Eat To Sleep: Foods that support or sabotage your sleep!
Food is nature's medicine and has the potential to support or sabotage your sleep. There are three components to eating: What, When & How.
WHAT you eat.
There are certain foods that are naturally high in sleep promoting nutrients. Amongst these are foods that contain melatonin, including tart cherries, oily fish, nuts (particularly pistachio and almonds), milk and eggs. Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone in your body which regulates the timing of your sleep. Many people reach for melatonin supplements, but I encourage you to incorporate more melatonin rich foods into your diet. Other foods that contain sleep promoting minerals (magnesium and zinc), include pumpkin seeds, legumes, red meat, whole grains, dark chocolate and leafy greens like kale and spinach.
Foods to avoid too close to bedtime because they may impact your sleep are high sugar or very spicy foods. Sugary foods (including fruits), can cause a spike in your blood sugar levels which then crash whilst you sleep, potentially causing sleep disturbances later in the evening. Highly spiced foods have the potential to cause indigestion and reflux symptoms which may affect sleep maintenance. Also, if you are a coffee lover (like me!), try to reduce caffeine after 2pm. This includes colas, dark chocolate, green tea and cocoa.
WHEN you eat.
Avoid heavy meals later in the evening. Ideally, you should eat your last meal 2-3 hours before your head hits the pillow. This will reduce the likelihood of night awakenings as your body tries to digest a heavy meal, reflux symptoms or process sugars/carbs. For those people into fasting, this is also a great opportunity to kick off your intermittent fasting.
HOW you eat.
If you are eating most of your meals in front of the tele, reading or distracted by something else, you will likely eat more, eat more quickly and not feel the satiated signals your body is sending you. Being satiated is actually a hormone called leptin which we see is compromised when we do not sleep well, demonstrating how food and sleep are intricately connected!
Try to eat with no distraction, savour each mouthful, chew liberally (digestion begins on your mouth even before it reaches your stomach), and put down your cutlery between each bite. This has the two-fold benefit of you really appreciating your food, and ensuring you do not overeat, which causes digestive issues that could affect your sleep.
Food glorious food! It is packed full of wonderful vitamins and minerals that help us live and sleep better. It really is the most bountiful of medicines.
Bon Appetit!
