One evening, my partner put a kiwi in my hand and told me to eat it. I followed the advice and experienced no trouble falling or staying asleep. It worked the next day too.
But it doesn’t seem like she and I are the only ones who found kiwis can be a successful sleep aid. There is research to suggest that kiwis can play a role in better sleep.
A 2011 study published in the Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that eating kiwi about an hour before bed could extend sleep, improve sleep, and make it easier to fall asleep.
When participants ate two kiwis about an hour before bedtime, they fell asleep 42% faster than those who did not eat kiwi. They also increased their ability to stay asleep throughout the night by 5 percent and slept 13 percent longer.
Kiwi may help promote sleep for a few reasons. The most important is that it increases serotonin, a natural chemical in your body that plays a role in the sleep cycle. Kiwi is also straightforward to digest, so your body doesn’t have to rev up to break it down.
Aside from being a potential sleep aid, kiwi is an excellent contributor to a healthy diet. It is a great source of vitamin C and vitamin K and a host of other antioxidants. These compounds may help relieve inflammation and bolster immune health.
Your digestive system also has something to gain from eating kiwi. Kiwi is a decent source of fiber that can contribute to a host of benefits.
Eating a kiwi or two about an hour before bedtime may help improve how quickly you fall asleep, its quality, and duration. It also provides another opportunity to include some more healthy fruit in your diet. Give it a try!