Tryptophan-rich foods

Info source: http://drbenkim.com/best-foods-sleep.html

Here is a list of some healthy foods that are naturally rich in tryptophan:

Beans

Whole grains, including rice

Lentils

Chickpeas

Hazelnuts

Peanuts

Eggs

Sunflower seeds

Sesame seeds

Miso (fermented soy beans)

Unsweetened soy milk

Raw dairy products (if you can tolerate dairy)


The key to getting enough tryptophan to your brain to sleep well at night is to combine a tryptophan-rich food with a carbohydrate-rich food. This is because ingesting a carbohydrate-rich food causes your body to release insulin, which diverts many of your other amino acids away from your brain, leaving tryptophan with little competition to cross your blood-brain barrier to gain access to your brain.