Honey and peanut butter—at night, no less

The immediate gist of consuming peanut butter and/or honey before bedtime would be that it can help regulate blood sugar levels throughout your sleep time. Pairing peanut butter, honey and whole grained bread can help the body use tryptophan, which aids sleep. Be diligent, though, about choosing a high quality version of each to ensure optimum benefits.

Type 1 diabetics or anyone wanting to improve their sleep duration and quality should definitely try the peanut butter health hack about two hours before retiring. This helps to relax you and promotes REM sleep as it deters waking in the middle of the night. It works because the healthy fats and protein in the peanut butter slow digestion while honey gives a quick complex carbohydrate that aids in transporting nutrients to the brain.

Bullet points for this practice would be as follows:

·       Stabilizes blood sugar: The fats, proteins and glucose neutralize the stress hormones that wake you up.

·       Optimizes tryptophan uptake: The tryptophan and the glucose carbs help the amino acid to cross the brain blood barrier.

·       Melatonin conversion: Tryptophan converts to serotonin and then into melatonin which regulates sleep cycles.

·       Muscle repair: This snack can support overnight muscle repair and morning metabolism without weighing down and overloading your digestion.

·       Overnight hypoglycemia: This happens mostly at night so take one to two tablespoons of peanut butter mixed with honey on wheat or whole grained toast. If this is for a youngster, do one tablespoon.

Peanuts have a low glycemic index (14 out of 100), so it won’t cause blood sugar spikes. And, even if you are not diabetic or hypoglycemic, it can assist in several ways.

1.     Keeps you full by aiding in satiety and maintains sleep as you don’t wake up for a snack.

2.     Great source of magnesium: Research has proved many times over a correlation between magnesium levels and sleep quality.

3.     Serotonin booster: Tryptophan creates serotonin, then melatonin, as previously stated. For the tryptophan to be effective, it needs to be coupled with a carbohydrate such as fruit or a whole grained toast bread.

Be careful when choosing both peanut butter and honey. You don’t want to select a peanut butter brand with a long list of ingredients such as oils and sweetness. Many low fat peanut butters have more sugar added to make them more palatable. Same with honey—it should be raw honey to be the healthiest.

Stick to no more than one-two tablespoons as we don’t want to trade a waistline for good sleep. And, do not consume longer than two hours prior to bedtime.

Again, depending on your particular prescription meds, always consult with your healthcare professional prior to adding a step to your health regimen.