The Best Warm Drinks To Help You Get To Sleep

Long dark winter evenings are the perfect time to snuggle up at home with a blanket, a boxset and a warm drink.

However, while it may keep you warm, sipping on caffeine-rich tea or coffee isn’t the way to ensure you have a restful night’s sleep.

TEMPUR takes a look at the best warm drinks for a chilly winter’s evening to ensure you are snug and sleepy when it comes to bedtime…

Chamomile Tea

Chamomile tea is a classic sleep-inducer. Best about 30 minutes before bed, it’s actually considered a very mild sedative! One that’s sure to calm you right before bed to promote a great night’s sleep.

Not only does it promote sleepiness, but it is also good for calming an upset stomach.

It’s best to stir the chamomile leaves for at least 10 minutes before drinking for optimum flavour, while a touch of lavender can also add an extra soothing note to warm your senses.

Hops Tea

Sticking with the tea theme, Hops tea is a great stress reliever as it relaxes your body and calms your nerves, making it the perfect drink to have before bed.

Hops tea can be found online or in many health food stores and is particularly popular due to it being completely natural and organic.

Malted Drinks

Being incredibly rich, malt-based powder drinks can help produce endorphins in your body which can lead to a positive mind-set right before bed, thus helping you get to sleep.

This also works brilliantly with warm almond milk for those that can’t have dairy or simply fancy something different.

It’s often high in vitamins and minerals which is said to help relax your muscles and therefore help you wind down before heading to bed.

Traditional Hot Chocolate (Marshmallows Optional!)

In these winter months there really is nothing better than curling up in the warmth of your own home with a cup of delicious hot chocolate and, like malted drinks, it helps create a positive mind-set before you sleep.

While some hot chocolates are quite high in sugar and fat content there are ways around this.

Try dark chocolate which has a higher cocoa content but less sugar than regular milk chocolate. This with hot skimmed milk could be the ultimate chocolatey nightcap.

Warm Milk

We finish with the simple glass of warm milk.

With a high calcium content resulting in a soothing warmth that’s meant to help you relax, it’s no wonder it remains an enduringly popular pre-bed drink.

It is also incredibly rich in tryptophan which our bodies convert into serotonin – a natural hormone within the body that makes us sleepy!

For the more health conscious among us, it’s good to note that milk is sugar and additive free, with Skimmed being the least fattening but still high in calcium and protein.

So, kick back and relax on your soft mattress and let these hot drinks carry you off to sleep…