Cherries Help Cure Insomnia

August 16, 2020 at 9:00 am Stephanie Wolek Leave a comment

Can’t sleep? You’re not alone—one third of Americans develop insomnia at some point in their lives. You’ve probably heard a lot of the usual sleep advice: exercise during the day, no electronic use before bed, create a bedtime routine, etc. But what if those don’t work? Thankfully, science has found some new cures that might surprise you.

Foot Bath

Warm baths at night tend to help people sleep easier. Oddly, it doesn’t have to be your entire body! In one study, scientists found that warm baths helped cure insomnia. Interestingly, they found that it didn’t need to be your whole body—just dipping your feet in worked well enough. There was no difference between these foot baths and actual baths. So, if you have no time or desire to take a full bath, try soaking your feet in warm water before bed.

Cherries

Cherries don’t get a lot of press these days—they’re not known as a “superfood”, so they’re absent in most dietary lists. Interestingly, scientists found that they can cure insomnia. Cherries (and cherry juice) contain anti-inflammatory substances and melatonin—both important for a good night’s sleep. You may have heard of melatonin before; it’s also known as the “sleep hormone” since the body releases it when it’s time to sleep. If your lack of sleep is due to a melatonin shortage, cherries are a natural way to get that melatonin back. This is backed up by several studies that showed cherries and cherry juice as being more effective than a placebo.

Passionflower

Passionflower is popular in herbal teas and supposedly has a lot of health benefits (we won’t delve into all of those since the focus is on sleep). There have been several studies on passionflower and insomnia. When compared to a placebo tea, passionflower tea helps with insomnia and overall sleep quality (meaning you’ll feel less tired in the morning). The dose used in the study was low, so there’s no need to go nuts with the passionflower—your average tea should help.

Next time you’re going through a bout of insomnia, try some of the above cures—they’re all backed by real science.

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Sources: NIH, Wolters Kluwer, Science Direct, Wiley