You’ve tried everything: valerian root, melatonin, GABA, passionflower, lemon balm, milk and honey and prescription medications but nothing is getting to the root of your bout with insomnia. With modern stressors, poor eating habits and a disruption of our circadian rhythm due to excess blue light from devices and TV, people are suffering unnecessarily with sleeping issues.
There are many things we can do to help us get a better night’s sleep. Reducing stress through meditation is a great place to start if racing thoughts are increasing anxiety during the day and night. Cutting back on the amount of blue light from devices especially later in the day is effective. Our body needs softer amber hues by then to help produce the much needed melatonin, the hormone that helps us fall asleep. One of the most effective and most natural ways, however, to hack our sleep is through improved diet.
Balancing blood sugar is the key to keeping our adrenal glands calm and happy instead of anxious and nervous. When we eat a high carb breakfast in the morning, our body sends out the insulin to manage the blood sugar increase. Shortly after, your blood sugar levels drop and you may experience anxiety and irritation. If this happens over night, you may jolt awake. High blood sugar may also prevent you from getting to sleep since your body perceives this as a threat and is ready for fight or flight.
Moringa, also known by the Latin name, Moringa oleifera, has more than 1300 published studies to back up its beneficial effects on health but the more interesting ones to me have to do with its effect on managing blood sugar conditions like Diabetes.[i], [ii], [iii], [iv]
Absolutely Moringa has a fantastic nutrient profile as well as its blood sugar balancing properties. This plant extract boasts ample muscle-relaxing Magnesium (8x more than Kale). It contains plenty of antioxidants (7x more Vitamin C than oranges) to help with oxidative stress than can disrupt sleep. As a sleep lover’s bonus, it also contains Tryptophan the amino acid that converts to Serotonin (feel calm neurotransmitter) and then Melatonin (fall asleep hormone) in the body. Vitamin B6 is along for the ride too. It helps convert the tryptophan to those lovely calm and sleepy chemicals Serotonin and Melatonin.
So maybe you’ve been wondering as you peruse the grocery store aisles if Moringa is worth it. Yes, stop and pick this plant extract up and enjoy the benefits of a deeper sleep.
As I searched ways to use Moringa, I came up with a bunch of information on it’s use in shakes. I wanted to create a recipe that you can eat as a snack mid-morning or later in the evening. These Moringa Moon Bites are easy and delicious and contain not only Moringa but another stellar ingredient known to help produce Melatonin—Walnuts!
Moringa Moon Bites
Moringa is a super plant food full of vitamins and minerals to help you feel more energy during the day and lull you to sleep at night.
Ingredients
- -3/4 cup dates, pitted
- -1 cup walnuts
- -1/4 cup hemp seeds
- -2 Tbsp shredded coconut + 3 Tbsp for coating
- -2 Tbsp Moringa powder
Directions
- Step 1 -add everything to a food processor (except extra coconut) and mix till smooth
- Step 2 -roll into balls (to guarantee equal size use a scale—mine are all precisely 25 grams)
- Step 3 -roll in the coconut 🌴 🥥
- Step 4 -harden in fridge or even freezer
- Step 5 -serve with love and enjoy in the morning or evening as snacks
[i] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25620073/
[ii] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19501271/
[iii] https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/09637489309017439