Tart Cherry Sleep Elixir
Elevate your bedtime ritual to a whole new restful state.
Tea is often the drink associated with bedtime. Adding in a bit of tart cherry juice might elevate your bedtime ritual to a whole new restful level. This delightful elixir combines one of my favorite sleepy-time teas with the tangy taste of tart cherries.
Tart cherries are high in melatonin, the hormone that controls the sleep-wake cycle, and a few small studies have shown that they have promising effects on sleep. (1) Taking in this natural melatonin on a daily basis can add up. For a study published in the European Journal of Nutrition, participants ages 18-40 drank either tart cherry juice concentrate or a placebo twice a day for a week. Those who drank the cherry juice had higher levels of melatonin afterward and showed modest sleep improvements. (2)
A pilot study, published in the American Journal of Therapeutics, looked at the effects tart cherry juice had on participants' sleep quality 50 and older with insomnia. The researchers noted that drinking two eight-ounce servings of tart cherry juice per day for two weeks extended the participants' sleep time by 84 minutes versus those who took a placebo. (3) Just imagine the difference 84 minutes a night can make over a month. That’s around 40 extra hours of sleep! Now this recipe calls for four-ounces of cherry juice, so you might want to enjoy another one of our tart cherry drinks throughout the day.
Where To Find The Tea I Use: Harney.com
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