What Teas To Drink Before Bed (By Science!)

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⏰ IN A RUSH?

Today’s 30-Second Summary

If you don’t have time to read the whole email today, here are some key takeaways:

• Today’s main feature looks at the science (or in some cases, lack thereof) for 5 top teas sold as sleep aids.

  • Camomile comes out on top; valerian has almost no reliable science for it. Lavender may help calm a racing mind, as it is an anxiolytic, but probably isn’t a sedative.

  • Check out the main feature for more!

• Do you sometimes struggle to make the right choices in your diet even when you know what the right choices are?

  • Today’s sponsor, Noom, is offering 10almonds readers a two-week free trial of their service that uses psychology to make healthy eating easier!

Read on to learn more about these things, or click here to visit our archive

🤫 A WORD TO THE WISE

👀 WATCH AND LEARN

Making Food Choices Better And Easier (3:48)

If you’ve ever felt the struggle of “the oatmeal vs pastry dilemma”, of knowing which is healthier—but knowing isn’t the problem, then this short video may help:

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Want to watch it, but not right now? Bookmark it for later 🔖

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❓️ THIS OR THAT?

Vote on Which is Healthier

Yesterday we asked you to choose between Coca-Cola and Diet Coke—we picked the Diet Coke* (click here to read about why), as did 37% of you!

We’ve done a Sugar Mythbusting main feature before; we’ll do one for aspartame soon!

^{*We absolutely do not recommend either though; the diet version is simply measurably less bad.}

Now for today’s choice:

Click on whichever you think is better for you!

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🫖 MAIN FEATURE

Which Sleepy Tea?

Herbal “tea” preparations (henceforth we will write it without the quotation marks, although these are not true teas) are popular for winding down at the end of a long day ready for a relaxing sleep.

Today we’ll look at the science for them! We’ll be brief for each, because we’ve selected five and have only so much room, but here goes:

Camomile

Simply put, it works and has plenty of good science for it. Here’s just one example:

Therapeutic efficacy and safety of chamomile for state anxiety, generalized anxiety disorder, insomnia, and sleep quality: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials and quasi-randomized trials

Also this writer’s favourite relaxation drink!

(example on Amazon if you want some)

Lavender

We didn’t find robust science for its popularly-claimed sedative properties, but it does appear to be anxiolytic, and anxiety gets in the way of sleep, so while lavender may not be a sedative, it may calm a racing mind all the same, thus facilitating better sleep:

The effect of lavender herbal tea on the anxiety and depression of the elderly: A randomized clinical trial

(example on Amazon if you want some)

Magnolia

Animal study for the mechanism:

Magnolol, a major bioactive constituent of the bark of Magnolia officinalis, induces sleep via the benzodiazepine site of GABA(A) receptor in mice

Human study for “it is observed to help humans sleep better”:

A randomized controlled pilot study of the effectiveness of magnolia tea on alleviating depression in postnatal women

👆 As you can see from the title, its sedative properties weren’t the point of the study, but if you click through to read it, you can see that they found (and recorded) this benefit anyway

(example on Amazon if you want some)

Passionflower

There’s not a lot of evidence for this one, but there is some. Here’s a small study (n=41) that found:

A double-blind, placebo-controlled investigation of the effects of Passiflora incarnata (passionflower) herbal tea on subjective sleep quality

So, that’s not exactly a huge body of evidence, but it is promising.

(example on Amazon if you want some)

Valerian

We’ll be honest, the science for this one is sloppy. It’s very rare to find Valerian tested by itself (or sold by itself; we had to dig a bit to find one for the Amazon link below), and that skews the results of science and renders any conclusions questionable.

And the studies that were done? Dubious methods, and inconclusive results:

Valerian Root in Treating Sleep Problems and Associated Disorders-A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Nevertheless, if you want to try it for yourself, you can do a case study (i.e., n=1 sample) if not a randomized controlled trial, and let us know how it goes :)

(example on Amazon if you want some)

Summary

• Valerian we really don’t have the science to say anything about it

• Passionflower has some nascent science for it, but not much

• Lavender is probably not soporific, but it is anxiolytic

• Magnolia almost certainly helps, but isn’t nearly so well-backed as…

• Camomile comes out on top, easily—by both sheer weight of evidence, and by clear conclusive uncontroversial results.

Enjoy!

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📖 ONE-MINUTE BOOK REVIEW

Becoming a Supple Leopard: The Ultimate Guide to Resolving Pain, Preventing Injury, and Optimizing Athletic Performance – by Dr. Kelly Starrett and Glen Cordoza

We've previously reviewed Dr. Starrett's other book, "Built To Move", and now today we'll review his more famous book!

Why is this one so famous? It's popularly considered "the Bible of Cross-Fit", even though it's not at all marketed as such, and nor does it talk about Cross Fit directly. But: people who are interested in being fit, fast, strong, mobile, stable, and so forth, tend to invest in this book at some point if they are serious.

The book is big, heavy, and textbook-like. This isn't a quick light read. This is a "study over the course of a year or more while doing your physiotherapy degree" book. And yet, it's written for the widest audience, and as such, everything is explained from the ground up, so no prior knowledge is expected.

It does have pictures, which are clear and helpful, though the print version is better for this than the Kindle edition.

The subtitle of the book is no lie; it does indeed cover all those things, deeply and at length, for everything musculoskeletal.

Bottom line: this book will seriously improve your knowledge and understanding of all things body mechanics and related body maintenance. If you care to get/remain fit/strong/mobile/etc, this book is a fine cornerstone for such endeavors.

Click here to check out Becoming A Supple Leopard, and become a supple leopard!*

^{*Metaphorically. Furry metamorphosis is not a side-effect. Suppleness, however, is on offer. Yes, even for you, dear reader!}

Wishing you a wonderfully restorative weekend,

The 10almonds Team