Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime Extra
If your mom microwaved Sleepytime for you when you were young and she needed you to go to bed already for the love of god, youll recognize the huge, snoring bear on the box from a mile away. Celestial Seasonings tried to rebrand, and thousands of calls and emails cried out UM, NO. So they brought the bear back, and the world is a better place for it. The herbs arent organic, so the yogi-wellness gurus I consulted dont adore this one, but I doand I think you will too. Theyve managed to cook up a flavorful herbal blend thats slightly sweet, minty, and chamomile-forward without any bitterness. Plus, its heavy on the most powerful ingredient of all: nostalgia. Well, nostalgia and valerian, which is what makes this Sleepytime EXTRA.
Verdict: You can consider this one the Coca-Cola of sleepy teas. The flavor is comforting, powerful, and downright good. Its a solid choice that checks all of the boxes and can be found at pretty much any grocery storeBOOM.
How Do You Know Youre Buying Quality Tea
You can recognize good quality tea by the shape of the tea leaves, flower buds, or herbs. Lower quality tea is often crumbled or powdered.
Good quality herbal tea, on the other hand, will more closely resemble a dried bouquet. This means youll probably see pieces of fruit, plants, or flowers in your tea.
Dried herbs and flowers should have some weight and color to them, along with a fragrance not unlike the fresh plant. Old, low quality herbs feel lightweight, and they probably wont have as much fragrance or taste.
Your tea doesnt have to be top-tier to get the job done, of course, so dont feel bad about sticking to your favorite stash or Celestial Seasonings blend we drink them, too!
Will Bedtime Tea Help My Insomnia
Bedtime tea can help you relax before bed and reduce stress and anxiety, which could improve sleep quality.
However, while bedtime tea may be beneficial for mild sleep issues, note that it should not be considered a cure-all for severe insomnia or other sleep difficulties .
Instead, try enjoying a cup of bedtime tea as part of your nightly routine and be sure to practice other healthy sleep habits, like setting a regular sleep schedule, minimizing the use of electronic devices before bed, and limiting caffeine intake.
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Valerian Root To Ease Slumber
Valerian root has compounds that work in a similar way to pharmaceutical anti-anxiety meds. The antioxidants, valerenic acid, and other components in valerian root stop your brain and nervous system from breaking down gamma aminobutyric acid , a chemical messenger that plays a role in regulating your brain and nervous system.
High GABA levels are linked to reduced brain activity, which can help with feeling calm and sleepy. While there are studiesthatreport users experiencing better sleep after taking valerian supplements, many are older and havent been replicated in larger trials. The most recent study is a pilot double-blind, randomized trial where patients with OCD reported reduced symptoms after taking valerian root capsules after eight weeks.
Who shouldnt try this? Valerian is generally safe, but there are reports of headaches, dizziness, stomach problems, and drowsiness from people who take valerian supplements. Because of this, Davis warns, you probably don’t want to mix it with sleep aids, alcohol, or antidepressants.
Teas To Stay Away From
Keep caffeinated teas as a daytime treat. Black, green, and white teas, and pu-erh and yerba mate teas all have caffeine some of which can have the same amount as an espresso coffee, says San Diego.
You may also notice licorice root in many of the sleep teas, however experts suggest exercising caution with drinking this flavor of tea, especially for children and pregnant people. Too much licorice root may cause low potassium levels, weakness in the muscles, and heart rhythm abnormalities. Talk to your doctor before trying teas with licorice root.
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Best Time To Drink Sleep Tea
Drinking tea before bed can create a wonderful bedtime routine to enhance quality sleep. Yet it can also cause you have to wake up and use the bathroom when you least expect it. I recommend drinking a sleep tea about 30 minutes before bedtime so it gives you a chance to relieve yourself before you crash.
I recommend you use my recipe below to get a great night sleep night after night. Having a little bit of protein and healthy fats from the almond milk will help your brain and body recharge itself as well.
This is the best tea for sleep and happens to be a part of our 7-Day Plant-Based Reset. If youre wanting to not just sleep better, but feel better all the time check out my best-selling program. Over 25,000 woman have gone through it and discovered the tranformational power of a plant-based diet. Youll lose weight, gain energy and sleep better than you have in years.
When Should I Drink Herbal Tea For Sleep
Were tea enthusiasts, so theres no time of day that we wouldnt indulge in a comforting mug of herbal tea. However, if your main aim is to get a better nights sleep, you probably want to have at least one of those mugs in the evening.
Theres a bit of a balance to strike here. While drinking herbal tea before bed might help you sleep better, you dont want to find that youre waking up needing to go to the bathroom. Its best to leave about an hour between finishing your cup and switching off the lights, so the tea has time to take effect and you can empty your bladder before bed.
We also recommend making herbal tea part of a calming evening routine. Having set activities that you carry out in the hour or so before bed can help you relax and unwind so that it is easier to fall asleep. Switch off the screens, turn the lights down low, perhaps have a warm bath, read a book, or do some gentle stretching.
If you are still struggling to drop off, you might need to look at the rest of your day too and think about making some changes. For example, if youre a fan of caffeinated drinks, you could try limiting these to the mornings and switch to herbal tea after lunch instead.
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Does Green Or Black Tea Make You Sleepy
Yes, if you drank green, black, or white tea, and had too much of it, it can downright tire you out and youll want asleep within the hour.
Bear with me.
If you rarely ever drink anything with caffeine in it, then even the little amount in tea will be potent for you.
We each have our own resistance to caffeine, and that can be made stronger by ingesting more and more caffeine. Its why heavy coffee drinkers can go to sleep after a cup of coffee, and end up drinking more and more coffee.
But if you drink too much caffeine in one go ? Like 3 cups of green tea in an evening ?
The that will overwork your system and youll end up tired, since your blood pressure and alertness were much too high for a short amount of time.
Its milder forms include sweating, heart flutters, and general anxiety.
Some people are more prone to these effects. I for one dont get the shakes after too much green or black tea, but I had my fair share of staring at the ceiling, wishing Id fall asleep already.
When it comes to green tea, black tea, even white tea, these contain caffeine.
This means that they will keep you up, but not as much as a cup of coffee since:
- tea contains much less caffeine than coffee
- L-theanine in tea makes caffeine work differently
- tea is warm, and will relax you by warmth alone
When you brew yourself a nice cup of green tea, youre ingesting antioxidants, caffeine, tannins, and L-theanine. Now, the way L-thenine works is that it binds itself to the caffeine molecules.
Celestial Seasonings Wellness Tea Sleepytime Extra
Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime Extra Tea is a caffeine-free and gluten-free tea that promotes drowsiness before bed with its herbal blend of calming chamomile and valerian root. Valerian root is used in herbal medicine to treat insomnia because it increases levels of the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid , which increases sleepiness and reduces anxiety. The tea is all-natural and has an herbaceous flavor with ingredients such as spearmint, West Indian lemongrass, hawthorn berries, and orange blossoms. The tea steeps in 4-6 minutes.
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Can Tea Help You Sleep
The answer is both yes and noit largely depends on what kind of tea you’re drinking and how your body responds to caffeine. In general, tea is great for bedtime. From preparing it to sipping it, tea has a calming effect. The ritual of bedtime tea can help you wind down at night and improve sleep quality.
- As a nighttime ritual. Drinking tea has become a nighttime ritual for many people. Boiling the water, steeping your tea, and waiting for it to be ready to drink can be a very tranquil, mindful experience. It helps your brain and body wind down from your crazy day, making preparing the tea as relaxing as drinking it.
- Get you in the mood to sleep. Another great thing about incorporating tea into your bedtime routine is that it can get you away from your screens and into the mindset of sleep.
By taking 20 minutes to sip a cup of tea at night, you get a chance to decompress and unwind instead of scrolling through social media and exposing your brain to blue light before bed. Sipping tea can also help get you to a meditative state so you can reflect on your day rather than being in front of a screen before you go to sleep.
- Some ingredients in tea help sleep quality. Although it is caffeinated, Green tea has an ingredient called L-theanine that can help you focus and relax.
Yogi Tea Soothing Caramel Bedtime
Lets face it: Sometimes, youre just not in the mood for a floral tea, and who doesnt like the sound of a sweet dessert-like tea before bed. Yogi Tea Soothing Caramel Bedtime is the answer to our wishes. This soothing herbal tea has a sweet, indulgent taste of vanilla and caramel with notes of chamomile and rooibos. The sleepy blend of rooibos tea includes chamomile flower, skullcap, and L-theanine, with chicory, nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, vanilla, caramel, and sweet stevia.
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How Can Tea Help You Sleep Better
Herbal teas have been used for centuries as a natural remedy for common ailments and conditionsthere are teas for sore throats, teas for stomach aches, teas for weight loss, and, you guessed it, teas for sleep.
The best teas for sleep are known to have certain relaxation and sedative properties that can send you into a slumber so calming even Sleeping Beauty would be jealous. But, a good night time tea does so much more than help you sleepit contains medicinal characteristics that can improve your overall health!
So, lets dive into the top 7 best teas to drink before bed in more detail to shed some light on how they can help improve sleep quality and the other health benefits you can expect when you add them to your nightly routine.
Final Thoughts On The Best Teas For Sleep
If youve made it to this point in our guide, you now have seven delicious and relaxing teas to choose from if youre struggling to fall asleep or clock enough restful sleep. Experiment with different types to see which work best for your body.
As long as you enjoy these sleep teas well before you head to bed, youll be able to reap their calming effects without disrupting your sleep or feeling drowsy the next day.
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Do Herbal Sleep Teas Taste Good
Herbal teas may not taste pleasant. But many manufacturers produce herbal teas from a combination of two or more herbs . These combinations taste better than individual herbs. Some herbal teas
If you are committed to treating your sleep problems, then taste should not be your number one preference. If people can love the bitter taste of beer and other alcoholic drinks, you too can learn to love the okayish taste of herbal sleep teas.
Lavender For Anxiety Relief
Lavender is grouped with chamomile as an anxiety-reducing powerhouse, but it also features aromatherapeutic properties that further induce relaxation through ones sense of smell. In fact, theres a study on pharmaceutical-grade lavender oil capsules which determined the plant extract to be comparable to the benzodiazepine lorazepam. Linalool is the active component here that also gives lavender its signature scent. In fact, research also shows the smell of lavender helps reduce anxiety symptoms.
Who shouldnt try this? Current studies show lavender is generally safe, but there have been reported negative side effects like nausea and indigestion for the oral supplements. These side effects are why experts caution against eating or drinking essential oils, unless pharmaceutically manufactured.
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What Teas Are Good For Sleep
Herbal tea is a popular choice for sleep because it has little or no caffeine in it as opposed to something like black tea, which is almost as caffeinated as coffee. Below Ill share a list of my favorite nighttime teas, many of which in addition to helping you sleep, have other health benefits.
Note: While these teas have been shown to have a positive effect on sleep and relaxation, the research is continually evolving and well report more here as we continue to explore teas full effect on your sleep.
Read Or Write Before Bed
Looking for ways to get more sleep or better sleep? Are you the kind of person who lies awake at night, tormented by thoughts of grocery lists, bills and the things you need to clean this week?
One way that people swear by to eliminate this problem is to write before bed. Or to simply write down your feelings from that day. Write down what you did and what you still need to do.
Write down all of the thoughts in your head that you know will be bugging you and interrupting your sleep.
You could also try reading a good book. This is a great way to wind down and push all of those random thoughts and concerns out of your mind.
Pick a relaxing book that is entertaining but not too stimulating to read before bed instead of scrolling online.
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Runner Up: Rishi Chamomile Medley
What Its Supposed to Taste Like
Our gourmet chamomile blend offers a honey-like sweetness with subtle, soothing counterpoints of citrus-scented herbs. Chamomile has been used as a calming folk herb tea throughout the Mediterranean for millennia, dating back to Ancient Greece. This timeless blend is designed to relax, refresh and please the palate.
What It Actually Tastes Like
This is a solid cup of chamomile tea if what you like is plain chamomile tea. I was actually surprised to see that this one is made with additional herbs and aromatics, as ingredients like lemongrass and spearmint were less pronounced than in other medleys I tried.
The Best Teas For Energy Digestion Sleep And More
Tea is the second most widely consumed beverage in the world , according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. While coffee drinking overshadows tea consumption in the United States, the Tea Association of the U.S.A. reports that 80 percent of American households have some form of tea in the cupboard, and more than 159 million Americans drink it on a daily basis.
With these impressive stats, its no wonder that new brands of tea and tea blends are constantly popping up on store shelves. A quick for types of teas returns an overwhelming 20+ selections, and that doesnt even include the many different flavors.
Almost 80 percent of US households have some form of tea in the cupboard.
While the sheer magnitude of tea options may be overwhelming, the good news is that many studies suggest that tea is a generally healthy beverage especially if you’re using it to replace sugary beverages or fight the midnight munchies. But some of the touted benefits should be taken with a grain of salt: Many believe that drinking green tea can help you shed pounds or lower stress levels, but both claims are a bit exaggerated. No tea alone will shrink your waistline , and the calming effects have only been observed when drinking caffeine-free green tea.
Instead of wandering down the tea aisle dazed and confused, try these sips for their science-backed benefits.
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What Beverages Can Keep You Up At Night
Caffeine isnât the only thing you should avoid before bedtime. While caffeine can make it difficult for you to fall asleep or stay asleep, some other beverages and foods may keep you up at night.
- Sugary Drinks. Try to avoid any sugary drinks or foods before bed. It isnât clear whether sugar consumption is a cause of insomnia and other difficulties sleeping, but a lot of sugar before bed can be a reason some people struggle to fall asleep.
- Alcohol. Avoid drinking alcohol before bed to promote better sleep. While a drink or two may reduce the time it takes to fall asleep, it typically leads to less restful sleep. It can also cause dependency on alcohol to fall asleep, increasing the risk of insomnia and other sleep issues.