As moms, we all know the importance of sleep! Your body burns fat, regenerates your cells, and slows the effects of aging while you sleep! Lack of sleep elevates our cortisol levels and stress hormones, causing our bodies to STORE rather than BURN fat.
But what do you do when mom life interferes with getting the sleep you need?
And if you find yourself hungry at night, healthy bedtime snacks really can help you get a better night’s sleep.
Here are some nutrition tips that will help you make the most of the the time you do get to sleep and allow your body to work while you are sound asleep.
That’s right, eating at night isn’t as bad as you might have thought–provided you focus on the right types of healthy bedtimes snacks. (No, chips and ice cream on the couch at midnight doesn’t count!)
If you’re looking for healthy bedtime snacks to help you sleep, find something that contains one of the three chemicals that impact sleep:
- Tryptophan: an amino acid that triggers serotonin.
- Serotonin: a hormone that relaxes the body and triggers melatonin production.
- Melatonin: a hormone that induces sleep and wake patterns.
Here are some healthy bedtime snacks containing melatonin–the hormone that controls wake and sleep patterns. Although your body naturally produces melatonin, it is also found in some foods.
Healthy Bedtime Snacks: MELATONIN
The following foods contain melatonin or induce the body’s natural production of melatonin:
- Apples
- Bananas
- Almonds
- Ginger
- Cherries
- Fennel seeds
- Oats
- Grapes
- Kiwi
- Radishes
Other foods that help you sleep include milk, oranges, peppers, pineapple, rice, spinach, sunflower seeds, strawberries, turkey, tomatoes and wine. 🙂
Healthy Bedtime Snacks
- Almonds + apples: Homemade cashew almond butter is great as a dip apples for apples!
- Bananas + Oats: These healthy banana oat breakfast cookies don’t need to be reserved for breakfast alone!
- Cherries: This vanilla protein crepe with cherry filling is the perfect sweet and healthy treat to end the day!
- Pineapple + spinach: My family loves this pineapple, kale, and coconut smoothie! Throw a little spinach into the mix for a powerfully healthy bedtime snack!
- Strawberries: Any one of these three low carb strawberry desserts makes a perfect healthy bedtime snack!
- Turkey + tomatoes: Get the one-two punch with two healthy bedtime snacks in one dinner.
- Ginger: Whether you make lemon ginger tea or this delightful ginger pear crisp, you’ll be able to harness the power of ginger to relax and promote quality sleep!
