Introduction: Insomnia can occur throughout the year, but it is most common in the spring. Research has shown that this is because the changeable spring climate affects people's mood, easily disrupting the body's inherent physiological functions. Coupled with lower air pressure, it can easily cause hormonal secretions in the human brain to become disordered, leading to irritability, depression, and anxiety, which naturally affects sleep quality. While sleeping pills can temporarily relieve the distress of insomnia, "all medicine has some toxicity." Long-term use not only has side effects but can also lead to drug dependence. In daily life, sleep can be regulated through dietary adjustments. Below are ten sleep-promoting foods recommended to help you摆脱 insomnia困扰 (shake off the troubles of insomnia) and stay energetic all day.
1. Milk
Milk is sweet in taste, neutral and slightly cool in nature. It enters the heart, lung, and stomach meridians, with the effects of tonifying deficiency, benefiting the lungs and stomach, and promoting the production of fluids to moisten the intestines. It is used for long-term illness and physical weakness, insufficient qi and blood, malnutrition, dysphagia and regurgitation, stomach and duodenal ulcers, diabetes, and constipation. Milk contains two hypnotic substances: one is tryptophan, which can promote the secretion of a sleep-inducing neurotransmitter, serotonin, from brain nerve cells; the other is a peptide that regulates physiological functions, making people feel comfortable all over, which helps relieve fatigue and fall asleep. For people with neurasthenia caused by physical weakness, the sedative effect of milk is more pronounced. Drinking a glass of milk before bed can induce sleep and is particularly suitable for middle-aged and elderly people.
Milk Pudding with Papaya
2. Millet
Millet is extremely nutritious and suitable for nourishing the weak, such as the elderly and children. At the same time, eating millet regularly can also lower blood pressure, prevent indigestion, nourish the blood and brain, and promote sleep. It can also reduce wrinkles, freckles, and pigmentation, and has a beautifying effect. Traditional Chinese medicine believes that millet can nourish kidney qi, remove heat from the spleen and stomach, promote urination, and treat dysentery. Ground into powder, it can detoxify and stop cholera. Eating it as congee can whet the appetite and tonify deficiency.
Compendium of Materia Medica records: "Nourishes kidney qi, removes heat from the spleen and stomach, and benefits qi. The aged one: bitter and cold. Treats stomach heat and diabetes, and promotes urination." Not only that, among all grains, millet is the richest in tryptophan. In addition, millet contains a large amount of starch, which can easily make people feel full after eating, promoting the secretion of insulin and increasing the amount of tryptophan that enters the brain.
Sweet and Coarse Millet Cake
3. Walnuts
Walnuts are rich in nutritional value and are known as the "ten-thousand-year son," "longevity fruit," and "treasure of health preservation." 86% of the fat in walnuts is unsaturated fatty acids. Walnuts are rich in copper, magnesium, potassium, vitamin B6, folic acid, and vitamin B1. They also contain fiber, phosphorus, niacin, iron, vitamin B2, and pantothenic acid. In every 50 grams of walnuts, water accounts for 3.6%, and it also contains 7.2 grams of protein, 31 grams of fat, and 9.2 grams of carbohydrates. Walnuts are also a very good nutritional and tonic food that has been proven to improve sleep quality, so they are often used to treat neurasthenia, insomnia, forgetfulness, and multiple dreams.
Brown Sugar Walnut Crispy Cookies
4. Sunflower Seeds
Sunflower seeds are rich in vitamin E and are one of the foods with the highest content of vitamin E. Vitamin E is an antioxidant that helps maintain the normal function of nerves and muscle tissues and makes the capillary walls more stable, so that the originally stagnant blood circulation can return to smoothness. Moreover, sunflower seeds can contain up to 50% fat, mainly unsaturated fat, and no cholesterol; the content of linoleic acid can reach 70%, which helps to lower the body's blood cholesterol level and is beneficial to protecting cardiovascular health. The various amino acids and vitamins in sunflower seeds can regulate metabolism, improve the inhibitory function of brain cells, and have a sedative and calming effect. Eating some sunflower seeds after dinner can also promote the secretion of digestive juices, which is beneficial for digestion and helping sleep.
Sesame Seed Crisps
5. Jujubes
Red dates, also known as jujubes, are characterized by their extremely high vitamin content and are known as the "natural vitamin pill." They have the effects of nourishing yin and yang, and nourishing the blood. Li Shizhen, in the Compendium of Materia Medica, said: Jujubes are sweet in taste and warm in nature, they can tonify the middle and replenish qi, nourish the blood and produce fluids, and are used to treat "spleen weakness, poor appetite with loose stools, and qi and blood deficiency." Eating jujubes regularly can treat physical weakness, neurasthenia, disharmony of the spleen and stomach, indigestion, fatigue-induced cough, and anemia with emaciation. Its function of nourishing the liver and preventing cancer is particularly prominent, and there is a saying that "eating three dates a day keeps you from looking old at a hundred."
Jujubes are rich in nutrients such as protein, vitamin C, calcium, phosphorus, and iron. They have the effect of tonifying the five organs, benefiting the spleen and stomach, and nourishing the blood to calm the mind. They have a significant effect on dreams, insomnia, and mental restlessness caused by qi and blood deficiency. After dinner, drink soup made with jujubes, or take pitted red dates, cook them until soft with water, add rock sugar and donkey-hide gelatin, and simmer over low heat into a paste. Eat 1-2 spoonfuls before bed.
Red Date and Ginseng Chicken Soup