Can Eating a Handful Of Almonds Before Bed Improve Your Sleep?

Filled with protein, fiber, and different vitamins, almonds are a fantastic addition to your eating regimen any time of day. However might in addition they assist you to get a greater night time’s sleep?

Almonds comprise each magnesium and melatonin—micronutrients that “assist your physique calm down and drift off extra simply,” Karman Meyer, RDN, LDN, registered dietitian nutritionist, creator, and co-founder of the NourishWell Community, instructed Well being.

Which means “a small handful of almonds earlier than mattress could give your sleep a delicate increase,” she defined.

Nonetheless, the precise science behind almonds and higher sleep is a little more difficult—right here’s what to know.

Primarily based on their dietary make-up, it’s potential that almonds might assist with higher sleep.

The Micronutrients

Almonds are wealthy in magnesium, Robin Tucker, PhD, affiliate professor of meals science and human vitamin at Michigan State College, instructed Well being. This mineral could assist calm the nervous system and scale back signs of anxiety and depression, making it simpler to go to sleep.

Magnesium can also be concerned within the manufacturing of melatonin, a hormone that helps regulate your circadian rhythm and tells your physique it is time for sleep.

Melatonin can also be present in almonds themselves—they’re thought of dietary supply of this sleep-promoting hormone, notably after they’re consumed uncooked.

Moreover, almonds comprise zinc and tryptophan—each of those are not directly concerned within the manufacturing of melatonin, too.

“This mixture is [thought] to supply the suitable vitamins that may help sleep,” Julie Stefanski, MEd, RDN, LDN, registered dietitian nutritionist and spokesperson for the Academy of Vitamin and Dietetics, instructed Well being.

The Macronutrients

One serving of almonds (about 30 grams) accommodates:

6.4 grams (g) of protein
3.2 g of fiber
12.75 g of unsaturated fat

This mixture of protein, fiber, and wholesome fat may truly assist you to keep asleep—the three will help hold blood sugar ranges regular all through the night time, which may decrease the possibilities of sudden awakenings and sleep disruptions, Meyer defined.

These three macronutrients additionally make you are feeling extra full, so they could be a better option for a late-night snack versus one thing greater in sugar, Stefanski stated.

Primarily based on their dietary make-up alone, almonds appear to be the right dietary hack to get higher shut-eye. Nonetheless, analysis on the topic is pretty sparse.

In 2019, Iranian researchers had 446 school college students eat 10 almonds each day for 2 weeks. Initially of the examine, 78% of the scholars reported having insomnia. After including almonds to their eating regimen, that quantity dropped to 69%.

One other examine, revealed in 2024, adopted 64 adults and cut up them into two teams—one ate 60 grams of almonds each day for 20 weeks, and the opposite ate a management snack. Ultimately, those that ate almonds reported getting higher sleep and have been additionally much less more likely to get up in the midst of the night time.

Although these findings are promising, the research are very small, Stefanski famous. Plus, it’s not clear “whether or not smaller quantities of almonds have the identical advantages” for sleep, she stated.

The standard of the contributors’ sleep to start with might additionally affect the findings and make them much less relevant to the true world, stated Tucker.

At this level, she defined, there simply hasn’t been sufficient analysis to say with certainty that almonds will assist you to sleep higher.

“It’s believable that almonds might assist in enhancing sleep outcomes, however the proof now we have presently doesn’t but help this,” Tucker stated.

If you wish to eat a handful of almonds earlier than you go to mattress, it could or could not assist your sleep.

However it could be price making an attempt in the event you get peckish at night time—sleep-promoting vitamins apart, it’s robust to go to sleep once you’re hungry, so a lightweight, wholesome snack comparable to almonds generally is a good selection, Tucker stated.

You too can attempt combining almonds with different meals that might assist you to sleep. Meyer recommended consuming an oz of almonds and dried tart cherries, that are wealthy in melatonin.

Simply watch out in case you have points with acid reflux, Stefanski cautioned. Excessive-fat meals like almonds require the abdomen to provide extra acid to interrupt them down, she stated, which might bug you as you’re making an attempt to sleep.

It’s not simply what you eat proper earlier than mattress that impacts your sleep, nonetheless. Consuming effectively all through the day can set you up for achievement.

“Greater high quality diets are related to higher sleep outcomes,” Tucker stated. So give attention to consuming sufficient nuts (walnuts might also help sleep), legumes, fruits, greens, lean meats and dairy, and entire grains to enhance sleep outcomes.

However, within the hours earlier than you fall asleep, it may be best to avoid: