Foods That Help You Sleep: What to Eat Before Bed, in UK Portions

No food is a treatment for insomnia, but a few have been tested: two kiwifruit an hour before bed for four weeks cut the time 24 poor sleepers took to fall asleep by 35%, in a study with no control group; tart cherry juice added sleep in three placebo-controlled crossover trials of 20, 15 and 8 people; and a high-glycaemic-index rice meal four hours before bed shortened sleep onset from 17.5 to 9 minutes in 12 men. The firmer evidence is about timing: in 793 young adults, eating within three hours of bed went with 61% higher odds of waking in the night, and the NHS says "do not eat a big meal late at night". This page sits alongside the Wellgard sleep guide.

Can what you eat change how you sleep?

Probably, and the evidence is observational. A 2024 systematic review of 23 reports found that people who ate closer to a Mediterranean pattern were less likely to report poor sleep quality, short sleep, daytime sleepiness or insomnia symptoms.¹ In 34 young US adults tracked over 201 diet-and-sleep days, more fruit and vegetables by day predicted less fragmented sleep that night; moving from none to the recommended intake was associated with 16% better sleep quality, and added sugar made no difference.² The link may run both ways, and no trial has yet improved sleep by changing a whole diet.¹

How long before bed should you stop eating?

Two to three hours for a main meal. The NHS says "do not eat a big meal late at night", and its Every Mind Matters sleep page adds that "Eating large meals close to bedtime may make it harder to fall asleep."^{3, 4} In a survey of 793 adults aged 18 to 29, eating within three hours of bedtime was associated with waking in the night (odds ratio 1.61, 95% CI 1.15 to 2.27) but not with taking over 30 minutes to fall asleep (1.24, not significant) or with sleeping six hours or less; adjusted for ethnicity and body mass index, 1.43 (1.00 to 2.04).⁵ Size matters as much as the clock: a 2015 review found the harms were shown for large mixed meals eaten at night, while a small snack of about 150 kcal, a single food or a single nutrient "does not appear to be harmful".⁶

Do carbohydrates help you fall asleep, or does sugar keep you awake?

Twelve healthy men ate a rice meal four hours before bed: after high-glycaemic-index rice they fell asleep in 9.0 minutes on average against 17.5 after low-GI rice (P = 0.009); the same meal one hour before bed gave 14.6 minutes, and no other sleep measure changed. The authors' explanation is that carbohydrate raises plasma tryptophan.⁷

Across 77,860 postmenopausal women in the Women's Health Initiative, 53,069 of them followed for three years, those in the highest fifth for dietary glycaemic index had 16% higher odds of developing insomnia than the lowest fifth (odds ratio 1.16, 95% CI 1.08 to 1.25); added sugars, starch and refined grains went with higher odds, and fibre, whole grains, fruit and vegetables with lower odds.⁸ The Eatwell Guide squares the two: "Base meals on potatoes, bread, rice, pasta or other starchy carbohydrates" and "Choose higher fibre or wholegrain varieties".⁹ No study has shown a single sweet snack costing anyone a night's sleep.

Do kiwis help you sleep?

Two studies, both small. In Taiwan, 24 adults with self-reported sleep problems ate two kiwifruit an hour before bed for four weeks, with no control group: time to fall asleep fell 35.4%, time awake after falling asleep fell 28.9%, total sleep rose 13.4% and sleep efficiency rose 5.41%.¹⁰ In 2023, 24 young men, half of them poor sleepers, ate two fresh kiwifruit, the same amount as a dried powder, or water with a standard evening meal in a single-blind crossover: dried kiwifruit improved morning sleepiness, alertness on waking and vigour; among the poor sleepers ease of waking improved 24% with dried fruit (P = 0.005) and 13% with fresh (P = 0.052, not significant).¹¹ Neither study measured sleep duration against placebo.

Does tart cherry juice help you sleep?

Three placebo-controlled crossover trials, all small, covered in full on do sour cherries help you sleep. In 20 healthy adults, seven days of Montmorency concentrate raised urinary melatonin and increased total sleep time and sleep efficiency.¹² In 15 older adults with chronic insomnia, two weeks of a juice blend reduced insomnia severity and minutes awake after sleep onset against placebo, but not sleep latency, total sleep or efficiency, with effects the authors called "considerably less than" those of sleeping tablets or CBT for insomnia.¹³ In eight completers over 50, 240 mL twice a day for two weeks added 84 minutes of sleep on polysomnography (P = 0.0182).¹⁴ Montmorency cherries contain 13.46 nanograms of melatonin per gram; the third trial's authors point to tryptophan availability instead.^{14, 15} What to drink before bed compares the juice with milk, teas and sleep powders.

Does oily fish help you sleep?

One trial, in an unusual setting. Ninety-five men in a secure forensic facility in the United States were randomised to Atlantic salmon three times a week from September to February or to meat meals of equal nutritional value. Time to fall asleep rose over the winter in the control group and not in the fish group, the fish group reported better daily functioning, and vitamin D status correlated with sleep efficiency (does low vitamin D affect sleep?).¹⁶ The Eatwell Guide says: "Aim for at least 2 portions (2 x 140g) of fish every week, 1 of which should be oily, such as salmon, sardines or mackerel."⁹

Does warm milk, cheese or turkey make you sleepy?

Milk has a systematic review of 14 studies from 1972 to 2019, eight of them randomised: a balanced diet including milk and dairy was associated with better sleep quality, with mixed results across the studies.¹⁷ The tryptophan explanation does not survive the trial numbers. The one meta-analysis of tryptophan taken as a supplement found less time awake after sleep onset only at 1 g a day or more (28.9 minutes awake against 56.6 below 1 g, P = 0.001), and no effect on any other sleep measure.¹⁹ The supplement dose, the UK limit and the antidepressant caution are on does tryptophan help you sleep.

Which foods are high in magnesium?

Magnesium is the one nutrient here with authorised wording in Great Britain: the register allows "Magnesium contributes to a reduction of tiredness and fatigue" and "to normal functioning of the nervous system", and says nothing about sleep. Figures are from the government's Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset (CoFID 2021); what foods contain magnesium has the full list.¹⁸

Glycine has no entry in CoFID; it is most abundant in collagen-rich foods such as gelatine, and no food has been tested for sleep on that basis.

Frequently asked questions

What should I eat 30 minutes before sleep?

If you are hungry, something small: the range not shown to harm sleep is about 150 kcal, a single food rather than a mixed meal, so a pot of plain yoghurt, a banana, a kiwifruit or a slice of wholemeal toast fits.⁶

Is it better to sleep hungry or full?

Neither has evidence in its favour: large late meals are where the harms have been shown, going to bed hungry has not been studied as a sleep outcome, and a small snack has not been shown to harm sleep.^{5, 6}

Which foods are high in melatonin?

Montmorency tart cherries, at 13.46 nanograms per gram, are the best measured, which is about one microgram in a 75 g portion, a thousandth of a milligram.¹⁵ The NHS says "Melatonin is available on prescription only", so no food or food supplement in the UK is a route to a melatonin dose.²⁰

What foods should I avoid if I have insomnia?

The NHS insomnia page says "do not smoke or drink alcohol, tea or coffee at least 6 hours before going to bed" and "do not eat a big meal late at night"; the studies above add a large meal inside three hours of bed and a refined-carbohydrate, added-sugar diet.^{3, 5, 8} If sleep problems have lasted months, or changing your habits has not helped, the NHS says to see a GP; when to see a GP about sleep sets out the thresholds.³

A bedtime routine for adults that works puts meal timing next to light, regularity and wind-down.

Sources

1. Godos J et al. Mediterranean diet and sleep features: systematic review. 2024. PubMed 38257175
2. Boege HL et al. Daytime fruit and vegetable intake and night-time sleep disruption. 2025. PubMed 40506285
3. NHS. Insomnia. nhs.uk
4. NHS Every Mind Matters. How to fall asleep faster and sleep better. nhs.uk
5. Chung N et al. Proximity of meals to bedtime and the sleep of young adults. 2020. PubMed 32295235
6. Kinsey AW, Ormsbee MJ. The health impact of night-time eating. 2015. PubMed 25859885
7. Afaghi A et al. High-glycaemic-index carbohydrate meals shorten sleep onset. 2007. PubMed 17284739
8. Gangwisch JE et al. High glycaemic index and glycaemic load diets and insomnia. 2020. PubMed 31828298
9. NHS. The Eatwell Guide. nhs.uk
10. Lin HH et al. Kiwifruit consumption and sleep quality. 2011. PubMed 21669584
11. Kanon AP et al. Fresh versus dried green kiwifruit and sleep quality. 2023. PubMed 36998905
12. Howatson G et al. Tart cherry juice, melatonin and sleep quality. 2012. PubMed 22038497
13. Pigeon WR et al. Tart cherry juice and sleep in older adults with insomnia. 2010. PubMed 20438325
14. Losso JN et al. Tart cherry juice for insomnia: pilot study. 2018. PubMed 28901958
15. Burkhardt S et al. Melatonin in Montmorency and Balaton tart cherries. 2001. PubMed 11600041
16. Hansen AL et al. Fish consumption, sleep and daily functioning. 2014. PubMed 24812543
17. Komada Y et al. Milk and dairy products and sleep: systematic review. 2020. PubMed 33339284
18. Public Health England. Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset (CoFID), 2021. gov.uk
19. Sutanto CN et al. Tryptophan supplementation and sleep quality: meta-analysis. 2022. PubMed 33942088
20. NHS. About melatonin. nhs.uk