To live a well balanced, rewarding life of our dreams by day and sleep restfully at night.
Three soothing foods for comfort and sleep
Published June 26, 2011 | 
For help falling asleep fast, try these soothing foods:
1. Turkey, which contains tryptophan, an amino acid that converts to sleep promoting serotonin.
2. Warm Milk. Also contains tryptophan and calcium and magnesium which enhance the conversion of tryptophan to serotonin.
3. Macaroni and Cheese. Comfort foods like mac and cheese provide psychological reasons that will comfort us. Foods like this we associate with early childhood and being take care of.
Sleep well,
Debra
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Foods to calm us down and get us sleepy
Published June 5, 2010 | Here is a list of things we can eat or drink to calm our nerves and get us in a relaxed, sleepy state:
- Berries: It is June and it is berry season! Any berry is good. The carbohydrates turn to sugar slowly so you won’t have a blood sugar crash. The vitamin C in berries helps fight the stress hormone cortisol.
- Oranges: Another good source of vitamin C which returns blood pressure and cortisol levels to healthier levels.
- Avocados: Vitamin B is an essential nutrient for nerves and brain cells. Stress depletes our bodies of Vitamin B. Avocados are filled with B vitamins. Guacamole has a nice creamy texture that makes for a good comfort food.
- Nuts: Another good source of Vitamin B and Zinc. Almonds also have Vitamin E which will help fight cellular damage that comes from chronic stress.
- Oats: Like berries, oats are carbohydrates which are absorbed slowly. This enhances the serotonin-producing abilities of the brain. Serotonin helps to relieve our bodies of stress. Other slow burning carbohydrates to try: barley, rice, and beans.
- Salmon: Has omega-3 fatty acids which help keep cortisol and adrenaline levels in check (not to mention are also very good for our hearts and skin).
- Skim Milk: The calcium and magnesium in milk helps calm us and relieves PMS symptoms.
- Chamomile Tea: an herb that calms and soothes
- Turkey: has tryptophan, an amino acid, which makes us sleepy
- Peanut Butter
- Bananas: magnesium and potassium relaxes us
- whole-grain, low sugar cereal or granola with low-fat milk or yogurt
- Broccoli, kale, and any green vegetables- has calcium and vitamin B
- Eggs: rich in Vitamin Bs
- Sesame seeds: calcium
- Kelp and seaweed: calcium source
Avoid: alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine too close to bed time.
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Tryptophan: good for sleep and overcoming shyness
Published May 7, 2010 | We have heard about tryptophan. It is an amino acid that helps our brains to produce serotonin which helps us to relax and sleep.
Now, it would seem, researchers from McGill University in Canada have discovered that tryptophan also increases self esteem and helps people feel more confident in social situations. This is a great benefit for those of us who are plagued with shyness and anxiety. It just might be worth a try!
Tryptophan is naturally found in milk, cheese, nuts, chicken, and turkey. It can also be found in supplement form.
Resource: May 17, 2010 issue of Woman’s World
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Foods that contain calcium and tryptophan promote better sleep
Published April 25, 2010 | Anything high in calcium is good for promoting sleep; especially for women.
Foods with the amino acid tryptophan which gets converted to serotonin help us to sleep as well.
Some foods to try which are high in calcium and /or tryptophan
- milk
- cottage cheese
- yogurt
- hard cheese
- turkey
- fish
- bananas
- plantains
- dates
- avocados
- eggplant
- walnuts
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Posted in Recipes, Tips to help insomnia | 
calcium, dairy, foods that help sleep, sleep aids, tryptophan | 
Leave a commentFood and Drink to make us sleepy
Published April 9, 2010 | Are there foods and drinks that really will make us sleepy? I have been doing some research on this subject. There are a lot of old folk remedies and recipes out there. There are foods such as milk and turkey that have an amino acid called tryptophan that is supposed to help induce sleep if consumed in sufficient amount of quantities.
“Experts” out there will suggest that it would be difficult to get enough tryptophan, say, in one glass of warm milk to have any real effect. I think that if we believe it will help, it will help. The placebo effect does work. If we consume things that we associate with comfort(again, such as warm milk or chicken soup) it certainly could not hurt. In the case of warm milk, I think we can go way back to when we were infants when mother’s milk was our main source of nourishment.
Some folks will tell us not to eat anything before bed for our bodies will be busy digesting and that will affect our sleep. Then there are those who suggest we have a little snack before bed (such as cheese and crackers)to help us get sleepy.
There are those who say absolutely no alcohol consumption before sleep time and those who swear by a little night cap.
Who to believe? Like anything else in life, I truly believe the real “experts” our ourselves. Only we know what works and does not work for us. So experiment a bit. Personally, I have found a warm cup of almond milk with a spoonful of flax seed oil to be delicious and comforting right before bed. During really rough nights of anxiety and insomnia I have found a banana, a piece of toast or small bowl of cereal to be just the thing to help me go back to sleep.
As I hear about or encounter recipes or food and drink suggestions to try I will mention them in future posts here at the Warm Milk Journal.
Here’s a few to start with:
This suggestion was given to me by a darling man, our local librarian, at the check out desk (as he was helping me check out my rather large stack of books on insomnia, anxiety, and sleep disorders). He is Jamaican and he says this is what Jamaicans do when they can’t sleep: sip on lime water and sugar. That’s it. Simple. I happen to know that citrus becomes very alkaline in our bodies (I highly recommend drinking lime and lemon water throughout your day for good general health). The sugar is a very simple carbohydrate that perhaps has a relaxing effect? I am not sure on that but it would be worth a try.
A delicious sleepy time smoothie (I found this recipe at: http://medicmagic.net)
Blend: ripe mango, banana, 2 tbs sugar, 2 tbs low fat ricotta cheese, 1/2 tsp mint
Enjoy!
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Posted in Recipes | almond milk, insomnia, lime water, placebo effect, sleep, sleep remedy, smoothie, sugar, tryptophan, warm milk | Leave a comment 
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