Does Hot Chocolate Help You Sleep?

Sleep is often overlooked despite being one of the essential ingredients for a healthy body and balanced mind.

This is most obvious with the fact that nearly three quarters (71 per cent) of UK adults do not get the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep a night.

Nevertheless, chronic sleep deprivation can often be resolved without the use of medicine.

Something as simple as a change of diet can significantly improve your chances of getting quality sleep on time.

Hot cocoa before bed is often a method people lean towards to help them settle in for the night. And that begs the question: does hot chocolate make you sleepy?

In this article, we’ll be answering that question and others, including:

Does hot chocolate help you sleep?
Benefits of hot chocolate
The effects of hot chocolate’s sugar content
Seven effective alternatives to hot chocolate

So without further ado, let’s dive into this.

Can Hot Chocolate Help You Sleep?

People often report anecdotal evidence of hot chocolate helping them sleep.

But what are the benefits of drinking hot chocolate at night?

While limited research has been done on the neurological effects of cocoa (chocolate’s essential ingredient), we can verify that some of the chemicals in cocoa known as flavonoids can benefit our sleep-deprived brains.

Cocoa flavonoids also have cardiovascular benefits, which is a boon when it comes to falling asleep quickly and having good quality sleep.

However, cocoa also contains trace amounts of caffeine – a chemical that blocks our adenosine receptors. Simply put, caffeine impairs our ability to feel sleepy.

Because people make different claims about hot chocolate, the question of whether it can help you sleep is a surprisingly nuanced topic. Let’s dig deeper into the facts and see if a cup of hot chocolate before bed is good for you.

What In Hot Chocolate Helps You Sleep?

The sleep-inducing effects of hot chocolate are largely psychological. A cup of hot chocolate might make you feel soothed, calm, and relaxed, which is crucial for quality sleep.

Some ingredients of hot chocolate, such as warm milk, also have a few fringe sleep benefits.

Serotonin

Creating serotonin in the brain is vital at bedtime because it’s one of the chemicals that control when we fall asleep and wake up, and it also creates feelings of happiness.

A good cup of hot chocolate might create a rush of serotonin for some people, especially those who associate good things with the drink. The serotonin surge helps them fall asleep happily, leading to a good night’s rest.

Tryptophan

Cocoa and warm milk both contain high levels of a substance known as tryptophan.

Tryptophan is a wonderful amino acid for sleep because it promotes the creation of serotonin, the neurotransmitter mentioned above.

Apart from serotonin, tryptophan also produces melatonin, the sleep hormone that you might’ve seen sold over the counter as a sleeping aid.

Warms the Body for Relaxation

There’s actually an interesting relationship between warmth and sleep.

The brain needs to cool off by a few degrees celsius in order for you to fall into REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, the most essential part of the whole sleep process.

Almost ironically, one of the best ways to get this cooling process to work is by warming up first!

Warming the body expands the blood vessels, making it a lot easier to dissipate heat and cool down your core. A drink like hot chocolate can warm your body and make cooling down a lot easier later.

Remember the cardiovascular-boosting flavonoids from earlier?

These also boost your body’s ability to cool down your core and brain, as well as make it easier to cope with getting not enough sleep (in case you stayed up late!).

Helps to Ease Stress

Stress creates cortisol and cortisol creates stress – a wickedly vicious cycle. As the stress hormone, cortisol blocks our ability to sleep, which leads to a vicious cycle that generates more stress.

Sometimes, all you need is a warm, soothing cup of hot chocolate to help you feel like everything is alright with the world.

Taking a sip does a lot of wonders when it comes to forgetting about our stressors, resulting in a drop in cortisol levels and a much easier time falling asleep.

Offers Comforting Aroma

While our olfactory sense is typically taken for granted, the things we associate with different scents have incredible effects on our bodies.

Some people simply find the delicious aroma of hot chocolate to be quite comforting, thus helping them feel sleepy.

This effect might be more prominent for people who have a lot of good associations with hot chocolate.

If someone finds the drink comforting, the same smell can evoke those feelings and help them feel relaxed and sleepy.

Encourages Sleepiness and Relaxation

This is what it all really boils down to.

Although chocolate does have some neurochemical sleep benefits, the most important psychological reason is that drinking hot chocolate is simply relaxing.

Once we feel relaxed and safe, our brain does the rest of the work for us by creating the neurotransmitters and other chemicals that we need to fall into a deep, restful sleep.

What about the Sugar Content in Hot Chocolate?

You might be wondering if we’ve forgotten about sugar; hot chocolate’s most delicious ingredient.

You may already be aware that excessive sugar consumption can interfere with sleep and lead to hyperactivity and disturbed sleep patterns.

Considering that hot chocolate is packed with sugar, it’s important to be mindful of the drink and consume it in moderation.

However, you should know that it’s more complicated than simply dubbing sugar as “bad”. After all, a small amount of sugar can actually help elevate tryptophan levels in the body.

For most people, a small dose of sugar might be fine, but there’s still a raging debate on whether it can actually improve the quality of sleep.

7 Hot Chocolate Alternatives to Help You Sleep

Should you not be a fan of hot chocolate, or you’re after an alternative to mix things up before bed, we’ve gathered 7 great methods to help you fall asleep.

Chamomile Tea

It’s warm and also refreshing. Chamomile tea is a favorite among people who want to fall asleep thanks to its soothing qualities.

However, relaxation isn’t the only thing that chamomile tea has to offer; it also contains apigenin, a sleep-promoting antioxidant.

Honey

Honey can aid sleep by promoting insulin production, leading to increased tryptophan, which converts to sleep-regulating melatonin.

It also offers a steady glycogen supply, reducing stress hormones that disrupt sleep. Its soothing effect on coughing, antioxidant properties, immune system support, and digestive benefits can indirectly contribute to improved sleep quality. Thus, honey serves as a potential natural sleep aid.

Warm Milk

Warm milk works for children and for adults too.

Aside from containing high levels of tryptophan, warm milk also benefits from having positive smell associations because of its potentially relaxing aroma.

Sour Cherry Juice

Sour cherry juice, otherwise known as tart cherry juice, is one of those amazing superfoods that needs more research.

However, what we currently know about it is incredibly promising.

The drink contains high levels of tryptophan and melatonin, helps hasten muscle recovery, reduces joint pain, and potentially reduces blood pressure. All of these things are amazing for sleep.

If you don’t mind taking a sour drink before bed, you can definitely reap the benefits of sour cherry juice.

Ovaltine

A rich and luscious drink, Ovaltine is often considered a better option for sleep compared to hot chocolate.

That’s because Ovaltine contains less sugar and has added vitamins and minerals such as magnesium and calcium.

Unlike hot chocolate, Ovaltine doesn’t contain any caffeine, making it a great choice for caffeine-sensitive people.

Melatonin Supplements

If you’re having trouble feeling sleepy, it might be due to a lack of melatonin. Melatonin supplements, which only need about 30 minutes to kick in, can help balance this out.

However, be aware that your body naturally creates melatonin in response to darkness. Therefore, you might just need to spend more time in low light so your body can naturally produce melatonin.

Valerian

Valerian root is a traditional medicine for sleeping difficulties, and it’s fairly effective especially if taken daily for at least two weeks.

However, it can have some adverse reactions with certain medicines, and someone with liver disease should definitely avoid it.

Valerian is an excellent herbal remedy, but make sure to check if it has contraindications with any drugs you might be taking.

Aromatherapy

Finally, you can also try aromatherapy – especially the scents of essential oils derived from lavender, chamomile, jasmine (can also be used as a tea), and sandalwood.

If you’re interested in this approach, consider getting a diffuser. The machine’s gentle white noise paired with the effective dispersion of essential oils into the air can help tremendously with falling asleep more quickly.

Key Takeaways

Hot chocolate helps us sleep because it’s relaxing, promotes serotonin, and contains a few chemical ingredients that promote good sleep.

However, because of its caffeine and sugar content, it can also work against you.

If you can’t find an option that doesn’t contain a lot of these chemicals, consider other alternatives that are just as (if not more) effective at lulling you to bed.

Give them a go, and you may find yourself snuggling with your pillow in no time!