The Sleepy Girl Mocktail: Your New Favorite Nighttime Beverage

Join the mocktail club with this easy-to-make nighttime drink! It will help you get a more restful night of sleep and tastes absolutely delicious.

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Why Getting Good Sleep is Important

Something that I started focusing on this past year is better sleep. I have noticed huge improvements in my health and well-being since prioritizing getting to bed earlier and implementing habits to help with my quality of sleep.

For many of us, sleep often takes a backseat. The amount of time that you sleep is important, but so is the quality of your sleep. Getting poor quality sleep or no sleep can lead to fatigue, anxiety, and stress, and consistent poor sleep habits can be detrimental to your health. It’s your body’s time to relax and reset, and it needs it!

Many people rely on taking melatonin supplements or other sleep aids to fall asleep, but unfortunately, this isn’t the best solution for long-term use. Your body is smart, and when you give it large doses of melatonin on a consistent basis, it knows to not produce as much, which can make you more dependent on taking it.

A more natural solution to taking melatonin is consuming tart cherry juice. Tart cherry juice not only contains melatonin but also tryptophan, which is an amino acid that helps the body make melatonin and serotonin. Talk about bliss! Like many other highly pigmented plants, tart cherries also contain antioxidants that can reduce inflammation and prevent disease.

Benefits of Taking Magnesium Before Bed

Magnesium plays a crucial role in many of the body’s functions. It’s involved in over 300 enzymatic reactions within our bodies, contributing to everything from bone health to cardiovascular function. However, one of its most intriguing roles is its impact on sleep. Here are a few ways how magnesium can help with sleep.

1. Regulation of GABA: Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is a neurotransmitter that helps calm the nervous system. Magnesium assists in the activation of GABA receptors, leading to reduced neuronal activity and a sense of relaxation, which are essential for falling asleep.
2. Melatonin Production: Magnesium aids in the production of melatonin, often referred to as the “sleep hormone.” Melatonin helps regulate our sleep-wake cycle, signaling to our bodies when it’s time to sleep and wake up.
3. Muscle Relaxation: Magnesium’s muscle-relaxing properties can alleviate muscle tension and cramps that might make it hard for you to relax. Relaxed muscles contribute to a more comfortable and restful sleep experience.
4. Cortisol Regulation: Magnesium helps regulate cortisol, the body’s primary stress hormone. Balancing cortisol levels can promote a more relaxed state, reducing stress and anxiety that can disrupt sleep.
5. Brain Health: Magnesium supports overall brain health and cognitive function. A well-functioning brain is better equipped to wind down at night, leading to improved sleep quality.

You can incorporate magnesium in many ways, but one of my favorites has to be this fun mocktail.

You’ve probably already seen or heard about the “sleepy girl mocktail” on the Internet. And if you have, you’ve probably seen it made a few different ways. The classic way people make it is using an Olipop soda. While Olipop goes great in this mocktail, or any mocktail really, I wanted to find a more cost-effective way to make this drink so that you don’t have to splurge too much to have it.

How to Make the Sleepy Girl Mocktail

You will need just a few simple ingredients to make this mocktail. You can add a few others or substitute things as needed or to your liking. I like to keep drinks like this simple and quick to assemble but still make you feel like you’re in a spa or somewhere fancy.

You only need a few ingredients to make this drink. As talked about in this post, the two key ingredients are tart cherry juice and magnesium powder.

I’ve also added fresh lime to this recipe. As a kid, I was always a fan of the cherry lime flavor. And in college, I also became a fan of mixing cherry vodka and limeade on the weekends. They are just a perfect pair. I don’t make the rules.

The other star of the show here is the magnesium powder I use. I absolutely love this one from Wooden Spoon Herbs. They make all sorts of handcrafted herbal tinctures and goodies, and they pride themselves in the quality of their supplements.

This is not at all an ad for them, I just enjoy a small company doing cool things, and I can see why this magnesium is one of their best sellers. It’s got a blue lemonade flavor, which is a perfect edition to this mocktail. You can use a different magnesium powder of you’d like, but it might change the flavor a little. You should also be mindful of what type of magnesium you’re using. I prefer using and recommending magnesium citrate and magnesium glycerinate in this mocktail since the goal is relaxation.

Enough babbling. Let’s get into how we make it!

This mocktail is so simple and it really does put me into relaxation mode before bed. Feel free to try it for yourself! Let me know what you think (:

-Kayla