They are furry, they are delicious, and they are very nutritious… but do kiwis help you sleep? 🥝

Also known as Chinese gooseberries, kiwifruits have a surprising reputation as being a fruit that can give you a better night of sleep. Yes, seriously.

I only found out about this recently – all thanks to one guy at the gym.

So, I decided to experiment with a kiwi before bed to see if this could help me doze off at night. This article outlines my results. Do kiwis help you sleep? Time to find out…

1. What is a kiwifruit?
2. Do kiwis help you sleep?
3. My not-so-scientific kiwi experiment…
4. Here’s some actual science on if kiwi can help sleep…
5. What are the health benefits of kiwifruits?
6. Should you ever avoid kiwis (i.e. kiwifruit allergy)?
7. Do kiwis help you sleep? The final word!

What is a kiwifruit?

In case you don’t know, a kiwifruit is a large berry around the size of an egg with a brown fuzzy skin.

When you cut into it, you will find bright green flesh with tiny black seeds and a whiteish edible core.

They are often a little tart, but kiwifruits tend to be very sweet and make a popular addition to fruit salads.

Despite their name, kiwifruits are not native to New Zealand. They actually come from China, hence their nickname ‘Chinese gooseberry’.

However, they have been grown in New Zealand since the early 20th century, which is why they are so closely associated with the country.

Do kiwis help you sleep?

Do kiwis make you sleepy? Lots of things can help you sleep. From practicing good sleep hygiene and managing your stress before bed, to getting good daily exercise.

However, I hadn’t actually heard about eating kiwis before bed to aid a restful night. Until I started speaking to a guy at the gym one morning.

I’ve known this guy for a while and I’ve also known that he really struggles to sleep each night. This is despite taking various supplements and trying various sleep techniques.

While standing by the squat racks at my local gym, we got chatting and he told me that he had eaten two kiwis before bed the previous night and had the best night’s sleep in years. He looked so happy telling me this news.

Considering how badly he usually sleeps, this instantly caught my attention.

The thing is, as much as I write about how to get good sleep, in recent years my own sleep has been pretty poor.

Sure, some nights I sleep like a baby, but it’s becoming rarer. These days, I often wake up in the morning feeling more tired than the previous night. 😩

Anyway, before I went home to read more about why kiwis help sleep, I decided to buy a net of them from my local supermarket and do some experimenting.

My not-so-scientific kiwi experiment…

Full disclosure, my experimenting was not particularly scientific!

I just grabbed a net of kiwis and started eating them in the evening.

I began by eating one small kiwi before bed each night.

Believe it or not, the first night I actually slept better than I had in previous weeks. However, in the nights that followed, my sleep continued to be a little disrupted, despite eating one kiwi.

So I upped my ‘dosage’ of kiwi to two small kiwis and this seemed to result in improved sleep.

In fact, one night I had a considerably good sleep where I didn’t wake for a good 6 hours, and then fell asleep again soon after.

For me, this was success and evidence (but not proof) that kiwi can help me sleep.

Again, my experimentation was far from scientific.

Truth be told, on the nights I slept worse, it may have been because I was more stressed or generally anxious. Or I may have had too much screen time. On those I slept better, it may have been because the temperature was a little cooler.

Who knows if the magical kiwi had anything to do with it.

Here’s some actual science on if kiwi can help sleep…

Time to look at some actual science.

A Taiwanese study, published in The Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2011, gave 24 adults with sleeping problems two kiwifruits one hour before bedtime each night for a total of four weeks.

The results were promising.

Subjects eating kiwis were reported to fall asleep 42% more quickly than when they ate nothing before bed, while there was a 5% improvement in sleeping through the night without waking, and an increase in total sleep time by 13%.

Was this down to the kiwi?

It has been suggested that kiwis contain some sleep-promoting compounds including serotonin (which may in turn increase melatonin levels in the body) and anti-inflammatory antioxidants.

However, sleep is complex and you can’t guarantee anything. Still, it seems that kiwis do have some sort of an effect on feeling sleepy.

What are the health benefits of kiwifruits?

Ultimately, kiwis are a very nutritious food and eating one or two before bed is a good excuse to get some extra nutrients in, even if your sleep is unaffected.

For example, just one kiwi contains more than 70% of the daily value of vitamin C, as well as vitamin K, vitamin E, folate and that magic nutrient that we all need more of – potassium.

They are also high in fibre, so can benefit your digestive health and keep you full while you sleep.

Now, I should tell you how I eat kiwis – and that is by not peeling them.

It sounds strange, but a few years ago I read that there is a higher concentration of antioxidants (mainly vitamins C and E) in the fuzzy skin compared to the sweet flesh of the kiwifruit.

This therefore this makes the kiwi skin worth eating.

I make sure to scrub the fruit well under cold water to remove some of the excess fuzz. You can use a towel or vegetable brush to help with this.

You may find it a bit strange at first, but you get used to it. When you do, you get more of the antioxidant benefits of the fruit.

Should you ever avoid kiwis (i.e. kiwifruit allergy)?

Yes, kiwifruit allergy is a real thing. Approach with caution! 😳

Symptoms of kiwi allergy can range from an itchy mouth to all-out anaphylaxis. Not good.

It perhaps goes without saying, but if you have or sense you have a severe allergy to kiwis, then you should avoid trying this.

The same goes if you have suffered from kidney stones, because the high oxalates in the kiwi skin can cause kidney stones to form.

So, if you are prone to kidney stones then be aware of this.

Do kiwis help you sleep? The final word!

The jury is still out on whether or not this actually works.

There’s definitely SOME evidence that eating kiwis before bed can improve your sleep. But the only thing that matters is if it works for YOU.

Do kiwis help you sleep? My suggestion is to give it a go.

The best that can happen is you will have a great night’s sleep. The worst, you will increase your daily vitamin and fibre consumption.

I recommend starting with one for a few nights to see how that helps, then up it to two if you don’t notice much difference.

Just make sure you and kiwis get on before you start eating two of them a night.

I am very keen to hear if this works for other people. If you do try it, please let me know what you think!

September 2023 Update: After several months since writing this article, I definitely think that eating a pre-bed kiwi does help me sleep. I haven’t eaten a kiwi some nights, and it seems that on these nights I sleep worse. The jury is still out, but this experiment is well worth trying!