Catch More Zs with Bone Broth
Sleep is easy in theory, but unfortunately it isn’t so simple for everyone. Fortunately for us, better sleep can come from a steamy, delicious much of bone broth!
How many of us have developed a nightly cocktail habit in an attempt to unwind after a long day, only to find ourselves wide awake with racing thoughts in the middle of the night? Or feeling groggy the next morning? We at Brodo would never want to take the joy of a delicious beverage away from you, but we’d like to offer you a healthy alternative! Our craft beverage of choice is a steaming mug of bone broth. To make it feel extra fancy, you can add a twist of lemon, a teaspoon of minced ginger, or a couple shakes of cayenne pepper. After indulging in a mug of bone broth, you’ll get to sleep in no time.
When I first started working for Brodo, I was very excited about trying this legendary bone broth but was admittedly a little skeptical of making it my evening beverage. Then I tried drinking it just before bed and I honestly don’t remember anything else about the night because that’s how fast I fell asleep! Even better, I slept like a baby the entire night.
Another thing I like about drinking bone broth is that if I accidentally miss dinner and find myself hungry at 8 or 9pm, I can sip on a bone broth and feel satisfied without increasing my blood glucose right before bed. Going to sleep hungry is difficult, but so is sleeping on a full stomach.
Bone broth doesn’t need to be drunk at the end of the night in order to benefit your sleep, however. Glycine, an amino acid that’s marketed as a sleep aid, is found in abundance in bone broth. It can help calm your nerves, improve your digestion, and assists in a whole host of other bodily functions. If you’d like to get geeky about all the healthy amino acids in bone broth, we wrote a whole article about them!
There are many important building blocks that lay the foundation to a good night’s rest. Unfortunately we can’t drink 12 cups of coffee per day and expect that drinking one mug of bone broth before bed is going to fix everything. However, bone broth can help you with the other things that help you get to sleep and stay asleep through the night:
Master Your Morning Routine
Many of us greet the day unenthusiastically because we didn’t get a good night’s rest. In order to ease the transition into our daily grind, some of us stay in bed as long as possible before work, some of us scroll through our phones while drinking coffee, and some of us down a few bowls of sugary cereal in front of the TV. But if your schedule allows for it, your body will thank you for practicing a healthy morning routine. Getting outside in the sunlight, even on cloudy days, can help you feel more awake in the morning which helps set you on a good schedule. Even better, get a walk or workout in. Even a short walk can reduce stress, increase energy levels, and reduce blood glucose.
Eat a Healthy Diet
Eating diets high in processed and other unhealthy foods can wreak havoc on your sleep cycle. These “convenience foods” can leave you feeling sick, bloated, and ultimately drained of energy during the day. Going to bed with elevated glucose levels can also disrupt sleep.
Eating a healthy diet rich in whole, unprocessed foods is not only important for your body’s essential functions – it helps you feel strong and healthy in body and mind. We’re proud to offer bone broth as a healthy and delicious food on its own, but also as a vessel for vegetables, whole grains, and meats.
Limit or Eliminate Caffeine Intake (And Only Consume it in the Morning if you Do)
Better yet, swap out your morning coffee for Brodo! Especially if you’re the type to indulge in a sugary latte or two, drinking bone broth instead will do wonders for your health. Even if you cannot bear to part with your morning cup o’ joe, try replacing your second cup with a delicious mug of Brodo.
Limit or Eliminate Naps
Naps are polarizing. Some people can spring up after 20 minutes and feel rejuvenated, while others wake up four hours later feeling even more tired than when they went down. Some peoples’ schedules don’t allow for a full 8 hours of sleep per night, so naps are essential. However if your schedule allows for enough time to get a good rest at night but you’re sleeping poorly, try to cut the naps or keep them to a minimum. It may be difficult at first, but once you start getting a good night’s sleep, it will become much easier.
Supplements
There are a multitude of supplements on the market that are pushed on us as being helpful to sleep. Some of them work and some of them don’t – we will send you to your healthcare practitioner to chime in on this. However, as mentioned above, glycine in pill form is marketed as a sleep aid – so why not get your glycine naturally from bone broth? We’re not against people taking their prescribed medications, but we do tend to opt for natural, food-based options whenever they’re available. That’s because they’re easier to absorb by the body, usually provide other nutrients, are less prone to be addictive, and tend to cost less.
Your Bedtime Routine
There are all sorts of things that can be a part of a good bedtime routine, but the major thing to not do is stare at a screen before bed. Getting bright light in your eyes reduces melatonin, the natural hormone that helps you feel sleepy. Here are a list of potential things to add to your routine:
- Brush your teeth (not optional!)
- Drink a soothing beverage such as bone broth or non-caffeinated tea without sugar added
- Read a book (if you must read on a device, turn the light down and/or turn off blue light)
- Unplug electronic devices that emit light, especially blue light
- Turn your phone to silent or off
- Swap overhead lighting for a soothing scented candle
- Take a bath
- Listen to calming music
- Write in a gratitude journal to help you redirect your stressful thoughts to positive ones
- If you live in a loud area, turn on a fan or other source of white noise
- Turn down the heat – a cooler room can promote better sleep
- Practice consistency – choose a set bedtime and waking time. Try not to stray too far from your chosen routine, but don’t sweat it if you can’t stick to it on the weekends
To recap, bone broth works wonders for your sleep because it positively affects so many aspects of our health. It contains compounds that promote relaxation, it works acutely as well as a maintenance measure, it helps keep your blood glucose in check, it’s a healthy alternative to caffeine and alcohol, and so on. And unlike some superfoods, it’s delicious – making it easy for you to incorporate it into your daily routine.
To make your own bone broth, check out the recipes in the “Learn” section of this site and in the Brodo cookbook. For those who want Brodo broth delivered, place your order on order.brodo.com if you’re in New York City, and for nationwide shipping, order here.
