What if One of Your Favorite Food Ingredients Also Helped You Get a Good Night’s Sleep?

If you’re like us, you love to put garlic in all sorts of tasty dishes (especially Italian food). However, most people don’t think about the possible side effects of garlic aside from possibly getting some bad breath.

It turns out that garlic can actually help you sleep, and you don’t have to put it in a dish…just under your pillow. How does all this work, and what is the surprising science behind how garlic helps you rest? Keep reading to discover the answers!

A memorable children’s fairytale

The whole idea of putting garlic under your pillow may bring to mind some childhood memories. There are many fairytales and other children’s stories where Fairy Godmothers and other fantastic characters recommend garlic under the pillow as a way of warding off evil.

In those old fairytales, the reason that garlic helps protect us is that it helps keep away vampires and other scary creatures. For some of us, putting a bit of garlic under the pillow used to be the equivalent of hiding under the covers to fool the monster in the closet. But once you realize how healthy garlic is, you’ll realize it might be beneficial in ways those old fairytales never prepared you for.

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Garlic is healthier than you might think

Garlic is an ingredient present in many rich dishes, including pasta and other tasty Italian dishes. Because of that, most people don’t imagine this ingredient to be all that healthy. In reality, though, garlic is one of the tastier ingredients lurking in your pantry.

In addition to its many nutrients, the primary thing that makes garlic so healthy is that it’s full of antioxidants. These help your body fight off the free radicals that can damage your cells and cause everything from making you look older to giving you cancer!

The benefits of sleeping with garlic under your pillow 

It’s one thing to know that consuming garlic gives your body plenty of important antioxidants. But why should you consider keeping a garlic clove under your pillow? Simple: doing so provides an entirely different set of important benefits.

Mostly, garlic under the pillow can help you sleep. This is useful for anyone trying to get a good night’s rest, but it’s especially useful for those who struggle with insomnia. Depending on where you live, garlic under the pillow can help you sleep because it keeps away mosquitos that would otherwise be snacking on your body through the night.

RELATED: 10 Things That Happen To Your Body When You Lack Sleep

The science behind how garlic helps you sleep

We’ll be the first to admit that it sounds more than a little crazy. Why would taking garlic out of your pantry and putting it under your pillow help you get some sleep? Believe it or not, it mostly has to do with the strong amounts of sulfur in the garlic.

Consider this an extreme form of aromatherapy. In short, the smell of sulfur can help most people get a better night’s sleep and can help you get back to sleep if you unexpectedly wake up in the middle of the night. Incidentally, mosquitos hate the smell of sulfur, which is why keeping a garlic clove under your pillow is such an effective way of keeping these bloodsucking pests away.

An alternative to putting the garlic under your pillow

At this point, you might have accepted the health benefits of sleeping with garlic under the pillow. But let’s be honest: the smell of sulfur is a bit too strong for many people, and if you hate that smell, you may not be able to get to sleep in the first place. In that case, here’s some good news…you can actually get most of the same awesome benefits by mixing yourself a very special bedtime drink.

To make it, you need to add one smashed garlic clove to a pan and add milk. Bring everything to a boil and then turn the heat off and add the contents to a glass. Next, add a tablespoon of honey to the glass and a fine pinch of black pepper.

This drink should help you get a better night’s sleep, and it tastes great hot or cold. Just be sure to make it a bit earlier in the night if you want to refrigerate it and have a cool drink right before bedtime!

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Other ways to help you sleep

With any luck, the garlic methods above will help you get a good night’s sleep. If you’re still having trouble snoozing, be sure to avoid drinking much caffeine at night and try not to watch any television about an hour before bedtime (we recommend reading a good book instead, which can also help you get to sleep).

Finally, consider playing some soothing music to help you get to sleep. Some people prefer lo-fi beats created for sleepy audiences and others prefer natural sounds such as rain. Either way, the right ambient sounds may be just the thing to help you get a solid night of rest.