Eat Your Way to Better Sleep

Want to run faster? Think more clearly? Have increased energy? A good night’s sleep — on the reg — can help you do all that and more.

And hey, if all you need to do is tweak your schedule so that you can get in bed earlier, that’s great to know! But one in four Americans develop insomnia each year — and if you’re one of them, or you just consider yourself a bad sleeper, then knowing you’re supposed to get more sleep isn’t exactly helpful.

Now, there are loads of factors that can contribute to poor sleep, but there are also lots of things that can help to improve sleep, and food (like tart cherries!) is one of them. According to the new book Eat to Sleep: What to Eat and When to Eat It for a Good Night’s Sleep — Every Night by Karman Meyer, RD, LDN, it’s possible to improve your sleeping habits by changing up the way you eat.

The book is only a couple hundred pages long, but boy, does it pack a lot of info between the covers. It begins with an overview of how foods impact sleep, details some of the food choices that prevent us from sleeping well (like big meals before bed, caffeine too late in the day, too many high fat foods), and shares non-food tips for getting more zzz’s. Then, there’s page after page of foods (in alphabetical order) that can promote more peaceful sleep, going into detail on why they help, when you should eat them, whether there are better ways to enjoy them to improve sleep, and also whether there are times or instances when those foods should be avoided.

From avocados to zucchini, there’s a ton of information in there on many of the foods we could all stand to eat more often — and after all that, there’s a slew of recipes including them, as well as a sleep-focused meal plan, log, and checklist to help you track your progress.

Considering how popular The Sleep Doctor ep of The Fit Bottomed Girls Podcast (listen below!) was, we have a feeling a bunch of you are going to be geeking out over this book!

What tips or tricks are you using for better sleep? I’ve been incorporating some lavender and other soothing essential oils into my bedtime routine, and I really do feel like I’m falling asleep more easily. –Kristen