It's easy to make: heat water, add romaine lettuce, and steep for 10 minutes. Get drunk and feel the affects. TikTok users swear by lettuce water, which may seem odd.
In her lettuce water video, TikToker @shapla_11 said, "Apparently, it makes you sleepy, so I'll try it." Shapla soaked her lettuce in hot water with peppermint tea for taste and observed that it doesn't make her tired, so it wouldn't affect outcomes.
Shapla reported feeling slightly tired after steeping the lettuce, but not knockout-like sleepiness. She will post a video of herself falling asleep in bed next. Dr. Brian Boxer Wachler, MD, reacted to Shapla's video that he tried lettuce water and it worked.
TikToker @elliott captioned his video, "I usually go to bed at 3-4 a.m., this is insane." Elliott said that drinking lettuce water made his eyes feel heavy, confirming its effectiveness.
We know about TikTok's excitement; let's hear from our experts. "I cannot find any research in humans to support the use of drinking lettuce water before bed to help one feel sleepy," said Medical Expert Board member Deena Adimoolam, MD, a primary care preventive and endocrinology expert. She says that it seems to work.
Preliminary research suggests lettuce extract helps mice sleep longer. "However, these findings are limited since all the mice were given pentobarbital which is a sleep-inducing medication," Dr. Adimoolam says. "Also, these studies were done in animals, and we cannot assume the results will be the same in humans."
Even though lettuce water hasn't been properly studied on humans, many individuals who drink it before night find it calming.
"Other than the lettuce extract itself, the warm temperature of the liquid alone may help with relaxation and better sleep," Dr. Adimoolam. We don't know why, but warm drinks are comfortable. As an endocrinologist, I wonder if warm drinks release oxytocin, which promotes sleep."