The best and worst foods for Insomniacs
Chronic insomnia is difficult to treat, let alone get over. While there are numerous medications and therapies that supposedly induce sleep, your lifestyle and habits are the primary factors that affect your sleep patterns. You may have tried adjusting your bedroom décor, invested in the best mattresses and bedding, even sought therapy, but you still cannot sleep as well as you want. Sleep can be directly influenced by what you eat, making it essential to have a proper knowledge of the best and worst foods for dinner.
The Best Food to Have Before Bed
Some beverages, ingredients, spices and cuisines are known to induce sleep. Food items that are high in tryptophan, magnesium, calcium and B6 are of particular value. The following items are rich with these elements to aid sleep:
Tryptophan
This amino acid gets converted to a neurotransmitter (serotonin) and then to a hormone (melatonin) after ingestion. Melatonin is also known as a sleep hormone. Food items that contain tryptophan include:
- Low-fat yogurt
- Turkey and chicken
- Seafoods like tuna, salmon, shrimps, sardines and cod
- Nuts and seeds like sesame, flax, almonds, walnuts and flax
- Legumes like kidney beans, chickpeas and black beans
- Grains like wheat and rice
Magnesium
This is a natural relaxant that helps to deactivate adrenaline. Some excellent source of magnesium include:
- Baby spinach, kale, and similar leafy greens
- Cashews, pecans, brazil nuts, sunflower seeds
- Wheatgerm
- Bananas and avocados
- Soybeans
Calcium
Calcium is also useful for melatonin production, and a lack of this mineral can make it difficult to return to sleep if you wake up in the middle of the night. Diets that are rich in calcium have shown notable results in helping patients with insomnia.
- Dark leafy green vegetables
- Fortified cereals
- Breads and grains
- Green snap peas
- Okra
- Soybeans
- Low-fat cheese
Vitamin B6
This vitamin helps to convert tryptophan into melatonin. Deficiency in vitamin B6 not only disturbs this conversion process but is also linked to symptoms of depression and anxiety that in turn can cause insomnia.
- Pistachio
- Chicken, lean pork and beef
- Dried prunes
- Halibut, salmon and tuna
- Spinach
- Flaxseed
Melatonin
While your body produces melatonin from other vitamins and minerals, there are a few excellent sources to directly take in natural melatonin:
- Fruits and vegetables like tart cherries, asparagus, olives, grapes, cucumber, corn, tomatoes and pomegranates
- Rice, barley and rolled oats
- Mustard seeds, peanuts, walnuts and flaxseeds
Beverages for better sleep
Certain beverages and drinks contain essential vitamins and minerals that can help you get a sound sleep.
- Valerian tea
- Tart cherry juice
- Passion fruit juice
- Peppermint tea
- Chamomile tea
The Worst Foods to Have Before Bed
In contrast to the foods that help induce sleep are the foods that make it difficult to fall asleep at all. Some of these items are healthy but are not the best to have before bedtime.
- Cruciferous vegetables
Vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower, which are known as cruciferous vegetables, are loaded with vitamins that are good for your health but also contain insoluble fibres that are difficult to digest. Having these vegetables for dinner means your body will still be working to digest them while you drift off to sleep, making it difficult to fall asleep easily.
- Celery
Celery is a healthy, leafy green vegetable, but it is also a natural diuretic. This means it increases your need to urinate. Having celery right before bedtime will make it necessary to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, hampering a sound, uninterrupted sleep. For those with insomnia, falling asleep after getting up can be very difficult.
- Tomato sauce
Tomato sauce is high in acidity and can cause heartburn and indigestion. Hence, it is best to avoid pizza, spaghetti and similar food items where tomato sauce is an essential ingredient. If you are having any of these foods for dinner, it is best to eat at least three hours before you go to sleep to give it enough time to digest.
- Caffeine
Caffeine is a stimulant that makes us more energetic and alert. It also does not leave our systems quickly. Hence, it poses a major obstacle to sleep. Even your afternoon coffee can stay in your system for hours and disturb your sleep. This is why those with insomnia are strongly advised against using caffeine.
- Dark chocolate
Dark chocolate is a delicacy that is hard to resist. It also contains a liberal amount of caffeine and amino acids, both of which are known to keep your mind alert, not what you need when you are trying to fall asleep.
- Spicy food
Any food that is difficult to digest or extremely spicy must be avoided before bed. This includes steak, pastas, cheese, pizza, recipes with lots of paprika and similar spices. These kinds of foods can cause heartburn and stomach ache that can keep you up through the night or give you a restless night with hardly any sleep.
Some Bedtime Practices for Better Sleep
Apart from food habits, the following are things you can do to get a sound sleep:
- Create a sleep-friendly environment in your bedroom. Consider how wall colours, fragrance diffusers, potted plants, and high-quality bedding items like wool duvets and foam mattresses can be used to induce sleep.
- Organic bedding made from breathable materials can be used to moderate your body temperature while sleeping. Invest in organic wool duvets, organic pillows and other natural fiber bedding items such as organic cotton sheets.
- Use strategic ambient lighting to make your room more peaceful.
- Only go to bed when you are truly tired. Do not use your bed to sit idle or lie down when you do not need to.
Ambient lighting and bedding accessories can influence your sleep patterns and should be taken into consideration to get a good night’s sleep every night. If you have taken care of these aspects but still feel restless while sleeping, your diet may be the culprit. Keeping in mind the food items that are good and bad for sound sleep will help you in the long run.