How Functional Foods May Improve Sleep and Immune Health
Author: Dakota Coulter
Hate being sick in bed? What if I told you the prevention might be more time in bed. You don’t need to sleep all day, but getting enough sleep and improving your sleep quality may support immune function.
Sleep and immune health are connected: You spend more time sleeping when you’re sick because sleep regulates your immune system. Take advantage of this connection by improving your sleep to improve your immune system.
Sleeping isn’t always easy–falling asleep can be hard and staying asleep even worse. One of the best solutions to poor sleep is easy and simple: food! Eating certain functional foods can help you fall asleep easier, stay asleep longer, and overall improve your quality of sleep. Functional foods are those that have extra benefits past the standard nutrition. Let’s explore some food that improves sleeping and in turn, immune health.
There are so many great functional foods you can eat to boost your sleep, but here are a few to get started with.
Tart Cherry Juice
More specifically, Montmorency cherry juice, Prunus cerasus. These bright red, sour cherries are great in a lot of ways but the best is the impact it can have on sleep.
This comes from an increase in melatonin release in the body triggered by phytochemicals in the cherries. With an increase in melatonin, your sleep becomes more efficient. As an added bonus, this juice may help prevent sleeping disorders
Lettuce
This leafy green has a long history of being used as a sleep aid in folk medicine. It increases how long you spend asleep by first inducing sleep and then prolonging it. Overall it may also improve your sleep quality as well. These benefits come from lactucin, which is naturally present in lettuce. All varieties contain this but look to romaine lettuce, Lactuta sativa, for the highest amount.
Whole grains and fiber
Whole grains are rich in these key sleep quality improving nutrients:
Potassium
Calcium
Magnesium
They also contain more fiber, which might help you get more deep sleep. Low fiber intake has been associated with increased light sleep. Brown rice combines both whole grain and fiber, plus rice’s high glycemic index may also improve sleep. The higher index helps your body convert more serotonin and therefore melatonin. Eating foods higher on the glycemic index, the scale for food’s effect on your blood sugar levels, also helps you to fall asleep faster.
Barley grass powder
If whole grains aren’t for you, or you’re just a white rice person, barley grass powder is a great alternative. It also contains the same nutrient trio as whole grains but also GABA, gamma-Aminobu tyric acid, an amino acid important in sleep regulation. This can provide even greater sleep quality benefits and also helps to promote sleep. These benefits make it one of the best options for sleep improvement and is easy to pair with other functional foods.
Milk
A warm glass of milk before bed can help to improve your sleep efficiency, meaning not only more but better sleep. It does this thanks to high levels of tryptophan, the same thing in turkey that leaves you sleepy after Thanksgiving.
It can be found in a lot of other high protein foods but milk before bed is a lot easier than roasting a whole turkey. If you’re dairy free, don’t worry, soy milk is also a good option as soy also contains tryptophan. And it doesn’t have to be warm milk, drink it at any temp you like!
How you eat is just as impactful as what you eat
Bad diets and eating structures both shorten the amount of time you spend asleep. Try eating three meals a day and reducing your evening snacking to improve sleep.
Avoiding the following at night can also help to improve sleep:
Caffeine
Alcohol
Large meals
More sleep supports your immune system
No matter what foods you pick to help, the amount you sleep is important. Getting less sleep may weaken your immune system. And sleeping for shorter amounts of time may make you more likely to get a cold. Weakening your immune system may impact your sleep as well. You could spend less time in deep sleep and also wake up more.
How much sleep you need varies a bit, but teens should get 8-10 hours and adults at least 7 (more is good though). And remember that sleep quality is important too if you want to feel healthy and rested!
Working in the above foods for sleep and changes may just make you sleep better and be healthier. You don’t have to completely change your diet but starting with just one small change may help you fall asleep easier. So try a glass of milk or tart cherry juice before bed, swap out white rice for brown, or eat an extra leafy lettuce salad. Happy eating, and sweet dreams!
Author's Note
Sleep has always been a struggle for me, I’ve had insomnia since I was a kid. Whenever I couldn’t sleep my mom would make me a mug of warm milk and tuck me into bed to drink it. I would end up warm, content, and best of all- sleepy. Warm milk is also a warm memory to me and I can’t recommend it enough!