This Surprising Fruit Snack That Could Help You Sleep Better

Despite sleep's crucial benefits for overall health and day-to-day functioning, many adults simply don't get enough good shut-eye. This is often due to a lack of quantity or quality of sleep (or both!). Before you're tempted to try sleep shortcuts that might do more harm than good, it's worth taking a look at some of your sleep hygiene and dietary patterns. To the latter point, there may even be certain fruits that can help you sleep better at night due to their mineral content. While certainly not a magic solution for sleep, dried apricots contain a lot of magnesium that might help you get more sleep at night.

Dried apricots are considered a good source of magnesium, an important mineral that helps to regulate blood pressure and blood sugar levels, as well as improve nerve and muscle function in the body. This isn't all magnesium can do, though. As one 2025 review in Nature and Science of Sleep noted, magnesium deficiency is linked with both poor sleep quality as well as reduced quantity. It's thought that magnesium works with neurotransmitters to help you relax and possibly achieve better sleep. As a bonus, magnesium in apricots may help your brain produce more sleep-inducing melatonin hormones.

Most people need between 310 and 420 milligrams of magnesium per day. While the National Institutes of Health says the human body does contain up to 25 grams of magnesium in soft tissues and bones, to hit those numbers you're going to need to get your magnesium via diet (or supplementation in the case of established deficiencies). Seeds, nuts, and leafy greens are all considered good sources of magnesium. You can count dried apricots among these as well. A one-cup serving of dried apricot contains about 51 milligrams of magnesium, per the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). It's also a significant source of potassium, offering about 1,860 milligrams in the same serving size.

Before you load up on dried apricots prior to bedtime, it's important to evaluate whether you need more magnesium in your diet. Eating such magnesium-rich foods could indeed help address sleep problems tied to magnesium deficiency, but there's not enough research to confirm that it can solve sleep disorders in all individuals. What's more, there's some evidence that taking magnesium with melatonin may also help sleep. It's still a good idea to talk with a health care provider before taking any new supplements for sleep purposes, though.

Despite their naturally high magnesium content, dried apricots also contain a great deal of sugar. In fact, the USDA estimates the same one-cup serving has 85.5 grams! Due to their lack of water content, all dried and dehydrated fruits contain high concentrations of sugar. If you're interested in obtaining the magnesium benefits of dried apricot, be sure you choose those that do not have any additional sugars. While it's hard to beat the convenience of eating dried apricot, you might also consider eating a raw apricot, which has only 8.75 grams of sugar per average serving. The downside is that a raw apricot offers 12.5 milligrams of magnesium per fruit, says the USDA, which is much less than the dried variety. A middle ground is to have a handful of dried apricots — this will ensure you get a decent magnesium boost without all the extra sugar.

Another potential issue can arise if you're already getting more than enough magnesium on a daily basis. In such cases, you might want to hold off on adding more of this mineral via dried apricot or other magnesium-rich sources. Too much magnesium can lead to potentially dangerous toxicity (hypermagnesemia) in people who take magnesium supplements or magnesium-containing medications. In most cases, the kidneys can filter excess dietary magnesium, but consider talking with a doctor before adding any form of this mineral to your daily routine — especially if you don't really need more magnesium.