Food for Falling Asleep (esp. bananas)

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone,

I have trouble falling asleep from time to time, and I've discovered

some helpful dietary tricks.

I think a large part of it is melatonin production, which is made from

tryptophan via serotonin in reactions that are dependent on B6 and

tetrahydrobiopterin, the latter of which is believed to be supported

by vitamin C. I've found that if I take some vitamin C at the

beginning of my dinner, make sure my dinner is large, and finish it

off with a banana I tend to do best.

The most helpful food in my experience is the banana. I used to use

milk, but I find bananas much more effective. Sometimes I take

melatonin, but there have been two occasions lately where I did not

respond to melatonin but responded to a banana.

Bananas have small amounts of preformed melatonin and serotonin in

them. It is one of the best sources of B6, and it is rich in

carbohydrate, which helps tryptophan cross the blood brain barrier. I

think carbs also have an independent relaxing effect.

Bananas were the most common fruit eaten by the groups Price studied,

though their bananas were probably a bit different than ours.

Chris