Foods that Help and Foods that Disrupt Sleep
Night time is a very tempting time to eat. We often get little cravings and feel like having a little snack or a small meal between dinner and brushing out teeth. In essence, there is nothing wrong with eating a small something before going to bed, but in so doing, it pays to know what we should and what we shouldn't eat to get a good night's sleep.
Foods that help you sleep:
Cherries are some of the only foods naturally containing the chemical melatonin, which is responsible for configuring our 'internal clock'. A study has found that adults suffering from insomnia and drank cherry juice before bed reported a marked improvement in the quality and length of their sleep time.
Jasmine Rice
Enriched Cereals
As a rule, carbs are a pretty good food option before going to sleep, but a box of cookies before bed isn't recommended. Instead, try a bowl of cereal with complex carbohydrates. If you make a habit of eating cereal with milk, you're twice the winner, because milk is also considered a food that promotes good sleep. Quinoa, buckwheat and barley are also recommended carbs to eat before going to bed.
Bananas
Bananas are rich in magnesium and potassium, minerals known to be muscle relaxants. They are also a good source of carbs, which, as we've mentioned, promote a better quality of sleep. If you choose to eat a banana you also earn a few more healthy advantages, such as helping your heart and blood vessels, as well as your cognitive functioning.
Turkey
Sweet Potato
Like the banana, the sweet potato also contains carbs combined with potassium that relaxes your muscles. As a food belonging to the orange family, sweet potatoes also contains carotenoids and powerful antioxidants that will promote your general health.
Valerian Root Tea
Important: Only drink chamomile or valerian root tea without caffeine.
Foods you should avoid before sleep:
Hamburger
The large amount of fat found in hamburgers is a known 'sleep killer'. The fat encourages the stomach to pump more acid out, which can cause heartburn. Of course, these heartburns may really get in the way of falling asleep, not to mention the stomach needs to work extra hours to digest this heavy meal, which will also harm the quality of your sleep.
Although it may put us to sleep faster, all types of alcohol go through a fast metabolic process in our digestive system, causing us to wake up several times during the night, even if we don't remember it the next day. A study has found that women who drank alcohol before going to sleep were up 15 minutes more (in little mini-breaks) in the middle of the night, as well as sleeping 20 minutes less than average. That may not sound like a lot, but the study found that the quality of the sleep is damaged. In addition, alcohol may cause snoring, causing disruptions in your sleep as well as your spouse's.
Coffee
I bet you knew this one already. Coffee is meant to wake us up in the morning. It doesn't actually make us more alert, it works as an antagonist to sleep hormones, and so is, of course, one of the worst things you can put in your body in the hours before you go to bed. Of course, people have a radically different reaction to caffeine, and so the length of time you should keep between drinking coffee and going to sleep may change from person to person.
Chocolate
Spice is not nice
Ln.P.K. Agrawal
www.keralites.net          |
Posted by: Pramod Agrawal <pka_ur@yahoo.com>
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