Sour date kernel is a Chinese herbal medicine, fried and brewed to drink for short-term insomnia, but there are specific indications, not all insomnia can be effective. It is the dried, mature seeds of the date palm of the Rhamnaceae family, with a flat, round or oval shape and a smooth, shiny surface. It is sweet, sour and flat in nature, and belongs to the liver, gall bladder and heart meridians. Its main function is to nourish the heart and nourish the liver, calm the heart and tranquilize the mind, produce fluid and astringent sweat, and is mainly used to treat palpitations and insomnia, and is an important medicine for palpitations and insomnia caused by deficiency of blood in the heart and liver. The common clinical method of taking sour date kernel is to fry it and drink it in water. In addition to soaking sour date kernel, people can also use sour date kernel to cook porridge. Take 10 grams of sour date kernel, 60 grams of japonica rice, grind sour date kernel, add japonica rice and boil it into a bowl of porridge, once a day in the morning and once in the evening, can treat insomnia caused by heart trouble. Clinical studies have shown that sour date kernel can inhibit the central nervous system to prolong sleep, while the active ingredients of sour date kernel can play a sedative-hypnotic role by regulating norepinephrine, dopamine, GABA (γ-aminobutyric acid), nitric oxide and glutamate, etc. It can also be combined with other Chinese herbal medicines to make a decoction for soup. For insomnia, the main manifestations are difficulty in falling asleep, difficulty in waking up at night and falling asleep again, and low maintenance of sleep time, etc. The treatment methods include psychotherapy, medication, physiotherapy, TCM treatment and comprehensive treatment. In Chinese medicine, there are seven main causes of insomnia, namely liver stagnation and fire, deficiency of heart and spleen, deficiency of heart and gall bladder, internal disturbance of phlegm and heat, yin deficiency and fire, loss of harmony of stomach and heart and kidney. Therefore, for patients with liver and blood deficiency and internal disturbance of deficiency heat type of insomnia, sour date palm has certain therapeutic effect. However, other types are not the right evidence. It is important to clarify the contraindications of sour date palm, take it in appropriate amount, and combine it with psychological counseling to treat insomnia comprehensively.