Foods You Should Not Eat Before Going To Sleep
Foods You Should Not Eat Before Going To Sleep: There are a lot of conflicting opinions when it comes to nighttime snacking and whether or not it’s healthy. Our take is that depending on the foods you consume, nighttime snacking may enhance sleep quality and improve weight loss.
A healthy Lifestyle has become pivotal in our life. The ongoing Covid Pandemic has made a healthy lifestyle more crucial than ever and people cannot stop talking about it. Having good sleep is an integral part of a healthy lifestyle. Many people miss the relationship between their eating habits and sleep. There are certain foods that you should not eat before going to bed. Read to know about what food items are good for your sleep.
Recommended Timing
Eating a meal too close to bedtime may actually harm your sleep, especially if it’s a large amount of food.
As a general rule of thumb, nutritionists will tell you to wait about three hours between your last meal and bedtime.
This allows some digestion to occur and gives time for the contents of your stomach to move into your small intestine.
Eating also prompts the release of insulin, a hormone that helps your body use the food for energy. This process can shift the circadian rhythm or your body’s sleep-wake cycle. Food can signal wakefulness in the brain and interfere with your ability to fall asleep.
On the other hand, the long-held belief that fasting for two hours between a meal and sleep can improve blood sugar control has been largely disproven. A 2019 study from Japan could find no association between the two-hour delay and A1c levels, a measure of long-term blood sugar levels.1
Food You Should Eat Before Going To Bed
Bananas
Bananas are usually eaten before workouts to get an influx of instant energy. But not many people know that they are rich in magnesium which relaxes your muscles. They also promote the production of melatonin and serotonin that help you to sleep.
Honey
Honey stimulates the production of melatonin in the body and a tablespoon is enough. Honey also shuts off orexin that keeps your brain alert.
Almonds
Almonds are a great source of healthy fat and they also contain a high amount of magnesium and tryptophan. They help in relaxing your muscles and calm your nerves. It also stabilizes the rhythm of the heart.
Oats
Oats are rich in minerals, vitamins, amino acids, melatonin and they also induce the production of insulin. They help you get a sound sleep.
Chicken
Chicken is most healthy meat as it is high in protein and low in fats. Prefer eating the breast of the chicken for dinner and it will help you feel full. You will not wake up at night and feel hungry.
Foods You Should Not Eat Before Going To Sleep
Cheese
People like to eat cheese at dinners and we all eat a lot of cheese once we start eating it. But we don’t know that cheese is rich in an amino acid called tyramine. Tyramine keeps your brain alert for long time and prevents you from sleeping.
Alcohol
Many of us think that one of glass will make us sleep well. But alcohol does the opposite of this; it will prevent your brain from going in deep sleep. It will keep the brain active even when you are asleep.
Fats
Fats are difficult to digest and cause heartburn. They create difficulty in sleeping as your heart rhythms are not in order and your body feels uneasy.
Spices
Spices are an important part of Indian food but you can choose to eat less spicy food at dinner. Chilies contain capsaicin and it disturbs your body temperature. This prevents you from having good sleep.
Coffee
Coffee is a big no no before going to bed. It contains high amount of caffeine that stimulates your brain for a very long time. It may give you a warm feeling but stimulates your brain for more than ten hours.
It’s the small habits that count in healthy lifestyle. Dinner is an important part of your sleep. It’s understandable that weekends can be tough to follow this diet but try to stick by this in your weekdays.
