Having a normal night’s sleep is one of the best ways of taking care of yourself. When we sleep, our body recovers and heals, our minds need an uninterrupted rest too, it allows us to start a new day with a clear mind.
You might not know this, but what we eat before bedtime significantly influences the quality of our sleep, for better and for worst. Here are some of the best foods to eat before bedtime and others to avoid guaranteeing a proper night’s rest.
Best 5 foods to consume before sleep:
Kiwis
Kiwis are not only brightly colored tropical fruits, but they’re also incredibly healthy, they’re packed with vitamin C, fiber, and antioxidants.
Being relatively low in calories, they won’t give you too much of an energy punch that would keep you awake. On the contrary, kiwis have reasonable sums of serotonin, a hormone in charge of our sleeping cycles. Enjoy kiwis a few hours before going to bed, and you’ll sleep like a baby.
Salmon
A good salmon for dinner might improve your sleep and allow you to fall asleep faster. It’s not only salmon, all fatty fish, including mackerel, tuna, and sardines, have similar benefits.
The secret is in the fatty acids known as Omega-3 and the high amounts of vitamin D in oily fish, both compounds help your body relax and engage sleep faster.
Walnuts
Walnuts and most other nuts have high amounts of fatty acids, that as we explained above, help you sleep better and faster.
The delicious nuts also have melatonin, the sleeping hormone, so they directly induce sleep as they’re digested.
Bananas
Bananas are a well-known source of potassium, but they also have lots of magnesium and tryptophan, the compound that becomes serotonin and melatonin in our bodies, the two neurotransmitters that relax our minds and bodies and induce sleep.
Bananas have many other vitamins and minerals, and are an excellent source of fiber, making them a unique dinner if you wish to stay healthy and sleep well.
Oatmeal
Oatmeal is not only a fantastic breakfast and a source of fiber, but it also has a good amount of melatonin, the sleep-inducing neurotransmitter. A bowl of warm oatmeal with milk is the best way to fall asleep fast since milk has lots of melatonin too — Talking about a double whammy!
The next five foods are better avoided to have a solid night’s sleep rest adequately.
Fried food
Cooking oil and fat takes a lot of time to digest, meaning that your stomach and entire digestive system has to work extra time to break it apart. If you want a good night’s sleep, avoid fried foods that will have your stomach growling all night.
Chocolate
Chocolate, the dark kind, is very healthy for you when consumed in small amounts, it has lots of antioxidants. The bad news is that chocolate has caffeine, so, like coffee, it will keep your brain alert and blog the sleeping hormone. Stay away from chocolate, at least before bedtime.
Alcohol
Drinking enough alcohol will surely know you out, you’ll fall asleep in no time, but your liver will have to work through the night to get rid of the toxic ethanol, meaning that you won’t get the restorative properties of an uninterrupted night.
Spicy food
Spicy food is delicious, sometimes addictive, but you’re better off without it, especially if you want to sleep nice and tight. Capsaicin, the pungent compound in chili peppers, releases histamines, which put your body on alert blocking the sleeping hormones. This is partially the reason why eating spicy food makes us blush and fell energized, both desirable traits unless you’re trying to sleep.
Watery foods
Watery foods like watermelons or cucumbers before bedtime will make your bladder bloat causing you to wake up and visit the bathroom, interrupting your sleep. Too much hydration will interrupt your sleep, dehydration will also prevent your body from resting, though, so keep it balanced.
Those are the dos and don’ts.
Sleep well and wake up energized. Remember that a balanced diet and exercise are also excellent ways to stay fit and enjoy a controlled sleeping cycle. Everything adds up in healthy living.
