Driving Sleepy? Eat Sunflower Seeds!

Hi, everyone!  This is Lara Hammock from the Marble Jar channel and in today’s video, I’ll share my secret for staying awake during long drives — sunflower seeds!

I am generally fairly militant about sleep — anything less than 6 1/2 hours and I’m kind of a zombie.  That said — sometimes I find myself driving with far less sleep than I need OR I’ve gotten plenty, but I’m still sleepy while driving.  

So, there are lots of ideas to solve this issue.  The most popular?  Caffeine — which works to a point, but I get diminishing returns and I find myself even more tired once the caffeine has worn off. Plus too much makes me shakey and my stomach unhappy.  My mom cuts up fruit in advance of trips and eats it while she's driving.  Some people eat hard candy, some play music loudly.  

By far the best solution I’ve tried came from my cousin who lives in Colorado, drives long distances alone, and doesn’t drink caffeine.  He eats sunflower seeds — the kind with the shells still on.  I haven’t seen a study on this, but there seems to be something about the mental energy required to crack the shell open in your mouth and get the seed out that wakes up your brain and keep you alert.  I’m telling you — it works!  Even doing one seed every 5 minutes or so seems to keep my brain awake and alert.   So, here are the benefits — they are cheap, can be found at most gas stations, and are pretty good for you — sodium content notwithstanding.  

The drawbacks?  They are kind of gross since you have to spit the shells out somewhere.  This isn’t always convenient since you don’t always have an empty cup in your car.  I actually keep a collapsible cup like this in my center console.  This folds flat for storage, is always available, and goes right in the dishwasher when I get home.

Another issue is that sunflower seeds go rancid after about 4 months.  So you shouldn’t keep 4lbs of seeds in your car — just in case.  Keep some for sure — after all, a few rancid seeds aren’t going to kill you, but falling asleep at the wheel definitely will.   But you’ll need to replenish your supply somewhat frequently particularly before long car rides.  I also understand you can freeze seeds to extend their life by a year or two. 

The last minor issue for me is that they are SALTY.   I try to get seeds with no or reduced salt, but those aren’t as popular at rest stops, so most of the time I’m stuck with the full sodium kind.  Not great for my hypertension, but I still think the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks. 

Just so we are clear -- there is no substitute for actual sleep.  Get enough sleep before you drive!  Or stop and take a quick cat nap.  But if you've done all of these things, sunflower seeds are a great way to keep yourself from being drowsy during your next drive.  

Let me know what you think!  Comments are always appreciated and thanks for watching.