11. Comforting Foods & Hot Drink Recipes
Sleep aid tips

Sleep aid tips about Comforting Foods & Hot Drink Recipes for Sleep for visitors when using this site to search for information and remedies for your better sleep which may also cure any mild sleep disorder you may want natural sleep aid remedies for.

You can help ensure sound sleep by eating from a variety of healthy foods throughout the course of the day. Avoiding foods that contain stimulants will also improve night time rest.

Caffeine and alcohol aren't the only substances that affect your sleep.

Everything you eat can affect nighttime slumber.

For example, tomato products and spicy foods give many people heartburn (as does eating too fast). What does heartburn have to do with sleep?

Lying down makes heartburn worse, and heartburn itself makes falling asleep more difficult.

Heartburn also awakens sleepers with middle-of-the-night discomfort.

Drinking too much of any beverage can lead to more awakenings because of the need to urinate during the night.

Also, the older we get, the more we experience these nighttime awakenings.

Try to restrict your fluids before bedtime to help promote an uninterrupted night's sleep. If the problem persists, talk to your doctor.

Another cause of sleep problems can be eating too much - of any food - that can make sleep difficult.

A heavy meal close to bedtime may make you less comfortable when you settle down for your night's rest.

At the same time, going to bed hungry can be just as disruptive to sleep as going to bed too full.

It is best to avoid these over-stimulating foods:

• Caffeine: this potent drug can make you edgy and irritable: avoid drinking coffee or tea after 4pm
• Sugar: refined sugars disturb metabolic processes; substitute honey, fruit sugars or maple syrup.
• Chemical additives: these are difficult for your body to process and may keep you awake.

Bountiful sleep enhancers:

Ensuring that your daytime diet is rich in B vitamins will help you sleep: the B group supports the nervous system and aids dream activity.

Foods rich in B’s include:
• Green vegetables
• Nuts
• Seeds
• Eggs
• Seafood
• Soya bean
• Dairy foods
• Yeast extract

Slow burning carbohydrates such as:
• Oats
• Barley
• Rice
• Beans
provide the body with a steady release of energy that helps keep the system on an even keel all day.

Foods that work on Regulating the sleep cycle:

If there are sufficient levels of vitamin B6 in the body, tryptophan will aid in the production of neurotransmitters such as serotonin, which helps to regulate sleep patterns.

Tryptophan is an amino acid found in:
• Turkey
• Milk
• Tuna fish
• Most carbohydrates

Calcium also helps release such serotonins. Choose foods such as:
• Broccoli
• Oats
• Sesame seeds
• Tahini
• Raw vegetables
• Kelp and other seaweeds
• Watercress
• Dandelions
• nettle
Rather than dairy products, which tend to increase mucus production.

Perfect night time foods:

Although doctors maintain that eating a large meal late at night is harmful to the system, hunger pangs can be a cause of wakefulness.

A light snack provides the perfect solution.

When restlessness is due to a rumbling stomach, the best remedy is to treat yourself to a midnight snack.

Stick to light foods – try whole-meal crackers spread with a little peanut butter and a hot, milky drink.

A small sandwich filled with turkey, avocado or cottage cheese is ideal, as these contain tryptophan, which may assist healthy sleep.

Other easy to digest foods include a bowl of comforting oatmeal porridge, or a banana.

It is best to avoid foods that are difficult to digest, such as meats and high fat content cheeses or rich foods such as heavy sauces, pastries and cakes.

Very sugary or acidic foods may give you heartburn, which will keep you awake.

Always sit up for 15 -20 minutes after eating before going back to bed, to give the food a chance to travel down the intestines, before you lie down.

Bedtime drinks:

Caffeine is best avoided from mid-afternoon onwards, but in general, hot drinks have a calming effect at bedtime, especially in cold weather.

If you wake frequently in the night, a flask filled with a hot, caffeine-free drink such as herbal tea, chicory “coffee” or plain hot water, can provide an instant soother.

It also means that you don’t need to get up out of bed, making it easier to return to sleep.

If your wakefulness is due to hot sultry weather, iced chamomile or lemon balm tea will cool you down and provide instant relief.

If you often suffer from restless waking in the middle of the night, herbal remedies – taken either as a tea or tablet form, may help to quest your nerves and settle an overactive system.

In the Herbs & Flowers section you will find recipes to use Herb tea as sleep remedies:

Brandied Lemon Drink:

(makes 2)
2/3 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons Honey
2 tablespoons brandy
1 cup boiling water
1 cinnamon stick

Combine all ingredients, if required later on, reheat without boiling.

Mulled Cider:

(makes 6)
6 cups Apple Cider
2 tablespoons Sugar
4 Cinnamon sticks (optional garnish)
10 cloves

In saucepan bring all ingredients to boil, stirring occasionally to dissolve sugar.

Reduce heat to low and barely simmer for 30 minutes.

Strain to remove spices. Serve warm in mugs with cinnamon stick to stir with if desired.

Orange and Apricot Drink:

(makes 2)
2 cups fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons apricot Jam
2 tablespoons Grand Marnier
1 teaspoon nutmeg

Combine orange juice, apricot jam and nutmeg, heat until mixture begins to boil.

Remove from heat; add Grand Marnier. Strain liquids and serve.

Sweet Nutmeg Milk:

Milk contains substances that help restore feelings of calmness. When drunk at bedtime it can enhance restful sleep. The additions of honey and nutmeg give a soothing and tasty twist.

The first food that we consume as babies, milk has a soothing effect on the nervous system.

It contains peptides that help to relieve stress and anxiety, and reduce nervous tension that can lead to insomnia.

Many people find milk helpful in cases of indigestion – another common cause of wakefulness – particularly if it is sipped warm.

When drunk with honey and a sprinkling of nutmeg, a mug of warm milk makes a perfect bedtime nightcap.

If you suffer from an allergy or sensitivity to dairy products, you can substitute goat, soya, rice or oat milk for cow’s milk.

This recipe makes one serving, but you can easily multiply the ingredients for two or more people.

250ml / 8fl oz 1 cup of whole or semi-skim (low fat) milk
10ml / 2 teaspoons clear Honey
grated nutmeg

• Heat milk gently in a sauce pan, to just below the boiling point.
• Do not boil or scald the milk.
• Remove from the heat and whisk (beat) until frothy.
• Stir in the Honey
• then pour into a large mug and
• grate a light dusting of nutmeg over the milk.

Caution: use nutmeg sparingly. Although in small quantities its active ingredient, myristicin, enhances sleep and pleasant dream, in large doses (2-3 teaspoons) it is highly toxic and can cause hallucinations, nausea and vomiting.

Warming eggnog:

This Scandinavian / American drink is usually served cold, but this is a warm and creamy version, guaranteed to soothe and relax on a chilly night.

Delicious eggnog is spicy and rich, so a little goes a long way – a normal serving is about the size of a small wineglass.

Drunk in the evening after dinner, it provides an ideal way to wind down before bedtime. The drink can also be made without alcohol – substitute 7.5ml / 1 ½ teaspoons of rum flavoring / essence for the actual Rum.

Serves 2:
250ml / 8fl oz / 1 cup double (heavy) cream
1 long strip of orange rind (skin / peel)
1.5ml / ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg spice
1 cinnamon stick (bark scroll) or a sprinkle of grated cinnamon on top of drink
2 eggs – yolks separated from the whites.
30ml / 2 tablespoons caster (fine crystal) sugar
75ml / 2 ½ fl oz / 1/3 cup golden Rum
cinnamon stick to serve - as stirring spoon, garnish

• Warm the drinking glasses by gently putting them in hot water.
• Pour the cream into a small sauce pan
• Add the orange rind, nutmeg and cinnamon stick and bring slowly to the boil
• In a mixing bowl beat the egg yolks with the sugar until it is a really pale colour and creamy texture.
• When the cream is gently boiling, pour it onto the egg mixture and beat well with a spoon or whisk
• Return the mixture to the pan and stir over a very gentle heat until it forms a “custard” as thick as pouring cream.
• Do not overheat the mixture or it will “curdle” into runny lumps instead of a smooth thick liquid.
• Warm the rum in another pan
• Stir rum or (rum essence flavour) into the egg custard, then whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form (softly firm texture) and very slowly and gently fold (stir) the egg white into the hot custard. Do not beat it or briskly stir the mix as that will remove the air trapped in the egg whites, which is needed to make the drink mixture light and “fluffy”.
• Serve in the warm glasses, with a cinnamon stick as a decorative “stirring stick”

Comforting Hot Toddy:

When indulged in occasionally, a hot, alcoholic beverage can go a long way towards directing you to restful sleep. It is especially good when you are suffering from a cold.

Serves 2:
2 strips of lemon rind (peel)
4 slices fresh root ginger
5ml / 1 teaspoon of Honey
175ml / 6 fl oz / ¾ cup water
175ml / 6 fl oz / ¾ cup whiskey or bourbon.

• Put the lemon rind, ginger, honey and water in a small sauce pan and bring to the boil.
• Remove the pan and leave to cool for 5 minutes.
• Stir in the alcohol and allow time for it to warm through.
• Rest a silver spoon in each pre-heated glass and train in the warm toddy.
• Sip slowly.
• As with al alcoholic beverages the sedative effect will be reversed if you consume too much alcohol.

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