Can tea send you to sleep?
"While many of these teas have a mild effect, if any at all, the placebo effect of knowing it’s a sleepytime tea may be enough to get you to fall asleep. As with most things, your reaction to the tea will depend on your personal sleep issues and taste preferences, and even what else you ate or did that day." Tuck
You too can sleep like a baby according to the manufacturers of tea - just about all of them. The latest things in teas - well to be honest they have been around for a while - are herbal teas - of all kinds. But today I'm looking at teas that are supposed to help you sleep. This is because I bumped into a friend in the supermarket who was buying small gifts for Christmas and she was looking at beautifully packaged teas to help you sleep. We both agreed that they were probably not very helpful but made a nice gift anyway.
The one she was looking at was from Pukka and it had oat flowers, lavender and lime flowers. It's shown at left. I'm not pushing this one over any other, just using it as an example of what is on offer - and boy does the price vary.
I did a little bit of netsurfing for this little post - I don't have much to say - and interestingly, the only ingredient in this particular tea that came up frequently was lavender. And actually it seemed to be the smell of lavender that is beneficial rather than anything else. Hence lavender pillows.I looked at several lists of herbs that are supposed to make you sleep and the ones that came up most were the aforesaid lavender, chamomile and valerian. These seem to be the big three. The next rung of choices was lemon balm, catnip and peppermint.
I think the general opinion was that valerian was the best, but it didn't taste all that great and I think it had potential bad side effects too. All of these things have been used for centuries but modern day science has yet to be convinced.
"Why do we believe chamomile helps induce sleep, despite not having any conclusive evidence? Like many of the teas on this list, chamomile has a calming effect that promotes relaxation. And we believe it helps us sleep – that may be the most important part of all." Tuck
Indeed the main effect of all of these teas seems to be the calming thing - and faith that it will do something. Any drink at bedtime in fact - hot chocolate, cocoa, your favourite tipple, a drink of water. I even saw Michael Mosley pushing coffee. But the calming thing really seems to come from cuddling up with a loved one and holding a beautiful warm cup in your hands, which I think I talked about before.
You would have to wonder though wouldn't you, simply because these herbs have been used for centuries to induce calm and sleep. They must do something. Surely And the scientists are cautiously in favour but not totally convinced because the other thing is that you seem to have to drink it over a longish period before it comes into effect. And what and when you eat before bedtime are also important. Too many variables perhaps.
“Foods that are high in tryptophan and vitamin B6 will help you make melatonin, the sleep hormone,” Nerina Ramlakhan
But give it a try if you like. Personally I really do not like the taste of chamomile. Lemon balm though - another of the favoured herbs is quite nice - especially if you just steep some fresh herbs in hot water.
It's a comforting sort of idea. And they do make nice gifts.
