TikTokers Swear Drinking Boiled Lettuce Leaves Helps Them Sleep

A new TikTok hack has people trying something surprising to help them sleep. When you struggle to fall asleep, you’ll try just about anything to get the ZZZs you need, but would you drink a nightcap made from boiled lettuce water? A woman on TikTok claims the concoction will instantly make you drowsy and hopeful viewers are eagerly joining in the trend.

TikTok user @shapla_11 thinks she’s found a cheap and easy way to remedy her insomnia and in one video she shows how it’s done. It shows her pouring boiling water over some lettuce leaves in a mug, letting them steep, then removing the greens and drinking the water. But how does it taste? She says it actually tastes like “nothing.” And it really works for her, as she shares in an update video just before falling asleep, “your sis is gone.”

Other users have chimed in that they’ve tried the natural sleep-aid and it works, like one who writes, “on my way to the shop to buy 30 lettuces.” But beyond social media, science also agrees it works. Previous studies back it up, finding that lettuce - especially romaine lettuce - contains a phytonutrient (called lactucarium) that can induce sleep and relieve pain, too. Lettuce and lettuce seed oil has been shown to help treat insomnia, so this TikTok hack could be a winner.