Being unable to sleep can make life hell. Waking up sleep deprived can greatly compromise your competence in the workplace. But the adverse effects are not restricted to your professional life; if you have not slept properly the previous night then your patience level is not at its usual state, leaving you volatile. As a consequence you might not appropriately deal with people who are important to you. Therefore both your professional and personal lives are negatively affected if you have trouble sleeping.

Most people start using sleeping pills to get into bed. But these pills can have countless long lasting side effects if take over an extended period of time. So before you take the critical decision of using sleeping pills, it would be wise to exhaust all natural solutions first.

Today we will be listing some foods which are known to induce sleep in the person eating them. Try them out; hopefully they will help.

1. Wheat bread

A slice of Whole-wheat bread toast with your tea and honey will release insulin, which will help tryptophan get to your brain, where it will be converted to serotonin and send a signal telling your body that it is time to sleep.

2. Flaxseeds

If it is worrying or depression that is keeping you from going to sleep, you should try sprinkling 2 tablespoons of flaxseeds on your bedtime oatmeal. Having a concentration of omega-3 fatty acids, flaxseeds are nature’s very own mood lifters.

3. Almonds

Almonds can also be helpful in getting you to bed. They contain doses of tryptophan and magnesium which send you into a state of sleepiness in addition to relaxing your muscles.

4. OatMeal

While traditionally a breakfast food, oatmeal contains the chemical melatonin. Melatonin naturally prepares the body for rest. This makes oatmeal a great pre-bedtime food as well.

5. Potatoes

Tryptophan, one of the chemical helping you sleep, lose their effectiveness if a lot of other chemicals are in your body. Potatoes can absorb those other chemicals, which reduces the obstacles in tryptophan’s way. Potatoes, too, would be a good food to eat before going to bed.

06. Warm Milk

“Drinking warm milk before bed will help you sleep better” is not a myth. Along with tryptophan, milk also contains calcium which helps the brain use tryptophan. Try drinking a warm glass of milk before going to bed.

7.  Nonfat Popcorns

The carbohydrates in nonfat popcorn coax your body to create serotonin (a body chemical which relaxes you). Being nonfat is a requirement since the absence of butter-fat will slow down your systems. Eating some nonfat popcorn half an hour before your bedtime should help you sleep better.

8. Chamomile tea

Chamomile tea is a great bedtime option to go with. Its mild sedating effect gradually and naturally coaxes you in the state of rest, helping your systems calm down and you sleep.

9. Honey

Whether you are having milk or chamomile tea before bed, remember to add a little honey to it. The slight dosage of glucose it will give your body will disable orexin (a body chemical believed to keep you alert).

10.

Bananas can be called the sweetest sleeping pills. In addition to containing the sleep supporting chemicals melatonin and serotonin, like almonds they also contain magnesium which relaxes your muscles. A banana before sleep would definitely be the right way to go.