The forgotten secret to a good night’s sleep that may already be in your kitchen

Forget sleeping pills, earplugs or fluffy pillows. The real secret to a good night’s sleep could be a banana smoothie before bed, according to a study.

Researchers found that those who had trouble falling asleep fell asleep faster and for longer if they ate those two foods late in the night.

Eating a banana reduced the time it took insomniacs to fall asleep, from an average of two hours to 36 minutes.

It also helped them stay asleep almost an hour longer than usual.

Meanwhile, a milky drink reduced the time volunteers stayed awake from more than two hours to just over one.

Researchers found that those who had trouble falling asleep fell asleep faster and stayed asleep longer if they treated themselves to milk and bananas as their last meal of the night.

Sleep duration also increased among milk drinkers.

One in three adults in the UK suffers from insomnia. It is estimated that the UK economy loses around £34 billion a year due to the effects of chronic insomnia.

The research, published in the Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition, followed 21 people with insomnia, with just over half consuming a whole banana and a small cup of milk every night for six weeks, and the other half trying to sleep as usual.

Scientists said they believe the secret is that both bananas and milk are rich sources of tryptophan, a chemical vital to numerous bodily functions, including sleep.

Once tryptophan is in the body, it is converted into a sleep-promoting hormone called melatonin.

In a report on the findings, researchers from Istanbul University of Health Sciences in Turkey said: ‘Foods high in tryptophan, such as bananas and milk, may improve sleep disturbances when consumed before bedtime.

‘Both are known to have sleep-inducing effects.’