What to Eat and Avoid For Better Sleep?
Admin
Nov 07, 2023
Rediscovering your food choices can be tough if you are on that track for long. However, big things come in places when we take care of small things. You can start small and begin eating properly on some days of the week and slowly apply it to the entire week, month, and further. To create a healthy eating lifestyle, you can use a calorie checker app .
Sleep is a person’s ultimate medicine after a hectic day. However, many of us usually face issues with sleeping even if we don’t have any sleep disorder. A critical thing that can significantly impact your good night's sleep is your food intake.
Certain food items can hinder your sleep. Even if you are excessively hungry and consume enough food before sleeping, if that food is not right, you may feel sleepless throughout the night.
Let’s read ahead and find out about the food items that do and do not promote your sleep!
Food Items That Can Send You On The Path to Dreamland!
Sometimes, your dinner may not be enough. So, instead of picking up something random to suppress your late-night craving, here are some food choices you should choose.
1. Milk
Of course, it is the typical childhood food you tend to avoid at night. But milk is the ultimate promoter of sleep. The tryptophan and calcium in milk help in sleeping better. Even if you are vegan, plant-based milk is also high in calcium, which promotes sleep.
For your kids, malted milk will be the perfect pick. Malted milk is nothing but Horlicks. It contains milk along with wheat flour, malted barley, malted wheat, and sugar.
2. Bananas
Just like they are good to eat before you work out, they are also ideal for sleep. Consuming one to two bananas before sleep can fuel you with enough tryptophan, magnesium, potassium, and vitamin B6 to stimulate your sleep.
On top of enabling your sleep, bananas are also good for muscle building.
3. Nuts
Not all of them, but some tree nuts such as walnuts, pistachios, and cashews are super useful for sleeping better. Consuming a handful of these nuts at night can boost the production of melatonin and serotonin.
Both help you fall asleep faster and sustain your sleep quality for a longer time.
4. Chamomile tea
One of the underrated items that promote better and longer sleep is Chamomile tea. Having a mild sedative effect helps you sleep faster. On top of triggering sleep, chamomile tea can also improve sleep quality.
Make sure you have a cup of chamomile tea 45 minutes before bed.
5. Tart Cherries
Tart Cherries of cultivators, such as Richmond, Montmorency, and English morello, promote faster sleep. Further, studies suggest that these sour cherries are a natural source of melatonin that improves sleep quality.
You can consume them as a whole or in the form of juice.
Food Items That Can Hinder Your Sleep!
To ensure your sleep is good and you wake up well-rested and refreshed, avoid these food items!
1. Coffee
By all means, milk is the ultimate food for better sleep. But, if you add coffee to it or anything that has caffeine, it can lead to sleep deprivation. Caffeine can stay in your body for several hours, so it is preferred if you have to work for long hours at night.
However, for sleep, don’t consume it 4-6 hours before sleeping.
2. Alcohol
It is true that alcohol can make you feel dizzy and relaxes your muscle for faster sleep. But that is not it. The real trouble begins when it makes you wake up at night. After that, it becomes challenging to go back to sleep.
On top of that, alcohol affects REM sleep, which is deep sleep and is of utmost importance. Alcohol can also trigger loud snoring and acid reflux.
3. Spicy Foods
One of the key states that the body has to achieve for sleep is low temperature. Spicy foods containing elements like pepper can trigger the body temperature to increase, which can keep you awake for hours after lying down.
Moreover, spicy foods can also be hard to digest, causing heartburn.
4. Cheese
We often suppress our late-night cravings with fast foods like Pizza, burgers, etc. All of them contain cheese, which is your sleep’s enemy. Besides boosting your calorie count, cheese contains the amino acid tyramine, which triggers your brain to stay alert for a long time, reducing your sleep time.
5. Acidic Foods
Though citrus fruits are highly recommended by health experts, not just for the nighttime. Citrus fruits, raw onion, tomato sauce, and white wine; basically, anything that contains acids can hamper your sleep by causing heartburn.
Stay Away From Sleep Depriving Foods With My Calorie Check App!
Rediscovering your food choices can be tough if you are on that track for long. However, big things come in places when we take care of small things. You can start small and begin eating properly on some days of the week and slowly apply it to the entire week, month, and further. To create a healthy eating lifestyle, you can use a calorie checker app or a calorie counter app.