Sleep and How It's Affected by the Food You Eat

By Cristina Cook

Your general health and body weight not just depend on what you eat but also on how much you sleep and how good your sleep is. Things that you eat can affect your sleep and its quality seriously. Some can improve it but some can make your sleep difficult.

Products that help you with you sleep include green leafy vegetables, fruits, cereals and whole grain breads, mushrooms. Also spices you add to your food can improve your sleep; dill, sage and basil for example.

You should remember those days when your parents put you to bed with a cup of milk and there was a reason to that. Milk actually helps with the sleep a lot. It's rich in substance called tryptophan which again helps in creating a hormone called serotonin. Serotonin is a hormone that controls sleep.

To get more tryptophan and if you're craving a snack then products like turkey, honey, tuna and egg whites should be the best choice. They are tryptophan rich and additionally will help you with sleep.

Things to avoid before bedtime are caffeine rich foods and drinks. Caffeine is a stimulant which helps you with staying awake. Products that contain this stimulant are coffee, tea, chocolate, cocoa, soft drinks and some medications so try to avoid them before you go to sleep.

Another substance called tyramine should be avoided. Foods like as bacon, cheese, sugar, ham and tomatoes contain it in large amounts so avoid them.

Try to avoid spicy foods soon before you go to bed. They can cause indigestion and heartburn that can affect the quality of your sleep. You might think that alcohol help you to fall asleep but it also have negative effect by making you thirsty during the night and causing waking in the night to urinate.

The amounts you eat also have an impact on the quality of your sleep. It's recommended to have light meals in the evening. This way potential indigestion, bloating or overall discomfort can be avoided.

Additionally, to improve your sleep you can take vitamins and supplements. Supplements that include vitamins B6 and B12, calcium, magnesium and valerian should help you.

Having a good sleep is important to feel good and be healthy that's why do everything to improve it. If food stops you from truly pleasant night sleep then change it for better and healthier products. - 30414

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