After a long day, it can be hard to unwind and turn off your brain at bedtime. Between deadlines at work, your kid’s soccer practice and the laundry piling up, you may have trouble de-stressing while trying to fall asleep. While there are many different ways to help you relax and unwind after a long day, or week, have you ever thought about adding tea to your nighttime routine? Better quality sleep in only one sip away.
Sleep plays a crucial role in your overall health. Sleep is just as important as diet and exercise. Good sleep improves your brain performance, mood, and health. Not getting enough quality sleep regularly raises the risk of many diseases and disorders.
Chamomile
Chamomile’s warmth, subtle sweetness, and delicate floral notes aren’t the only reasons this herbal tea promotes a sense of relaxation and calmness in those who drink it. Chamomile is a friend with big benefits. According to a 2019 research review, this sweet and earthy tea can help improve sleep quality and is an effective treatment for GAD. One of the main chemical compounds in chamomile is a flavonoid called apigenin. Apigenin creates a mild sedative effect by binding to receptors in the brain responsible for inducing sleepiness and decreasing anxiety.
Tip: If you want to take advantage of chamomile’s sleep-inducing benefits, it’s recommended that you drink your chamomile tea for about 45 minutes before going to bed. This allows your body plenty of time to metabolize the chemical compounds that make chamomile an effective sleep aid.
Peppermint
Peppermint tea is an ideal choice before bed, as it’s naturally caffeine-free. What’s more, peppermint’s capacity as a muscle relaxant may help you relax before bedtime. Peppermint tea has proven to be beneficial for sleep, and can even help insomniacs sleep for longer hours and have a better quality sleep. Peppermint tea is caffeine-free and has relaxing properties which can help reduce tension from your muscles.
Lavender
Everything else in your chill-time arsenal (lotion, pillow mist, bath bombs…) is lavender-scented for a good reason: It’s extremely calming. We can thank the ancient Greeks and Romans for the idea — they threw lavender into their baths and were obsessed with inhaling its soothing scent. Not only is it often enjoyed as a soothing bedtime tea, but some research also supports that lavender could promote relaxation and enhance sleep quality. For instance, one small study found that women who had recently given birth and who drank 1 cup of lavender tea per day for 2 weeks experienced less fatigue than a control group. Another study in older adults showed that lavender tea effectively decreased symptoms of depression and anxiety, both of which could contribute to insomnia.
Lemongrass
Lemongrass tea is an exceptional sleep aid that stimulates rest by inducing the release of chemicals and hormones that regulate sleep. Specifically, lemongrass tea triggers the release of serotonin, a hormone that has been connected to improving mood and happiness. This tea is particularly useful for individuals who suffer from restlessness before bed as the sedative effects reduce stress while serotonin increases feelings of contentment. Our lemon ginger herbal tea contains lemongrass, ginger and lemon peel which is a lovely tea to sip on just before bed!
Passionflower Tea
A study published in Phytotherapy Research examined the effects of passionflower on sleep quality in 41 individuals aged 18 to 35. The participants consumed one cup of passionflower tea or a placebo for a 1-week period and kept a sleep journal. At the end of the study, participants who consumed passionflower tea showed significantly increased sleep quality. Passionflower tea offers a sweet, floral way to alleviate sleep disorders and get better quality sleep. Consume a cup each evening before bed to reap the benefits of passionflower tea.
One of the only downsides to tea before bed is the caffeine. If you’re really sensitive to caffeine, you probably want to avoid tea that contains even a little caffeine before you go to sleep. If you have too much caffeine, it can affect how quickly you fall asleep and how well you sleep throughout the night.
Sip a delicious cup of one of these top bedtime teas and you’ll be slipping into sweet dreams in no time.
No Comments