Many people struggle with falling asleep and staying asleep at night. Whether it be stress, anxiety, insomnia, or simply too much coffee that day, some people cannot fall asleep until very, very late at night—or at all.
Of course, we're always looking for new tips and tricks to help us fall asleep without having to take sleeping pills or medications.
TikTok user Shapla Hoque said that she had heard about a new trick that helps people fall asleep easily and all you need to do is hit up your local grocery store's produce aisle for a head of lettuce.
Yes, it's that simple.
In the viral video now viewed over 1.5 million times, Hoque showcases that she took some lettuce and shoved it into a coffee mug.
She then took hot kettle water and poured it over the lettuce.
Letting the lettuce sit in the water for a while, she decided to also add a peppermint tea bag, because she didn't want the drink to taste bad.
But, you can drink the "lettuce water" without tea, as well, to see if it works differently.
She had said that the drink tasted pretty much like "nothing."
Seeing as lettuce is mainly water, and doesn't have much flavor until you put some dressing on it, we don't think that's far from the truth.
Hoque updated TikTok to say she felt a little drowsy at first after drinking the tea, but not enough to totally pass out right then and there. But, for some people, drowsy is a win.
Later on, she said that she thought "lettuce has some crack in it," or something because she was totally exhausted and couldn't even keep her eyes open—not even at all in the video. She definitely looked ready for bed.
As it turns out, experts agree that this trick is a sure-fire way to help you sleep.
Apparently, lettuce—specifically romaine lettuce—has a phytonutrient called lactucarium that helps make you relax and also relieve and ease aches and pains.
The study conducted yielded results that showcased lettuce has almost a sedative and hypnotic quality when injected.
And, while we don't always feel exhausted after eating a salad, the "lettuce water" does seem to do the trick for many.
According to researchers, "the results of this study show that lettuce, especially romaine lettuce, is an interesting and cheap source of sleep-potentiating material and antioxidant polyphenols.
The seed and leaf extracts derived from romaine lettuce potentiates the pentobarbital-induced sleeping behaviour in mice."
Many people online said that they tried it themselves and that it 100% works.
Some said that they hadn't "slept in weeks" and that this finally helped them get some sort of sleep.
One commenter said that this remedy had been something that their own parent had used when they were younger and sick throughout their life, that it definitely is a way to help you sleep better and give you a full night's rest.
