The trick now is to liberate the tryptophan from the protein in these foods and make it accessible to the brain.
You do that by eating a late-night snack consisting solely of complex carbohydrates. Although the actual mechanism by which a vegetarian snack provides tryptophan with priority transportation to the brain remains a mystery, its effectiveness has been amply demonstrated by numerous insomnia researchers.
Serotonin also promotes sleep. And sleep clinics use this same nutritional technique to get tryptophan through the blood-brain barrier of their insomnia patients late in the day.
Either sweet or starchy complex carbohydrates will release tryptophan and speed it to the brain. Among sweet carbohydrates are apples, bananas, dates, pears, raisins or melons. Starchy carbohydrates that work well include beans, com, oatmeal, parsnips, peas, potatoes, brown rice, sweet potatoes, whole grains (including bread) and winter squash.
For example, dinner might include baked cod with steamed potatoes, com and brown rice together with a slice of whole grain bread spread with son avocado and eaten with a small cup of plain nonfat yogurt. For a late night-snack, you might try a sandwich of whole-grain bread spread with avocado, using a banana as filler. The bread should be 100 percent whole-grain and free of oils, fats or sweeteners. Most health food stores carry such breads. Or you could use pita bread made exclusively of whole-grain flour. (Be warned that most “whole-grain” breads on supermarket shelves are made “with” not “exclusively of” whole grains, and the majority are made with fats, oils or sweeteners.)
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