Tossing and turning in the heat these past few nights?

You are not alone. As if it wasn't bad enough that many of us have disturbed sleeping patterns from being stuck at home for the best part of the past year and a half, now the summer heat is here to further mess with our shuteye. However, if you are really struggling to fall asleep in the evenings, you might want to try this very simple, if a little bizarre, TikTok hack that people swear are putting them right to sleep. Are you ready? All you need to do is pour some boiling water over some shredded lettuce in a cup, let it steep for a while, then discard the lettuce and drink the water. The result? You'll be nodding off in no time, apparently.

@rainbowbrikklettuce tea! zZZz ❤️ ##lettucetea ##insomnia ##organic ##fyp ##lettucewater ♬ Sneaky Snitch - Kevin MacLeod

Lettuce contains phytonutrients called lactucarium, which are believed to induce sleep and relieve pain. In a study from 2017, the researchers concluded: "Lactuca sativa (lettuce), an annual herb which belongs to the Compositae family, is known for its medicinal value. Traditionally, lettuce has been suggested to have a sedative-hypnotic property." Research shows that lettuce, especially romaine lettuce, is an interesting and cheap source of sleep-potentiating material and antioxidant polyphenols. In the video, TikTok user RainbowBrikk boils a kettle and pours the hot water on some washed lettuce leaves in a mug. She removes the lettuce leaves and drinks the water. Note that while she puts in a peppermint teabag for taste, this isn't a required step in order to the concoction to work and make you sleepy. The woman says the nightcap makes her "drowsy". The internet being the internet, in no time at all people were flooding the comment section, saying they had either tried the hack and agreed it worked, or stating how they were definitively trying this to get to sleep. On my way to the shop to buy 30 lettuces," one person wrote. Another one said: "My mum used to do this for me, boiled water and leave it in the pan for 5 min on a minimum heat, always worked a treat and it’s all-natural.”