{natural insomnia aid : audrey michelle’s tart cherry tonic}

a little secret about me : i have battled with insomnia for about half my life.

i’ve gone back and forth in my head — “claiming it” by owning it and being honest {as i’ve done here}, invoking the law of attraction by saying “i sleep great!” – both seem to have the same effect… i’ve tried melatonin, valerian root and other random herbs, about 5 different kinds of mattresses, yoga, prayer, meditation, sleepy tea, alcohol, and a variety of other remedies to help in my battle.  i even tried some feng shui to encourage the right energy during bedtime… i tried one or two prescription drugs but absolutely hated the side-effects and the dopey feeling the next day… one of them even gave me wacky lucid dreams, almost nightmares… i once tried to “donate my body to science” by participating in an insomnia-related study, but i didn’t qualify because i hadn’t tried enough prescription drugs… over-the-counter remedies help in the short-term, but that stuff is so bad for your liver and i also worried about dependency… i have to board up my windows and sleep with a mask usually, and that is in part due to my late work hours… i know i’m reasonably young but i’m not getting any younger and i’m at that age where this kind of crap is super important to me now.  i don’t need to get 8-10 hours every night, but what i do need is to STAY asleep during the night.

enter the title of this blog…

i had read from a few sources that tart cherries were particularly good for helping insomnia due to their naturally-high melatonin content. i received a sample of this product and i promised to review it and give my opinion.

i decided to give this a week-long experiment.  i often wonder{ed} if part of my sleeping problems were related to an overall achy feeling from being so physically active.  i had read that tonic water, more specifically the key ingredient in it, quinine, was good in helping calm leg-cramps; something else that tends to affect me.

so i mixed the two together…

any tonic water will do.  most of them contain some form of sugar to help with the flavour. i don’t love the fact that it has sugar in it, particularly since i’m drinking it at night, but i pick my battles yanno?!  i feel good about this one from whole foods because it uses all natural cane sugar…

i used about 4-6 ounces of cherry juice and a whole can of tonic water {about 12 ounces}… the flavour is amazing and it’s kind of like having an “adult beverage” before bedtime.  i drank mine about an hour or so before i wanted to get in bed. i did this for 5 days and i have to say, i really felt like it helped me sleep!  i can usually get to sleep, it’s staying asleep that i struggle with.  i found that the tart cherry tonic helped me stay asleep better.  even when i had to get up to go to the bathroom or whatever, i was able to fall back asleep with more ease… 

i am going to continue drinking my tart cherry tonic to help me sleep.  i highly recommend trying this if you also struggle with sleeping through the night. and if you do try it, please comment and give me your feedback.

thanks so much for reading!

Tags: audrey michelle, bedtime drinks, cherries, DIY, drink the rainbow, drinks, food, home remedies, insomnia, natural, natural cures, natural medicine, product reviews, recipes, sleep, sleep aides, tart cherries