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Can tart cherry juice, magnesium really help you sleep? Doctors weigh in
A wellness trend dubbed the “sleepy girl mocktail” is making the rounds on social media for its supposed sleep benefits, which users are attributing to two of the drink’s main components: tart cherry juice and magnesium powder. But do these ingredients really have the power to help put you to sleep?
Though they do have some sleep-promoting qualities, Dr. Steven Feinsilver, director of the Center for Sleep Medicine at Northwell Lenox Hill Hospital, says the major effect of this mocktail is likely placebo.
“Anything that you might take that you believe will relax you and make you sleepy can do so. Sleep is very susceptible to the placebo effect,” he says.
But if you’re interested in trying it out yourself, “there would be no harm in taking this combination at reasonable doses,” Feinsilver adds.
So what’s the hype over these ingredients? Tart cherry juice does have a small amount of natural melatonin as well as the amino acid tryptophan, Feinsilver says.
“Melatonin is a natural product produced by the pineal gland that sends the signal to the brain to initiate sleep. The effectiveness as a hypnotic (or sleep-inducing agent) is fairly small in most people, but this is available over-the-counter — officially as a ‘health food’ — in pharmacies,” he explains. “The amount in cherry juice appears to be much less than this.”
Tryptophan, which many will recognize as the reason Thanksgiving turkey makes us tired, is present in many foods.
“It can be converted in the body to serotonin, a neurotransmitter (or brain chemical) that might cause sedation,” Feinsilver explains.
As for magnesium, family physician Dr. Mike Sevilla says some believe it can help “prepare the body for sleep, possibly through affecting some hormones.”
“Studies have shown that a magnesium supplement can help with melatonin production, and many people take a melatonin supplement to help with their sleep cycle,” he says.
If you do plan to try it, however, there are different types to be aware of.
“When looking for a sleep aid, in general, magnesium glycinate is the preferred magnesium supplement because it is more easily absorbed in the GI (gastrointestinal) system,” Sevilla says. “This is opposed to magnesium oxide, which is less absorbed in the intestine, and magnesium oxide is more commonly used to help with symptoms of constipation or heartburn.”
Should you try the “sleepy girl mocktail”?
Before trying any social media health trend — especially those involving over-the-counter medicines, vitamins or supplements — Sevilla says he advises his patients to ask their doctor first.
“This is because sometimes OTC medications, vitamins and supplements can interfere with their prescription medications and affect their chronic medical problems,” he says. “In addition, people who are struggling with their blood sugar should avoid this drink because it contains a lot of carbohydrates. Of course, this can be avoided by using sugar-free products.”
If you have a sensitive stomach or have a condition like irritable bowel syndrome, you may also want to avoid this drink, Sevilla says.
“One key side effect could be some stomach upset or even diarrhea, especially from the tart cherry juice,” he says. “Another side effect could be spiking your blood sugar level right before bed. Not only could this be a problem for those who struggle with their blood sugar, an increased blood sugar level at bedtime, could itself, interrupt your sleep cycle.”
Sevilla also warns that these ingredients shouldn’t be viewed as a solution to severe sleep problems.
“Having difficulty with sleep not only is annoying but could be a potential serious medical issue,” he says. “In the short term, trying a drink like this might be OK, but if sleeping difficulties have been a long-term problem, definitely make an appointment with your family physician to get to the root of the problem so appropriate treatment can help you.”
Bela Karolyi, the charismatic if polarizing gymnastics coach who turned young women into champions and the United States into an international power, has died. He was 82.
A spokesperson for USA Gymnastics confirmed to CBS News by email that Karolyi died Friday. No cause of death was given.
Karolyi and wife Martha trained multiple Olympic gold medalists and world champions in the U.S. and Romania, including Nadia Comaneci and Mary Lou Retton.
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“A big impact and influence on my life,” Comaneci, who was just 14 when Karolyi coached her to gold for Romania at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, posted on Instagram.
The Karolyis defected to the United States in 1981 and over the next 30-plus years became a guiding force in American gymnastics, though not without controversy. Bela helped guide Retton — all of 16 — to the Olympic all-around title at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles and memorably helped an injured Kerri Strug off the floor at the 1996 Games in Atlanta after Strug’s vault secured the team gold for the Americans.
Karolyi briefly became the national team coordinator for USA Gymnastics women’s elite program in 1999 and incorporated a semi-centralized system that eventually turned the Americans into the sport’s gold standard. It did not come without a cost. He was pushed out after the 2000 Olympics after several athletes spoke out about his tactics.
It would not be the last time Karolyi was accused of grandstanding and pushing his athletes too far physically and mentally.
During the height of the Larry Nassar scandal in the late 2010s — when the disgraced former USA Gymnastics team doctor was effectively given a life sentence after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting gymnasts and other athletes with his hands under the guise of medical treatment — over a dozen former gymnasts came forward saying the Karolyis were part of a system that created an oppressive culture that allowed Nassar’s behavior to run unchecked for years.
Still, some of Karolyi’s most famous students were always among his staunchest defenders. When Strug got married, she and Karolyi took a photo recreating their famous scene from the 1996 Olympics, when he carried her onto the medals podium after she vaulted on a badly sprained ankle.
Despite losing his boxing match to Jake Paul, Mike Tyson in a social media post Saturday said he had “no regrets” to getting “in ring one last time.”
The boxing legend was defeated by social media star Jake Paul in a highly anticipated fight on Friday night with an age difference of over three decades between the two contenders.
Netflix said Saturday that 60 million households worldwide tuned in to watch the match. The two fighters went eight full rounds, with each round two minutes long. Paul defeated Tyson by unanimous decision and the 27-year-old upset boxer and 58-year-old former heavyweight champion hugged afterward.
Paul was expected to earn about $40 million from the fight, and Tyson was expected to take around $20 million for the fight, according to DraftKings and other online reports.
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Tyson said on his social media that “this is one of those situations when you lost but still won. I’m grateful for last night.”
The fight almost didn’t happen after Tyson experienced an ulcer flare-up while on a plane in March. He addressed his illness Saturday, writing that he “almost died in June.” He said he had eight blood transfusions and “lost half my blood and 25lbs in hospital and had to fight to get healthy to fight so I won.”
Tyson retired from boxing in 2005 after a 20-year career. He last fought in a 2020 exhibition match against former four-division world champ Roy Jones Jr.
“To have my children see me stand toe to toe and finish 8 rounds with a talented fighter half my age in front of a packed Dallas Cowboy stadium is an experience that no man has the right to ask for. Thank you,” he said.
Alex Sundby and
contributed to this report.
In their final meeting, China’s leader Xi Jinping told U.S. President Biden that his nation was “ready to work with a new administration,” as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take over.
The two leaders gathered Saturday on the sidelines of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Mr. Biden was expected to urge Xi to dissuade North Korea from further deepening its support for Russia’s war on Ukraine. It marked their first in-person meeting since they met in Northern California last November.
Without mentioning Trump’s name, Xi appeared to signal his concern that the incoming president’s protectionist rhetoric on the campaign trail could send the U.S.-China relationship into another valley.
“China is ready to work with a new U.S. administration to maintain communication, expand cooperation and manage differences so as to strive for a steady transition of the China-U.S. relationship for the benefit of the two peoples,” Xi said through an interpreter.
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Mr. Biden, meanwhile, spoke in broader brushstrokes about where the relationship has gone and reflected not just on the past four years, but on their long relationship.
“Over the past four years, China-U.S. relations have experienced ups and downs, but with the two of us at the helm, we have also engaged in fruitful dialogues and cooperation, and generally achieved stability,” he said.
Mr. Biden and Xi, with top aides surrounding them, gathered around a long rectangle of tables in an expansive conference room at Lima’s Defines Hotel and Conference Center.
There’s much uncertainty about what lies ahead in the U.S.-China relationship under Trump, who campaigned promising to levy 60% tariffs on Chinese imports.
Bobby Djavaheri, president of Los Angeles-based Yedi Houseware Appliances — which manufactures its products in China — told CBS News in an interview this week that such tariffs “would decimate our business, but not only our business. It would decimate all small businesses that rely on importing.”
Trump has also proposed revoking China’s Most Favored Nation trade status, phasing out all imports of essential goods from China and banning China from buying U.S. farmland.
Already, many American companies, including Nike and eyewear retailer Warby Parker, have been diversifying their sourcing away from China. Shoe brand Steve Madden says it plans to cut imports from China by as much as 45% next year.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Biden administration officials will advise the Trump team that managing the intense competition with Beijing will likely be the most significant foreign policy challenge they will face.
It’s a big moment for Mr. Biden as he wraps up more than 50 years in politics. He saw his relationship with Xi as among the most consequential on the international stage and put much effort into cultivating that relationship.
Mr. Biden and Xi first got to know each other on travels across the U.S. and China when both were vice presidents, interactions that both have said left a lasting impression.
“For over a decade, you and I have spent many hours together, both here and in China and in between. And I think we’ve spent a long time dealing with these issues,” Mr. Biden said Saturday.
But the last four years have presented a steady stream of difficult moments.
The FBI this week offered new details of a federal investigation into Chinese government efforts to hack into U.S. telecommunications networks. The initial findings have revealed a “broad and significant” cyberespionage campaign aimed at stealing information from Americans who work in government and politics.
U.S. intelligence officials also have assessed China has surged sales to Russia of machine tools, microelectronics and other technology that Moscow is using to produce missiles, tanks, aircraft and other weaponry for use in its war against Ukraine.
And tensions flared last year after Mr. Biden ordered the shooting down of a Chinese spy balloon that traversed the United States.
