces sleepiness. For a pre-sleep snack, try combining bananas with cinnamon. This is beneficial because cinnamon helps balance blood sugar levels, supports hormone function, and makes it easier to drift off.

2. Turkey

If you’ve ever felt drowsy after Christmas dinner, it may be due to the large meal you’ve eaten or the sleep-inducing properties of turkey. Like milk, turkey contains tryptophan, an amino acid that helps produce melatonin, signalling to your body that it’s time to rest.

3. Cereal

High-fibre cereals, such as All-Bran, Ready Brek, and Shredded Wheat, contain complex carbohydrates that will steady your blood sugar levels. Even better, the milk that accompanies them contains tryptophan, which promotes relaxation and drowsiness.

Although you may feel peckish, resist the temptation to have a large portion—opt for half a bowl instead. This will leave you feeling satisfied without overloading your digestive system.

4. Sweet potato

Sweet potatoes have sleep-promoting properties thanks to their complex carbohydrates, which encourage relaxation. They also count towards one of your five a day and contain potassium, a natural muscle relaxant.

5. Cherries

Like bananas, cherries are one of the few natural foods to contain melatonin. Therefore, they help you drift off. One scientific study found that drinking tart cherry juice right before bed helps insomniac adults fall asleep.

For a delicious sleep-promoting dessert, blend a bag of frozen cherries until smooth, then add one tablespoon of sugar, a quarter teaspoon of almond extract, and roughly a cup of low-fat yoghurt.

6. Oily fish

Researchers at the University of Oxford suggest that improving your sleep quality could be as simple as incorporating more mackerel, herring, tuna, and salmon into your diet. These fish are rich sources of healthy omega-3 DHA fatty acids. Professor Paul Montgomery and his team found that a 16-week course of 600mg omega-3 supplements daily improved the sleep quality and duration of 362 school children.

Other researchers found that adults with low levels of DHA in the blood are more likely to experience sleep disturbance. Of course, omega-3 can also be found in a variety of seeds and beans, and the body creates DHA with high intakes of omega-3.

7. Strawberries

Strawberries are perfect for a quick snack before bed. Not only are they good for you, with their many vitamins and antioxidants, but they also have sleep-inducing qualities. They contain the vitamin B6, which helps create melatonin, a sleep-inducing hormone that will help you quickly drift off.

8. Rice

If you’re seeking dietary adjustments to enhance your sleep, consider adding white rice to your meals. Recent scientific findings suggest that consuming a significant amount of white rice can promote deep, restful sleep. Japanese researchers analysed the diets of almost 2,000 men and women and found that a higher rice intake meant people scored much better on a sleep scale – i.e. they slept well. However, eating bread products – including white bread, pancakes and pizza – did not affect the quality of sleep.

9. Cheese

Despite the rumours, there’s no proof that cheese gives you nightmares. In fact, the British Cheese Study claims cheese commonly creates positive dreams. It may also help you achieve a better night’s sleep. After testing cheese-eating sleepers, most claimed positive results from consuming cheese before sleeping.

10. Oysters

Oysters may be an unusual choice, but they contain zinc, magnesium, iron, and vitamin B11, which, when combined, can help you drift off. To ensure their freshness and safety, it’s recommended to only eat oysters in months including the letter ‘r’, so the colder, darker months are a great time to try this sleep hack.

11. Yoghurt

Yoghurt after dinner or as a pre-bedtime snack is a great choice as it’s packed with calcium, which helps support the production of melatonin, the body’s natural sleep hormone. Opting for plain or unsweetened yoghurt also gives you a perfect balance of protein and healthy fats, helping to keep your blood sugar levels stable throughout the night. This helps prevent blood sugar dips during the night, which could disrupt your sleep.

12. Almonds

Almonds are rich in magnesium, which helps relax the muscles and nervous system, making it easier to fall and stay asleep. They also contain small amounts of melatonin, providing your body with a natural boost of sleepiness before bed.

13. Kiwis

Eating kiwis before bed may help improve sleep due to their serotonin content. This neurotransmitter helps regulate both mood and sleep. They also aid digestion, helping your stomach process your evening meal before you head up to bed, preventing uncomfortable indigestion.

14. Porridge

Not just a healthy breakfast option, a bowl of porridge in the evening may also promote better sleep. Its rich carbohydrate content increases the availability of tryptophan, aiding melatonin production. Additionally, porridge is high in fibre, helping you feel full and preventing blood sugar dips during the night.

If you’re hoping to sleep easily, try to avoid the following foods:

• Caffeine: A warm cup of coffee or tea might be tempting, but caffeine is a stimulant that blocks adenosine, the hormone that makes you feel sleepy. To ensure a restful night, avoid caffeine for at least six hours before bed.
• Spicy foods: Spicy foods can cause indigestion or heartburn, making it harder to drift off. They can also raise your body temperature, which might disrupt your ability to fully relax.
• Saturated fats: Fried or greasy foods, such as burgers and pizza, take longer to digest, often causing discomfort or acid reflux that can disrupt sleep.
• Alcohol: While alcohol may help you fall asleep initially, it can disrupt your sleep cycle, causing you to wake up in the middle of the night. It also lowers the quality of REM sleep, which is crucial for helping us recharge and repair.
• Sugar: Consuming too much sugar can spike your blood sugar levels, followed by a sudden drop that might wake you up in the middle of the night. To help you sleep more soundly, avoid sugary treats such as cakes, chocolate, and sweets before bed.
• Processed foods: Processed and packaged foods are often packed with salt, which can lead to dehydration and worsen your sleep cycle. They may also contain additives or preservatives that could impact the quality of your sleep.

It’s also important to consider portion size when planning your evening meal or snack. Eating a large meal right before bed can overload your digestive system, leading to discomfort and an increased risk of acid reflux. Stick to recommended portion sizes to help your body digest properly and promote restful sleep.

The question of whether to eat before bed is one that sparks plenty of debate. Some studies suggest that eating too close to bedtime can lead to discomfort, such as heartburn, which disrupts sleep. Others show that eating or drinking within an hour of going to bed might help you sleep longer. In fact, women slept 35 minutes longer and men 25 minutes longer when they had a late-night snack compared to those who didn’t.

But there’s more to it than just timing—hunger can also keep you tossing and turning. A growling tummy can cause discomfort, leaving you restless and even eventually making a late-night trip to the kitchen. Plus, a drop in blood sugar can wake you up mid-sleep. So, the key is finding what works best for you and your routine, ensuring your belly isn’t running on empty.

The timing of your late-night snack is also widely disputed. The 10-3-2-1-0 method recommends having your last meal or snack 3 hours before bed. This is supported by a 2020 study that showed those who ate within 3 hours of going to bed were more likely to wake up during the night, but it didn’t impact how long it took to fall asleep or how long they slept.

Likewise, in 2021, another study found that men and women who ate or drank 1 hour before bed were more likely to wake during the night and sleep for longer. Ultimately, more research is needed to pinpoint the “perfect” timings for your nightly fast.