You may have noticed your FYP flooded with people chowing down on pineapple lately, with claims that the tropical fruit is jam-packed with sleep-boosting melatonin. And while they’re not technically wrong that pineapple could aid in sleep, it’s more about the tryptophan contained in pineapple that the body uses to create melatonin (the sleepy hormone). If you’re after a really good sleep though, there are a few other foods that science says are much higher in tryptophan that could help you fall asleep faster, and stay that way for longer.

Pineapple

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The claim on TikTok is that pineapple can increase melatonin markers in the body by 240 per cent, which sounds like a lot. However, when you consider that those markers are spiked by converting tryptophan into melatonin, the amount of the tryptophan in pineapple is close to negligible, with about 10 milligrams per cup. When you weigh up that the fruit has 22 grams of carbohydrates (sugar) you’re probably more likely to start bouncing off the walls then slipping into slumber after a cup of pineapple chunks.

Milk

It’s unsurprising that babies get ‘milk drunk’ given that one cup of whole milk contains 182 milligrams of tryptophan. For mammals, this is the OG of sleep snacks.

Tinned tuna

In an unexpected twist, canned tuna can contain up to 3776 milligrams per cup. That’s huge!

Porridge

Weighing in at 147 milligrams of tryptophan per cup, oats before bed is a good option for a bedtime snack. It’s good, but not as good as tuna, holy dooley.

Turkey

If you want to have a devilishly good sleep, opt for turkey. This bird contains around 666 milligrams of tryptophan per cup of meat. Fun fact: light turkey meat contains more tryptophan than dark meat.

Bread

Wholemeal bread can contain around 19 milligrams of tryptophan per slice. For context, there are around four slices of bread crumbs per cup, which would be 76 milligrams per cup. That’s a lot of turkey sandwiches.

Cheese

Excellent news if you’re after some groovy cheese dreams – cheddar cheese contains 728 milligrams of tryptophan per cup. Granted, a cup of cheese before bed wouldn’t necessarily be the top suggestion from a cardiologist, neuroscientists reckon it could be great for your memory.