If you have trouble sleeping at night, prepare to add snack time to your bedtime routine. Feeling puzzled? Sure, growing up a glass of milk was a good idea. That also seems like a myth now. But to actually munch down on food, how can that be the answer to your sleeping problems? It's all due to the ingredients in pistachios and melatonin.
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It's true, pistachios are your answer to getting some shut-eye. Pistachio nuts are almost at the bottom of every grocery list. It's not something you buy on every run, occasionally for a gathering. But push it up to the top of the list because they are actually very healthy.
The health benefits of pistachios go far. The seeds not only contain healthy fats, but protein, fiber, and antioxidants also, according to healthlline. Pistachios are very nutrient, and a good source of vitamin b6.
Another benefit of eating is for weight loss. Healthline also reports that in recent studies, eating pistachios keeps you feeling full longer. A "...24-week study in individuals with excess weight showed that those who consumed 20% of calories from pistachios lost 0.6 inches (1.5 cm) more from their waistlines than those who did not eat pistachios."
The most shocking wellness benefit of pistachios, though, has to be how it encourages our body to get better sleep. Researchers at Louisiana State University and the American Pistachio Growers found that American pistachios contain melatonin.
Melatonin is known to be a good supplement when you are experiencing insomnia or jet lag, produced by the pineal gland in the body. The study also found that there was a production of melatonin when it was extracted from the pistachio nut. In fact, there was high levels of melatonin. Researchers also found lunasin and the Bowman-Birk Inhibitor compounds, and the anti-inflammatory activity from that helps manage type 2 diabetes. In summary, pistachios are great for your overall health and immune system.
If you've made it this far, you are curious enough to most likely change up your sleep patterns, and pistachios are a healthy, melatonin-rich food that can be used as your sleep aid. There's no research to how many is too many for melatonin intake, but a few should do the trick.
As with every health supplement and benefit, you should take not of any side effects. Sometimes the best foods aren't the best for everyone. But hopefully, pistachios will help you get the good night's sleep you are in search of.