I am writing this and the previous post in response to my young adult son – who lives 3500km away. I had previously posted this on the Superfoods Project – but I’m in the process of taking that apart, so that I can focus on what I enjoy posting about – random things LOL!

My young man has trouble getting to sleep and was prescribed Melatonin by his nutritionist. Melatonin is a hormone which occurs naturally in our bodies, and can be influenced by some of the foods that we eat. It regulates our sleep cycles. It can be purchased over the counter in Canada and the United States, but in the UK it is available by prescription. My preference would be for him to change his sleep preparation habits instead of taking the easy solution of taking a supplement. Everybody wants a quick solution these days.

Changing habits would include turning off screens (phone, computer, TV – video games) 2 hours before scheduled bedtime, (AND DON’T THINK I CAN’T SEE YOU ARE STILL ONLINE FROM 3500KM AWAY!), and dimming the lights. I would suggest reading a textbook but if the lights are dim – so maybe not dim them too much. Drinking some warm milk or tea, as I said in the last post, and maybe consuming a snack.

An idea for a snack might be to have something healthy that helps to bring on sleep. Try combining plain, vanilla or your favorite yogurt with sliced bananas, fresh or frozen pitted cherries, and sprinkle with oatmeal granola or oats. The yogurt contains tryptophan which helps us get to sleep, and calcium, which helps our bodies to produce melatonin without a supplement. Bananas relax our muscles with potassium and magnesium, along with more tryptophan.  Tart cherries and oats provide melatonin, as well. If you need more sweetness add some liquid honey, which increases our insulin level and helps the tryptophan to do it’s work. 

Maybe this is too much work, but it’s worth a try to use some combination of these ingredients. Or how about a bowl of granola with some frozen cherries and milk?

OH and don’t forget to brush your teeth before bed. Goodnight!