Magnesium is not only great for essential bodily functions like protein synthesis and muscle regeneration. It also promotes better sleep!
If you’re due for a better night of sleep, here are four magnesium-rich foods to incorporate into your daily diet.
Dark chocolate: Antioxidants and great sleep? Perfect! If you’re looking for a healthy dessert that will also help you doze off, just one ounce of dark chocolate has 64 milligrams of magnesium.
Bananas: This fruit gets a lot of publicity as a great source of potassium, but it also is high in magnesium. Both promote relaxation, so snack on some before bed.
Nuts and seeds: Most of your favourite nuts are also high in magnesium. Almonds contain 80 milligrams of magnesium per serving and pumpkin seeds have 168.
Chickpeas: Half a cup of chickpeas has 115 milligrams of magnesium, making them a great source of sleep-promoting snacks.
Fancy a late snack? To give your body just what it needs to sleep well, here's a couple of approved bed-time snacks from sleep specialist Michael J. Breus, Ph.D.
Tart cherries: The beauty of tart cherries is that they are rich in melatonin, which has been shown to improve sleep quality and sleep duration. In a randomized, double-blind, pilot study, researchers found that tart cherry juice was equally or more effective at managing insomnia than both valerian and melatonin products.
Avocado on a rice cake: While carbs can get you feeling sleepy before bed, that doesn’t mean you should enjoy a late-night bowl of pasta. Instead, Breus says you should go for a snack that has about 70 percent whole, complex carbs and 30 percent of either fat or protein. He recommends cutting a couple of slices of avocado and putting it on a rice cake, or swap the avocado for a spoonful of almond butter if you’re in the mood for something sweeter.