Nikki Yelton is a Functional Medicine Registered Dietitian Nutritionist serving clients worldwide. She offers a personalized functional medicine approach using advanced labs and her unique 5-phase method. Nikki helps purpose-driven women who have tried everything finally restore their energy and reclaim their health--without another DIY protocol--so they can show up fully in their work and at home!
This Tart Cherry & Almond Warm Latte is a delicious and cozy recipe that is scientifically backed to help you produce more melatonin.
Reading Time: 3 minutes
Now is a better time than ever to start putting sleep quality on the top of your priority list. I’ve been testing a few things out and you’ve got to try this!
I have a really quick tip + cozy recipe that you can start applying right away to get your sleep habits in a good place and start feeling ENERGIZED each day.
But first, we can’t talk about sleep without talking about your circadian rhythm.
Your circadian rhythm is your natural hormonal fluctuations that signal your brain & body to be awake and alert during the day and ready for a good night’s sleep as the sun goes down.
A healthy circadian rhythm looks like this:
In the morning, melatonin (the sleep hormone) is low. Cortisol (the stress hormone) spikes to get you up and out of bed.
Throughout the day, melatonin levels increase and cortisol levels decrease. Exposure to sunlight also helps to produce serotonin, a precursor to melatonin.
At around 9pm, melatonin levels surge as serotonin converts to melatonin. This spike in melatonin causes your body temperature to decrease, slows your breathing rate, and helps you feel relaxed and ready for bed.
This cycle happens every single day for every healthy human on the planet! Naturally we should produce a lot of melatonin on our own…
However, with stress and hormone imbalances that come with leaky gut or autoimmunity, you might not be producing as much melatonin as you need for quality sleep.
This is a problem because getting enough melatonin ensures you get the maximum amount of REM sleep.
REM sleep is one of the most underrated tools to help you successfully get autoimmunity into remission and feel the best you’ve ever felt.
REM is that healing restorative sleep where your cells rejuvenate and your body can heal. This is the kind of sleep you need to heal the gut and reverse autoimmunity!
This is why we need to maximize melatonin production if we want to maximize sleep!!!!
So that leads me to my quick tip…
You can biohack your melatonin production with something you easily find at any grocery store: TART CHERRY JUICE.
This Tart Cherry & Almond Warm Latte is a delicious and cozy recipe that is scientifically backed to help you produce more melatonin.
Tart cherry juice is one of the best natural producers of melatonin. Drinking it before bed can help you fall asleep and STAY asleep.
Cherries are a rich source of tryptophan, a precursor to melatonin production. Tryptophan is an essential amino acid that your body doesn’t produce on its own.
If you drink 2-3 oz. of tart cherry juice right before your melatonin spike (around 7-8 pm), you provide your body with a necessary ingredient to produce more melatonin and uplevel your circadian rhythm.
This Tart Cherry & Almond Warm Latte is a delicious and cozy recipe that is scientifically backed to help you produce more melatonin.
Ingredients
Scale
1/4 cup Tart Cherry Juice
3/4 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk
1 tsp Maple Syrup
Instructions
Add the cherry juice and almond milk into a small pot.
Slowly bring to a simmer over low heat. Once it starts simmering remove from the heat and add the maple syrup. Use a frother to blend and create some foam. Alternatively, blend the warmed milk in a blender until frothy. Enjoy!
I suggest opting for organic tart cherry juice with no added sugar for this Tart Cherry & Almond Latte recipe! This ensures you’re getting the most benefit out of the tryptophan without any sugar spikes or leaky gut/autoimmune triggers.
And as a BONUS, you can also add Calm Magnesium Powder to this recipe! Magnesium has significant influence on the neurotransmitters that are involved in sleep and relaxes your muscles to help you feel calm. Most people are deficient in magnesium so it’s likely you’re in need of a boost of this essential mineral for sleep as well!
After incorporating this into your routine for a few weeks, you’re going to notice how your body kicks up its melatonin production naturally!
What I also love about this sleepy latte recipe is that the creaminess of the almond milk balances out the tartness of the cherry juice, making it a really enjoyable drink to wind down with at night.
Plus, who doesn’t love a warm cozy beverage during their nighttime routine?!
If you try it out, let me know if you’ve noticed whether this recipe has helped you get a better night’s sleep.
"When it comes to balancing our body, healing the gut, reversing autoimmunity, and achieving optimal health—we are a lot like a car that won’t run right. In order to fix the problem once and for all instead of relying on jumper cables, we must get underneath the hood, run the diagnostics, and replace the battery so that it runs good as new."
-Nikki Yelton, RD
a note from nikki:
If you are ready to stop wasting precious time, get off the never-ending hamster wheel, and finally surrender trying to figure things out on your own—this is your moment.
You don’t have to settle for just getting by and hoping tomorrow is a better day. We both know you are a woman who deserves better and are made for so. much. more.
are you ready?
Ready to restore your energy, reclaim your health, and live your extraordinary life?
Hi there!,
This sound delicious.
What brand of Tart Cherry Juice do you suggest? I see concentrates and cherry blends.
Thanks