Eat for Sleep — Foods That May Help You Sleep Better

We all know we shouldn't eat right before bedtime, but most of us do it anyway. Here are the best and worst foods for those late night cravings.

You always hear how you shouldn't eat anything before bed.  But there are some foods that HELP you sleep better, as well as a bunch that make it harder.  Yahoo has a list of the five best and worst foods to eat before bed.

Here are the five best:

1.  Cereal and milk.  this is fine, but avoid cereals high in sugar.

2.  Passion fruit.  It contains a chemical called somniferum, which helps bring on sleep.

3.  Bananas.  They have a lot of magnesium, which is a muscle relaxant. I understand that bananas can also help relieve leg cramps at night. makes sense.

4.  Cherry juice.  It has extremely high levels of melatonin, a chemical in the brain that helps you relax.

5.  Warm milk.  An oldie but a goodie.

And here are the five WORST:

1.  High-protein foods.  Too much protein will just give you a lot of energy, and keep you awake longer.

2.  Alcohol.  Yeah, it can make you sleepy, but not the kind of 'sleepy' that gets you a good nights rest.

3.  Fatty foods.  If you're prone to heartburn, fatty foods will stay up and keep you company.

4.  Spicy foods.  Sometimes you can have NIGHTMARES after eating spicy foods.

5.  Caffeine.  Pretty much a no-brainer. It's best to cut out all caffeine right after lunch.

So much for the foods. Now, how do you deal with the mental thing that goes like this: Your head hits the pillow and your brain says, 'I'm ready to think now.'

I do that a lot.