3 Sleep-Promoting Fruits

Do you find it harder to fall asleep during the spring and summer months? You’re not alone – between lengthening days with later sunsets, allergies, and dehydration (not to mention the heat and, depending on where you live, humidity), summer nights can prove problematic when it comes to falling asleep quickly and easily.

Before you reach for an over-the-counter sleep aid, though, consider trying all-natural remedies first – specifically, changes to your diet. Don’t worry – these changes are easy, delicious, and something you probably already enjoy: fresh fruit!

Can Eating Certain Fruits Really Help Improve Sleep?

It’s true – certain fruits contain sleep-promoting compounds that naturally make you slesleepy, so eating them at night may help you get a more restful night’s sleep.

The fact is some fruits contain small amounts of melatonin, a hormone produced by the brain when darkness falls. Melatonin helps with the timing of your circadian rhythms so you sleep better, but the longer days of summer can interfere with melatonin. By eating fruits with melatonin in them, you can help set your sleep cycle back on track. Other sleep-promoting chemicals found in fruit include tryptophan (famously found in turkey, which is often why you feel so logy after enjoying your Thanksgiving feast) and magnesium, both of which can help you fall asleep faster.

Here are three fruits you can find at Pittman & Davis that are sure to help you get your sleep schedule back on track:

Oranges

Order oranges from Pittman & Davis while you can – of all of our oranges online, the popular Navel is only around through May, but you’ll want to take advantage as long as possible because oranges have been shown to increase the body’s melatonin levels by a whopping 47%!

That’s not the only reason you should buy fresh oranges, though…you already know they’re powerhouses to the immune system thanks to their high levels of vitamin C, but did you know oranges are also rich in B vitamins? The all-important B vitamins have many health benefits, including an ability to help manage anxiety and depression. This in turn will help you sleep better. Oranges also aid in the synthesis of serotonin, dopamine, and GABA (the chief sleep-promoting neurotransmitter in the brain). So, if you’re serious about trying to improve your sleep naturally, buying oranges from Pittman & Davis is a must.

Pineapples

Pittman & Davis Paradise Pineapples are sweet, juicy, and super-healthy. But more to the point for insomnia sufferers, pineapple can double your body’s melatonin levels! Additionally, they also help your digestion, so if you regularly find yourself feeling wakeful due to an upset stomach, enjoying a slice of pineapple as an evening snack (fresh or grilled) can help). One pineapple also contains 50% of the recommended daily intake of vitamin B6 (there are those all-important B vitamins again!) and 27% of the recommended daily intake of magnesium (another natural sleep-aid).

Cherries

Do you look forward with eagerness to June, when you can buy Bing Cherries online at Pittman & Davis? You’re in good company – many of our customers order cherries from us because ours are grown in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest, where they’re nourished by rich soil and crystal-clear river water. And it shows in every sweet, crisp bite!

If summer is a time when you have trouble sleeping, you now have one more reason to buy cherries from Pittman & Davis: they’re one of the highest natural food sources of melatonin! Like pineapples, sweet Bing Cherries are a wonderful, healthy, and delicious dessert that will also help you get some much-needed shut-eye.

Nighty-night!