There are many things that can disrupt your sleep and food is one of them. So what foods should you avoid to get a good night’s sleep?
Sleep has been difficult for many people for years, but the pandemic, the confinement, the lack of physical and social activities and the stress of it all have made it worse.
If you’re one of those people who have trouble falling asleep, staying awake or sleeping at all, here are some tips to help you do just that.
1.Coffee
The first item should come as no surprise. Caffeine interferes with the production of molecules that cause drowsiness and sleep, and it is also found in tea, soft drinks, energy drinks and chocolate. So if you don’t sleep well but still drink coffee after lunch, don’t complain!
Come on, we’ll stop making you feel guilty and we’ll encourage you to change this bad habit which, even if it allows you to last until the end of the day, then prevents you from sleeping. Do you see the vicious circle? Take advantage of the weekend or vacations to wean yourself off coffee and adopt new habits: only in the morning!
2.Sugar
We all know that eating too much sugar makes you horny and that you shouldn’t give it to your children before going to sleep. But do you know why? There are several reasons, as The Guardian explains.
First of all, sugar gives energy to the cells and prepares the body for activity, which is not what you want before going to sleep. Secondly, the pancreas is stimulated by the sugar intake since it has to create insulin to metabolize it. So your body is warmed up by the process. Finally, sugar consumes a lot of magnesium, which you need to sleep.
For all these reasons, avoid sugary snacks as much as possible before going to sleep!
3.Spices and spiciness
Eating spicy food can decrease the quality of your sleep for several reasons. As the NYTimes explains, indigestion and heartburn can lead to discomfort that prevents you from sleeping well. And spices can also raise your body temperature, preventing the body from reaching an effective temperature for restful sleep.
So avoid eating too spicy or hot before going to sleep, and favor such meals for lunch if you can’t live without them!
4.Alcohol
Contrary to what some people might think, alcohol does not make you sleep better.
The Ligue contre le cancer explains: “Alcohol disrupts sleep cycles, leading to more awakenings and less time spent in deep sleep, which is the most restorative.” “Alcohol consumption has a paradoxical effect. If it allows you to fall asleep quickly, it is also responsible for a very disturbed sleep: insomnia, frequent, early awakenings, reduced sleep duration. Unfortunately, sleep disorders are sources of fatigue.” Not to mention the fact that it makes you want to pee, so you’ll be awake during the night to go empty your bladder!
So we don’t drink before we go to sleep, simple enough.
5.Eating too much or too little
The body needs energy to fall asleep and to dream, but it also needs not to spend too much energy to digest a full stomach.
The risk, if you have eaten too much, is that the bloating will prevent you from sleeping in addition to the fact that your body temperature will be too high and will therefore prevent you from falling asleep. In addition, the fat takes longer to digest, thus increasing even more the time of discomfort before you can sleep peacefully.
The risk, if you have not eaten enough, is to wake up very regularly because your brain cannot stay in a deep and restful sleep because it does not have enough energy.
So eat enough but not too much, nor too fatty!
6.Drinking too much (whatever it is)
Drinking alcohol is not good for sleep for many of the reasons mentioned above. But drinking too much of anything is not good either. For the simple reason that you will have to get up many times during the night to get rid of it all!
You can, however, reasonably drink a beverage that is known to put you in a drowsy state and prepare you properly for sleep.