Want better sleep? Try 5 foods naturally rich inmelatonin

凱倫

Melatonin supplements are a great way to get somesleep， but some of the foods in your fridge and pantry may al-ready have the melatonin you need.

Melatonin is defined by the CDC as a neurohormonethat regulates the sleep-wake cycle. And it can be reallyhelpful for stabilizing your sleep pattern. Light， especiallythe blue light from phone screens， can affect melatonin lev-els， says Yo-El Ju， a neurologist and sleep medicine specialistat Washington University in St. Louis.

To combat melatonin deficiency in recent years， more peo-ple began using melatonin supplements as a sleep aid. Accord-ing to a research letter published by JAMA in February of thisyear， prevalence of melatonin use rose t0 2.1% in 2017 t0 2018from 0.4% in 1999 t0 2000.

But in addition to the melatonin that is already producedin the brain， you can get natural doses of the hormone fromyour next snack. "Melatonin is actually present in food，" ac-cording to Ju.

5 foods that are naturally high in melatonin：

Nuts： Walnut seeds were found to have high amounts ofmelatonin， and the hormone is present in other nuts like al-monds， hazelnuts， pumpkin seeds and pistachios， according toa January 2022 study published in the Journal of Food Compo-sition and Analysis.

Fish： Consumption of salmon three times per week for fivemonths was associated with a positive impact on sleep and dai-ly functioning in a small 2014 randomized trial published inthe Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.

Eggs： Ample amounts of melatonin were measured ineggs， with a higher content of melatonin than meat and otheranimal foods in a 2017 study in the journal Nutrients.

Tart cherries： Tart cherry juice concentrate increased themelatonin levels of study participants and improved sleep qual-ity and duration in a small 2012 study in the European Journalof Nutrition.

Milk： Cow' s milk collected at night had very highamounts of melatonin that could be beneficial for humanhealth， according to a 2019 study in th.e Journal of Applied Ani-mal Research.

服用褪黑素是一種助眠的好方法，但日常生活中的一些食物已經含有人體所需的褪黑素。

美國疾病控制與預防中心將褪黑素定義為調節人體生物鐘的神經激素，有穩定作息的作用。圣路易斯華盛頓大學神經學家和睡眠醫學專家尤爾·朱表示，光線，特別是手機屏幕上的藍光，會影響褪黑素水平。

近年來，為了對抗褪黑素缺乏癥，越來越多人開始口服褪黑素助眠。美國醫學會今年2月公布的一項研究顯示，褪黑素服用者的比例從1999年至2000年的0.4%上升至2017年至2018年的2.1%。

但除了大腦產生的褪黑素外，你還可以從食物中補充自然的褪黑素。尤爾·朱稱：“實際上，食物中含有褪黑素。”

5種富含褪黑素的食物：

堅果：根據2022年1月發表在《食品成分與分析雜志》上的一項研究，核桃仁含有大量褪黑素，而杏仁、榛子、南瓜籽和開心果等其他堅果中也含有褪黑素。

魚類：2014年發表于《臨床睡眠醫學雜志》的一項小型隨機試驗中，連續五個月每周食用三次三文魚對睡眠和身體日常功能有積極影響。

雞蛋：2017年發表在《營養》雜志的一項研究顯示，雞蛋中含有大量褪黑素，其含量高于肉類和其他動物性食品。

酸櫻桃：2012年發表在《歐洲營養雜志》的一項小型研究顯示，酸櫻桃濃縮汁使研究對象體內的褪黑素水平提高，改善了研究對象的睡眠質量和持續時間。

牛奶：根據2019年發表在《應用動物研究雜志》上的一項研究，夜間采集的牛奶富含褪黑素，或有益人體健康。