When I was having trouble sleeping last night, I wondered if there was something that I could drink to help me get sleepy. I did some research and found a lot of great information about tea, so I compiled all of it into this quick guide.

Is it good to drink tea before bed? Tea can help you go to sleep, but only if you choose the right kind. More specifically, some types of teas are made with ingredients that are calming, while others have caffeine.

If you are looking for a tea to help you sleep, you should look for something with chamomile, valerian root, lavender, mint, or lemon.

Getting a good night of rest is something that everyone struggles with once in a while. When you are having one of those nights, it can really help to have a nice hot cup of tea to soothe your muscles and help you drift off into sleep.

However, the type of tea that you choose should be ideal for sleeping, instead of something that will wake you up. Keep reading to find out everything you need to know about the do’s and don’ts of drinking tea before bed.

Is It Good To Drink Tea Before Bed?

While trying to wind down at night and go to sleep, sipping on a steaming hot cup of tea can really help you relax. As long as you choose the right blend, that is.

The answer to whether or not it is good to drink tea before bed will really depend on the kind of tea that you are drinking. There are so many versatile tea blends with their own unique ingredients.

Herbal teas are the most beneficial when it comes to sleep. They are natural and can actually be healthy for your body, aside from just helping you get some rest.

When you are looking for a tea to drink before you sleep, it is important to look at the ingredients and make sure that you are not putting anything with caffeine or similar ingredients into your body.

For obvious reasons, this will move you further away from your goal of being tired and going to sleep.

To begin, we will be going over the most desirable ingredients that make up the recipe for the perfect sleepy time tea.

Here are some of the best ingredients and teas to drink at bedtime:

  • Chamomile
  • Mint
  • Valerian Root
  • Lavender
  • Lemon
  • Lemongrass
  • Passionflower
  • Green Tea

One of the most popular ingredients in sleepy tea is chamomile. If you have ever tried one of these blends before, chamomile was probably the main ingredient, whether you realized it or not.

Chamomile is most often blended together with lavender for added sleep benefits. This type of tea has a unique taste, but a relaxing one at that.

Valerian root, on the other hand, is a natural sleep aid that is known to promote good sleep. If you have this problem regularly, you have probably heard of the popular supplement Melatonin.

Melatonin itself is a hormone that is found naturally in the body, and helps us relax and go to sleep at night. There are tons of Melatonin supplements in the form of pills that you can take to help you go to sleep, but a lot of people have steered way from this hormonal treatment.

Valerian root has been identified as the perfect substitute for Melatonin, and a natural one at that. With very similar affects as a sleep aid, you can drink Valerian root tea without the scare of any adverse effects down the line.

When it comes to drinking tea before bed, green tea is a very controversial topic. This is due to the fact that a lot of people drink green tea during the day to help them stay awake and energized.

While green tea does have a lot of added health benefits, does that necessarily mean that it is beneficial to drink it at bedtime?

The answer to this question is yes and no. To be more specific, there are some blends of green tea that are blended with caffeine. As a result, you should only drink this in the morning or throughout the day.

On the other hand, there are lots of green tea blends that are made without caffeine. If you drink one of these before bed, it can actually soothe you and give off the same effects as the teas that were mentioned in the previous section.

Some green tea is even formulated with some of the ingredients that are desirable in a sleepytime tea, including lemon and mint. If you are looking for a tea to relax you and help you sleep, you can choose one of these special blends for that extra push.

Overall, when you are drinking green tea at night, just make sure that there is no caffeine. This will be indicated on the box with the term “decaf” or “de-caffeinated”.

Some of the other desirable ingredients include mint, lemon, lemongrass, and passionflower. You can drink these teas all by themselves, or find them in an alternate form where they are all mixed together.

The most important thing to pay attention to when you are trying to find a bedtime tea is the list of ingredients. If you see one or more of these items on the packaging, in the absence of caffeine, you can use it as a more natural push in the right direction when it comes to getting your full 8 hours.

Teas You Should Stay Away From Before You Sleep

While it is true that there are a lot of teas that can aid you in falling asleep, there are plenty of other types that you should stay away from. This is due to the fact that a lot of these teas are actually meant to help you stay awake, rather than fall asleep.

It is important to understand the purpose of the tea that you are choosing in order to achieve the best possible results. With that being said, you shouldn’t drink any kind of breakfast tea or similar blends that contain high caffeine content.

Here are some of the teas that you should stay away from before you sleep:

This article is owned by Sleeping Report and was first published on June 3, 2019

  • Green tea (with caffeine)
  • Black tea
  • White tea
  • Oolong tea

As previously mentioned, it is okay to drink a warm cup of green tea before bed in order to relax your muscles, especially when you mix it with lemon or mint for additional help sleeping.

However, you should not drink green tea that has caffeine in it. The green tea that you use for bedtime should specifically state that it is decaf or caffeine free on the box. Otherwise, you will be counterproductive in your efforts to go to sleep.

Even if the box of green tea that you see on the shelf in the store indicates that it is blended with a lot of good ingredients that promote sleep, it can still contain caffeine. So, the moral of the story is that you should always double check the labels when this is your goal.

Black tea is something that you should stay away from in general when you are trying to go to sleep. These types of teas are very highly oxidized, meaning that they transfer electrons, or energy, when you drink them.

They are also highly caffeinated, and are usually used in a lot of breakfast tea blends. As you can probably tell, breakfast teas are meant to keep you awake in the morning and throughout the day, very similar to the effects of coffee.

This article is owned by Sleeping Report and was first published on June 3, 2019

You would never drink a cup of coffee before bed when you are trying to relax and sleep, so you shouldn’t do it with black tea either.

Similarly, white tea and oolong tea also have high levels of oxidation. This is something that you should stay away from when you are in search of a good bedtime tea.

If you have come across another type or blend of tea that was not mentioned in this article, it would benefit you to do some of your own research in order to find out more about it before you use it for sleeping.

In general, the positive ingredients list from the first section can guide you in the right direction, along with checking for caffeine content. Furthermore, a simple Google search will let you know if the tea of your choice is highly oxidized, or if it is a good choice for inducing sleep.

To recap, some of the best teas for bedtime include chamomile, valerian root, decaffeinated green tea, and lavender, while the worst ones are black, white, oolong, and green tea with caffeine.

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Final Thoughts

As you can see, the positives and negatives of drinking tea at bedtime really depend on the type of tea that you are drinking. Overall, though, if you are thorough in finding your perfect cup of tea, you will be able to enjoy relaxing sleep instead of putting up with those sleepless nights that you might be used to.