Foods for Sleep
What you eat affect how you sleep. One of the keys to a restful night’s sleep is to get your brain calmed rather than revved up. Some foods contribute for restful sleep, other foods keeps you awake. We call them sleepers and wakers. Sleepers are tryptophan containing foods because tryptophan is the amino acid that the body uses to make serotonin, the neurotransmitter that slows down nerve traffic so your brain isn’t so busy. Wakers are foods that stimulate neurochemicals that perk up the brain.
SNOOZE FOODS
These are foods high in the sleep-inducing amino acid tryptophan: Dairy products: cottage cheese, cheese milkSoy Products: soy milk, tofu, soybean, nuts, Seafood, Meats, Poultry, Beans, Rice, Hummus, Hazelnuts’, Peanuts, Eggs, Sesame seeds, sunflower seeds.
BEST BEDTIME SNACKS
Foods that are high in carbohydrates and calcium’s, and medium-to-low in protein also make ideal sleep-inducing bedtime snacks. Some examples:
- Apple pie and ice-cream (my favorite)
- Whole-grain cereal with milk
- Hazelnuts and tofu
- Peanuts butter sandwich, ground sesame seeds (It takes around one hour for the tryptophan in the foods to reach the brain, so don’t wait until right before bedtime to have your snack.)
- Lighter meals are more likely to give you a restful night’s sleep. High-fat meals and large serving prolong the work your digestive system needs to do, and all the gas production may keep you awake. Some people find that highly seasoned foods (e.g., hot peppers and garlic) interfere with sleep, especially if you suffer from heartburn. (See gastro esophageal reflux). Going to bed with a full stomach does not, for most people, promote a restful night; after, all the intestinal work required to digest a big meal is likely to cause waking and poorer quality of sleep. Eat your evening meal early.
Heed the sleep wisdom: “Don’t dine after nine.”
FOODS THAT KEEP YOU AWAKE
» As a stimulant, caffeine speeds up the action of not only the nervous system, but of the other major body systems, too. Within fifteen minutes of downing a cup of coffee, the level of adrenaline in your blood rises, which triggers an increase in heart rate, breathing rate, urinary output, and production of stomach acids.
» Caffeine also prompts adrenal hormones to release sugar stored in the liver, which stimulates sugar craving to replenish the stores. Caffeine heightens the roller coaster effect of the blood sugar swings, producing a quick high after a morning cup of coffee, followed by a downturn in the afternoon.
» Know your caffeine quota. Some persons are more caffeine-sensitive than others. Many adults can take up to 250 milligrams of caffeine a day (the average amount in 2 ½ cups of coffee) and experience no sleep problems. Other get jitters after one cola.
» Time your caffeine boost. For most people, the effects of caffeine wear off within hours so coffee in the morning will usually not interfere with sleep in the evening. Caffeine- containing beverages at lunch may not affect you sleep, but coffee, tea; cola in the evening is likely to keep you awake.
Contrary to what we are led to believe, chocolate is not high in caffeine. In fact, many people find chocolate desserts that also contain dairy products to actually be a sleep inducer because of the combination of tryptophan and carbohydrates.
Some over the counter cold and headache remedies are high in caffeine. Check the label or ask the pharmacist, especially if you are a caffeine-sensitive person.
