Sleep
Sleep and Nutrition: Foods That Could Help You Sleep Better
Some foods can activate brain systems to aid falling asleep.
Posted September 6, 2026 Reviewed by Jessica Schrader
Key points
- The longer you are alive, the worse sleep typically becomes.
- There is good scientific evidence to support certain nutrients as aids in falling asleep.
- Tryptophan, bananas, beet juice, Magnolia bark, melatonin, lemon balm, and milk are just a few possibilities.
Millions of people around the world have poor sleep quality. If you’re reading this post, you’re likely one of those people. Sleep quality declines with normal aging. It’s inevitable. If your 10th birthday is a vague memory, then you’re probably not sleeping too well today. Humans sleep most soundly and deeply around the time of puberty. After those wonderful few years, sleep begins to degrade. The longer you are alive, the worse sleep usually becomes.
We cannot make our brain younger, but we can eat certain foods to counter the impact of poor sleep quality. The relationship between sleep and nutrition is not well studied. However, there is good scientific evidence to support these nutrients as aids in falling asleep.
Tryptophan‑Rich Foods
Tryptophan is an essential amino acid that is a precursor to serotonin and melatonin, both of which positively influence sleep. Tryptophan can cross the blood-brain barrier, but not easily. Tryptophan must compete with virtually all of the other amino acids in the blood to get access to the brain. The best approach is to consume tryptophan-rich foods with a simple carbohydrate. The carbohydrate will induce insulin release, which will increase the percentage of tryptophan molecules that get across the blood-brain barrier.
A single dose of tryptophan (dietary or pharmaceutical) up to one gram will significantly reduce the time it takes to fall asleep without affecting sleep stages. This matters because most over-the-counter and medical prescriptions produce abnormal sleep patterns. Interestingly, tryptophan has minimal effects on healthy adults who fall asleep easily. Caution is necessary with supplements; too much pharmaceutical-grade tryptophan can produce eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome, which can be fatal.
Bananas are high in magnesium, potassium, and tryptophan, which relax muscles and support the conversion of tryptophan into melatonin, aiding sleep onset. Almonds, walnuts, and pistachios are also rich in magnesium and melatonin. A small handful before bed can promote deeper, more restorative sleep.
The milk protein α-lactalbumin has the highest natural levels of tryptophan amongst all protein food sources. Other sources of tryptophan include chicken, fish, eggs, pumpkin seeds, beans, peanuts, cheese, and leafy green vegetables.
Melatonin
Naturally produced by the pineal gland, melatonin can also be taken as a supplement. Melatonin easily crosses the blood-brain barrier. A small dose 30 minutes to one hour before bedtime can help you feel sleepy more reliably. A placebo-controlled double-blind study on older adults who consumed a supplement containing 5 mg melatonin, 225 mg magnesium, and 11.25 mg zinc significantly improved subjective measures of sleep and total sleep time. The effects were attributed to the crucial roles both magnesium and zinc have in endogenous melatonin production. Melatonin is quite effective for reducing the symptoms of jet lag, but only when you’re traveling east.
Dosage is critical with melatonin. Begin with the lowest dose you can buy and break that pill into two pieces. Unfortunately, over the next few weeks, you will experience tolerance and higher doses of melatonin will be necessary. No more than 3 mg is advisable for sleep regularity. After a few months, you may need to take 10 mg to obtain any benefits. At that dose you may also experience daytime grogginess, headache, dizziness and a depressed mood. At higher doses you will likely experience vivid dreams and nightmares. If you find that you need higher doses of melatonin to get restful sleep, stop taking it for at least one month to allow your liver to recover and the neurobiological tolerance to dissipate. Finally, according to the American Heart Association, taking melatonin for more than one year significantly increased the risk of developing congestive heart failure.
You might also try tart cherries. Tart cherries contain high concentrations of melatonin. Studies have shown that consumption of tart cherry juice significantly reduced insomnia severity index scores and reduced the amount of time spent awake after sleep onset. You also stay asleep longer after falling asleep.
Beetroot Juice
The effect of 100 ml of beetroot juice on sleep has recently been reported (Bock et al., 2025). Subjective sleep quality improved significantly using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, which measures subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, habitual sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, use of sleep medication, and daytime dysfunction. The key ingredient in the beetroot juice that produced this effect was determined to be nitrate. Beet juice contains amino acids arginine and citrulline which are converted by the body into nitrates. The study found that a single pre‑sleep dose of inorganic nitrate (via beetroot juice, ~6.45 mmol) increased total sleep time, sleep efficiency, and slow‑wave sleep compared with placebo, and reduced wake after sleep onset. These effects were measured via polysomnography in healthy adults, and participants also reported better subjective sleep quality. A study in people with COPD (Alasmari et al., 2024) found that nitrate‑rich beetroot juice before bed reduced “disordered” sleep transitions and increased REM sleep in the last two hours of the night.
Magnolia Bark
Primarily extracted from the bark and seed cones of Magnolia officinalis, magnolia bark contains two relevant organic compounds, magnolol and honokiol. These compounds readily cross the blood-brain barrier and directly activate the GABA receptors in the brain. Their action is very similar to that of the widely used benzodiazepine drugs, such as Valium and Librium. Through this mechanism, extracts from magnolia bark enhance the calming effects of our own natural GABA production and keep the mind more at peace throughout the night, improving sleep quality and limiting interruptions. A 24-week study in menopausal women using a supplement containing 60 mg magnolia bark extract and 50 mg magnesium daily reported improvements in insomnia, anxiety, mood, and irritability.
Lemon Balm
Often used in sleep-inducing tea blends, lemon balm contains natural compounds that prolong the action of GABA. Higher levels of GABA reduce neural activity, allowing the mind to relax for a full night of restful sleep. Lemon balm and magnolia bark act on different steps of the GABA pathway—one preserves GABA availability, the other boosts receptor sensitivity—producing a synergistic calming effect without competing for the same metabolic pathways. Lemon balm is generally well tolerated, but several groups of people, anyone taking sedative medications, people with glaucoma, and those preparing for surgery should avoid it or use it cautiously.
Be aware that these foods will not reproduce the effectiveness of prescription or over-the-counter sleep medicines. The effects of these foods on the brain are more subtle.
References
Bock J, et al., (2025) Pre-Sleep Inorganic Nitrate Use and Sleep Quality: A Pilot Study, Sleep, Vol 48, Issue Supplement_1, p:A40–A41, https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsaf090.0089
Woodbury A, et al., (2013). Neuro-Modulating Effects of Honokiol: A Review. Frontiers in Neurology. 265 (7): 4111–5. doi:10.3389/fneur.2013.00130. PMC 3769637. PMID 2406271.
Alasmari AM, et al., (2024) Oral nitrate supplementation improves cardiovascular risk markers in COPD: ON-BC, a randomised controlled trial. European Respiratory Journal 63(2): 2202353; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1183/13993003.02353-2022
Qu W-M et al., (2012) Honokiol promotes non-rapid eye movement sleep via the benzodiazepine site of the GABAA receptor in mice. Br J Pharmacol. 167(3):587–598. doi: 10.1111/j.1476-5381.2012.02010.x, PMCID: PMC3449263 PMID: 22537192
Iyer S, et al., (2025) Exogenous Melatonin and Sleep Quality: A Scoping Review of Systematic Reviews. J Clin Pharmacol. 66(2):e70115. doi: 10.1002/jcph.70115, PMCID: PMC12859178 PMID: 41014554