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Cherries are a natural source of melatonin, which controls the body’s clock.

Should you let yourself have that midnight snack if you’re having trouble sleeping and you think hunger might be part of the problem? Here are five foods that can actually help you drift off:

1. Cherries. Fresh and dried cherries are one of the only natural food sources of melatonin, the chemical that controls the body’s internal clock to regulate sleep. Researchers who tested tart cherries and found high levels of melatonin recommend eating them an hour before bedtime or before a trip when you want to sleep on the plane.

Read more: 5 Foods That Help You Sleep

At some point or another, it happens to everyone: You can’t sleep. When you finally drop off, the alarm buzzes a microsecond later. Then you can’t get up. And then it gets worse: When you finally drag yourself out of bed, you look like youknowhat.

Can’t imagine why the sleep gods had it in for you? Think about what you ate the night before, says Elizabeth Somer, RD, author of The Food & Mood Cookbook. Any of the following–much less a combo platter–can leave your body on uneasy street for hours.

Read more here: The six big sleep busters

You haul yourself off to bed with a million details buzzing around your head and big surprise the coveted ZZZZs don’t happen.

Here are some foods that might help you get some much needed shut eye.

- Carbohydrates like popcorn, brown rice, whole grain toast or crackers, a whole grain bagel, a small bowl of whole grain cereal, or even microwaving a small potato may help you nod off. Whenever you eat a starchy carbohydrate you raise up the blood levels of an amino acid called tryptophan which your brain turns into soothing serotonin. Snack size only, please. Avoid big servings at least two hours before bed.

Read more here: Can’t get to sleep? Try these foods and tips

By Real Age

What is the secret to getting a solid 7 to 8 hours of sleep? Head for the kitchen and enjoy one or two of these 10 foods. They relax tense muscles, quiet buzzing minds, and/or get calming, sleep-inducing hormones – serotonin and melatonin - flowing. Yawning yet?

Bananas. They’re practically a sleeping pill in a peel. In addition to a bit of soothing melatonin and serotonin, bananas contain magnesium, a muscle relaxant.

Chamomile tea. The reason chamomile is such a staple of bedtime tea blends is its mild sedating effect – it’s the perfect natural antidote for restless minds/bodies.

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