Culturebox: To Sip, Perchance To Dream

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shopping To Sip, Perchance To Dream Testing out "relaxation beverages" like Drank and iChill. By Noreen Malone Posted Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2010, at 10:32 AM ET Once upon a time--July--I could sink easily and immediately into eight hours of sleep. I listened smugly as friends and co-workers complained of their Tylenol-PM addictions. Then I moved from a quiet, tucked-away corner of New York City--yes, such a place exists--to a street-level apartment not far from the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. I developed an irrational fear of bedbugs, began fretting more about work, and passed a birthday that seemed to mark the expiration date for my once-reliable ability to fall asleep shortly after guzzling coffee. Traditional sleeping pills seemed too extreme, even the over-the-counter kind; I just needed to calm down a bit. So when I heard about a new category of drinks called "relaxation beverages"--essentially, the inverse of Red Bull--I decided to test out a few. I even saw some romance in the idea--after all, Rip van Winkle didn't drowse off after an Ambien or two. Medea didn't lug a really excellent SoundSpa relaxation machine with her when she and Jason were going after that golden fleece. Harry Potter didn't nosh on a tryptophan-heavy meal after he saw Lord Voldemort. A sleeping potion, as I began to think of these liquids, seemed the way to fix my problem with panache. My experiment wasn't scientifically rigorous (pretty sure I laid the groundwork for that disclaimer the moment I dropped the phrase "sleeping potion"), but it was, at least, consistent. I tried each beverage once at the same time of night (about an hour before my 11:30 bedtime), got a similar amount of exercise each day, and set my alarm for the same time the next morning--the stuff of fairy tales. To continue reading, click here. Noreen Malone is a Slate contributor. Follow her on Twitter. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Meet the Scapegoats Democrats Will Blame for Their Midterm Defeats Why Do Tea Party Activists Capitalize So Many of Their Nouns? Harry Reid: Why Republicans Are Voting for Me	Advertisement
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