Get Healthy, Stay Healthy: 5 Easy Smoothies to Try Before Bed
Good health is vital to a good night’s sleep – and vice versa.
The foods you eat can be a powerful aid in helping you get healthy and stay healthy. They can even help you fall asleep fast and wake up full of energy.
Thankfully, healthful foods can be tasty and versatile. For example, that smoothie you drink every morning (or wish you did) can be made at night and enjoyed as a dessert.
With the right ingredients, you can make bedtime smoothie recipes that promote better sleep and health. Today, we’re going to share some non-vegan and vegan smoothie recipes that will help you get the best night’s sleep.
Is There Scientific Evidence That Night Smoothies Help with Sleep?
Absolutely. To get healthy and stay healthy, you need to learn some of the basics about food and how it affects the body.
Whole foods tend to have the most health benefits as they’re the closest to their natural state. They don’t contain any man-made sugars, salt, food colorings, starches, or chemicals use to preserve the shelf-life or enhance the flavor. Basically, they’re the exact opposite of processed foods (a bag of chips vs. an apple off the tree).
Processed foods have been treated in such a way that they often barely resemble their original ingredients, at least on a chemical level. And some don’t seem to have any natural ingredients at all, or the manufactured ingredients significantly outnumber the natural ones.
Fresh, whole foods contain powerful vitamins and minerals that have been found to:
- Improve metabolism and promote weight loss
- Lift your mood, providing a feeling of physical, mental, and emotional “lightness”
- Improve sleep
Some of the best all-natural foods for better sleep include:
- Kiwis
- Cherries
- Milk
- Nuts
- Rice
The list above is by no means exhaustive. However, not only will these foods help you fall asleep fast, but they’ll also help you get healthy and stay healthy.
Get Healthy, Stay Healthy: 5 Smoothie Recipes for Better Health and Sleep
Looking at a long list of foods that can help you get a better night’s sleep can be daunting at first. What are you supposed to do, eat a pile of raw fruits and vegetables every day?
While some people might be up for that option, there’s an easier one – a bedtime smoothie.
Night smoothies don’t have to contain a ton of ingredients or be complicated. Some bedtime smoothie recipes contain only three ingredients.
Curious about what to drink before bed to help with sleep? Here are a few easy options.
1. Sweet Vegan Bedtime Smoothie
Ingredients:
- Banana
- Berries of your choice
- Coconut milk
Note:
Adjust the ingredients to create a taste and texture you prefer. Combine in a blender, Vitamix, or NutriBullet.
2. Vegan Salty Night Smoothie
Ingredients:
- Banana
- Avocado
- Almond milk
Note:
Make sure to skin and de-seed the avocado before use.
You can use store-bought almond milk or make your own. Simply blend raw, soaked almonds with water. Then, strain through a cheesecloth. When you have your homemade almond milk, blend with the banana and avocado for a rich, creamy smoothie.
3. Sweet Dessert Smoothie
Ingredients:
- Banana
- Berries of your choice
- Cow milk
4. Salty Whole Milk Bedtime Smoothie
Ingredients:
- Banana
- Peanut butter
- Cow milk
Note:
If you’re not a fan of sweets, you can still benefit from night smoothies. Simply stick to savory ingredients. Eating peanut butter before bed is a good idea because peanuts contain tryptophan, which promotes sleep. Additionally, peanuts boost metabolism, so you can keep burning fat even while you sleep.
Which is better when it comes to peanut butter vs almond butter? One isn’t necessarily better than the other. Almonds contain less saturated fat (0.7g vs. 1.7g) and more monounsaturated fats (5.2 vs 4.2). Almonds contain less natural sugar than peanuts, though the amount in all-natural peanut butter is quite low, too.
Both nuts contain:
- Protein
- Healthy fats
- Fiber
- Vitamin E
- Minerals
For the most part, choosing the best nut butter comes down to a matter of taste.
5. Double the Ingredients, Double the Benefits
Ingredients:
- Old-fashioned rolled oats
- Baby spinach
- Cool chamomile tea
- Tart cherry juice
- Banana
- Almond butter
Note:
While this recipe seems more complex than the others, it’s not really. There’s no chopping or peeling or anything like that involved. Just make some chamomile tea and then add it to the other ingredients, blend, and you’re done.
This smoothie – from SimpleGreenSmoothies.com – is made up of foods known to promote sleep. Every ingredient has a purpose – to help you fall asleep fast.
Non-Vegan or Vegan Smoothies – Does It Matter?
The wonderful thing about whole foods is that they taste delicious and have multiple health benefits to help you get healthy and stay healthy. Any recipe you make is not dependent on the type of milk you use. Both vegans and non-vegans can create powerful, sleep-inducing smoothies with the milk of their choice.
Vegan Smoothie Recipes
Choose a variety of flavors to please your palate, from sweet and salty to savory and tart.
Check out some vegan smoothie recipes online for better sleep and simply substitute the cow’s milk with a nut milk of your choice, like:
- Peanut butter, banana, honey, almond milk, and ice.
- Coconut milk, pineapple, banana, honey, and vanilla extract.
- Banana, cherries, nutmeg, honey, and cashew milk.
Cow’s Milk Smoothie Recipes
If you can tolerate it, cow’s milk before bed has its benefits, too. It contains tryptophan, an amino acid that promotes drowsiness. You can find recipes with cow’s milk, yogurts, kefir, and other dairy products that taste great and help you fall asleep. Some ideas:
- Milk, banana, almond or peanut butter, cinnamon, maple syrup
- Milk, yogurt, kale, kiwi, banana, almond butter
- Milk, honey, vanilla, yogurt, cherries
Don’t Forget: A Comfortable Mattress Can Help You Fall Asleep Fast
Another way to get more rest and improve your overall health is with a high-quality, organic mattress, like the cotton and wool mattress from White Lotus House.
A comfortable mattress made of natural products is not just cozy – it’s safe. Recent studies show that synthetic materials in mattresses can adversely affect your health by releasing toxic fumes.
If you want to get healthy and stay healthy, the mattress you spend eight hours a night on should be made of the highest-quality, healthful materials.
