Melatonin Rich Foods: Top 10 Foods For The Best Sleep in Months
Why Do I Need Melatonin
Melatonin is a hormone that is vital for your sleep patterns, reaching its highest levels at night when you need to sleep. The hormone Melatonin is made in the pineal gland and the skin.
Melatonin is used as a food supplement, also medically prescribed, to reduce jet lag and to aid sleep.
With our hectic modern lifestyles cases of insomnia and sleeplessness are increasing. This is generally be caused by two reasons, a lack of nutrition or high levels of stress.
For more serious issues with sleep, you will need to consult a medical professional however there are some simple ways to try to improve sleep.
This is straightforward, as there are many different melatonin rich foods that you can eat that will help improve your baseline melatonin hormone levels.
Melatonin is an essential hormone that is regulated throughout the day and helps you to fall asleep.
Your body makes melatonin naturally using various inputs it has including cholesterol, the amino acid tryptophan and vitamin D. You also eat melatonin everyday as part of your diet. Your body can function with either of these forms of melatonin.
Many people are struggling to obtain enough melatonin in their diet, or make it naturally, which is possibly leading to health issues, such as a lack of sleep.
Melatonin and Anxiety
Higher levels of melatonin are linked to serotonin blood levels and cortisol levels, a hormone important in stress and anxiety.
Increased melatonin levels should basically reduce cortisol levels and reduce anxiety. Higher levels of cortisol will usually lead to higher levels of anxiety.
Making sure that you have enough melatonin can be crucial to managing levels of anxiety through lowered cortisol levels.
Melatonin and Depression
Melatonin is essential for proper and regular sleep. Depression is linked to abnormalities in sleep pattern, with research suggesting that melatonin is important and can really help with depression.
Melatonin and serotonin levels, a happiness brain chemical, are also linked. This adds another aspect to easing symptoms of depression. Imbalances in one of these hormones can affect the other and therefore levels of depression.
Top 10 Melatonin Rich Foods
We will now cover the top 10 melatonin rich foods that can help with a better night’s sleep.
You might possibly have one of the best night’s sleep you have had in months, or years, after having some of these foods.
We have included a couple of foods rich in tryptophan too. This is because they are easy to include in your diet and tryptophan is virtually interchangeable with melatonin.
Tryptophan is readily digested and absorbed in the large intestine, while melatonin is processed and absorbed gradually throughout intestines.
The conversion process of tryptophan to serotonin and then melatonin occurs rapidly at night in the pineal gland.
You might think, well is eating melatonin actually going to increase my melatonin hormone levels?
Extensive research has measured and shown increases in blood serum melatonin hormone levels when eating some of the below melatonin rich foods.
Top 10 Melatonin Rich Foods
Cauliflower
Cauliflower contains in astounding 82 nanograms per gram of melatonin. This is a very cheap vegetable to purchase from the store and is very versatile for use in different food dishes.
You can use this melatonin rich food in a cheese-based bake, as a popular side dish or as a standalone side vegetable with a game meat of your choice. This vegetable is really rich in melatonin and provides an excellent natural source of melatonin hormone as well.
Soybean
Soybeans contain some of the highest measured concentrations of tryptophan of the foods you can eat. This bean supports oestrogen as well as melatonin levels.
The tryptophan content of soybeans is about 2617 nanograms per gram. As we have discussed, high tryptophan intake leads to increases in melatonin production.
Not only does Soybean contain tryptophan, but it is high in natural melatonin as well, measured at 56 nanograms per gram.
You can find soybean concentrates as part of soy sauce that is an integral part of many Asian cuisines, including stir fries. Soy is a nutrient dense bean and is very popular.
Mulberry Leaf
Melatonin levels in Mulberry leaves are very high. You can make a tea from Mulberry leaves that could provide a rich dietary source of melatonin. This is all backed by cutting edge research science.
Mulberry leaf has also been used to fortify specific-bio active melatonin milks. Fresh Mulberry leaves contain 51 nanograms per gram and 210 nanograms per gram of melatonin and tryptophan.
I would personally recommend making a Mulberry leaf tea from fresh Mulberry extract as the best way to consume this top 10 melatonin rich food. Mulberry leaf even passed a taste test as one of the best ways to consume melatonin.
Tomato
Tomatoes contain some of the highest levels of natural melatonin, measured at 50 nanograms per gram when grown in their preferred climate.
If you’re able to obtain fresh tomatoes, this would be quite a good way of introducing more melatonin into your diet.
For this top 10 melatonin rich food I would recommend a fresh tomato soup or a cream of tomato pasta bake. You could integrate mushrooms for added vitamin D as a synergistic companion.
As vitamin D is fat soluble, you might want to consider using some cheese.
Garlic
Garlic is a really popular health food and is rich in nutrients such as selenium. Normally associated with heart health, garlic also contains high amounts of melatonin hormone. This melatonin rich bulb has 58 nanograms per gram of melatonin. It’s very easy to grow and demonstrates really good value for money.
Garlic is a popular component of many Mediterranean dishes and is very popular as an additional flavour enhancer.
Garlic can be added to any tomato or cream-based pasta dish. You can try a Spanish dish known as gambas al ajillo, or prawns with garlic. This is a very popular dish in the Andalucia region of southern Spain packed with herbs, a tonne of garlic and of course prawns.
Pistachios
Pistachios nuts are one of the most melatonin rich foods available. They provide roughly 0.012 to 200 micrograms per gram of natural source melatonin, depending on the variety of pistachio.
Pistachio is a popular snack and is used often to make deserts too. Pistachio and broccoli make a nice soup, you can even add cauliflower for some extra natural source melatonin.
Eggs
Eggs contain 6 nanograms per gram of melatonin hormone. They are very flexible with how they can be used. My favourite way to use eggs is in an omelette or quiche.
You can make a tasty omelette in about 5 minutes using an additional meat, some vegetables and cheese.
Eggs also contain some of the key ingredients for making melatonin hormone naturally including vitamin D, healthy cholesterol and amino acids.
Red Bean
Red beans including red kidney beans contain masses of natural melatonin. At 54 nanograms per gram of melatonin, red beans are roughly equal to soybeans in terms of melatonin.
Red beans are so flexible in how they can be used in your diet. You can add red beans to a healthy salad, enchiladas dish or even a chilli con carne. This top 10 melatonin containing food is probably my favourite.
Lentils
Lentils are another melatonin rich food. Research shows that they contain approximately 500 nanograms per gram of melatonin.
You can make a nutrient dense red lentil soup, add to moussaka, or add to a casserole.
Lentils are another melatonin rich powerhouse food.
Poultry: Chicken & Turkey
Chicken contains about 2 nanograms per gram of melatonin.
Chicken is a staple poultry in diets worldwide and can be used in combination with pretty much any of the ingredients above to make a tasty meal.
Of our top 10 melatonin rich foods it might not be the highest, but it’s important to know that poultry like chicken is providing regular melatonin.
We will also be giving turkey an honorary mention as a tryptophan rich food.
Tryptophan uptake leads to melatonin production and Turkey contains one of the highest levels of tryptophan of all the foods we eat. Turkey contains about 4 milligrams per gram of tryptophan. This is staggering compared to soybeans for example.
You can make a roast dish with turkey, use turkey in a simple bolognaise or substitute for chicken in pretty much any meal.
Conclusion
Here we have outlined our top 10 melatonin rich foods. It is very easy to integrate simple foods such as lentils and red beans into pretty much any meal.
Our favourite has to be pistachios, a highly nutrient dense nut for melatonin intake. Easy to have as a snack or in a soup this is a real standout Melatonin rich food.
Melatonin is essential for normal sleep this article should make it easier for you to include it in your meals.
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