3 simple drinks to help you sleep

Adding a warm drink to your bedtime routine can make a big difference. Why not try our other ideas – How to get a good night's sleep – for helping you get a good night’s rest, too?

Cherry smoothie

Cherries have a high concentration in melatonin (the sleep hormone) so they can be a good natural way to help your rest cycles. Use fresh cherries with the stones taken out or frozen pitted cherries, not glacé cherries in syrup.

• Take 20 pitted cherries and two tablespoons of yoghurt.
• Put these in a blender and whizz up until smooth.
• Pour out and enjoy!

Vanilla milk

Milk is rich in calming calcium and tryptophan (which the body converts to the sleep-inducing hormone serotonin), and the scent of vanilla is associated with relieving stress and anxiety, so this is great for winding down at the end of the day.

• Cut a vanilla pod in two.
• Place it in a glass and pour hot milk over it.
• Add a teaspoon of cinnamon to taste.

Mint Infusion

A mint infusion is great to drink before going to bed because of its relaxing and digestive effects, and is a lovely alternative to chamomile tea.

• Take a handful of washed fresh mint sprigs and roll the back of a spoon over them to ‘bruise’ them (this helps release the flavour).
• Put these in a mug and pour over freshly boiled water.
• Leave to stand for a couple of minutes then strain the water into a glass. Add a little honey to taste, if you like it a little sweet.

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