Want Better Sleep - avoid these foods

So, you are doing everything right, you switch electronics off 1 hour before bedtime, you sleep in a dark room that is kept at a optimum temperature for a good nights rest, but you’re still tossing and turning. At this point, as a coach I would be asking what you’re diet is like and what foods or drinks you may be consuming close to winding down for the night.

Caffeine:

this is clearly the most obvious one but still worth a mention. You drink coffee in the AM to wake up and that’s perfectly ok. But what about having it when the clock turns to PM – this can have a major impact on your sleep – did you know that caffeine stays in your system for up to 6 hours? So when do you drink that last cup o’ jo? maybe this is the reason. My advise here is to switch to decaf in afternoon/evening if you’re prone to drinking coffee then or switch to a caffeine free herbal tea – there are sooooo many to choose from. Remember that green tea has caffeine so look for other alternatives.

Sugar:

Sugar can have major implications to you if you are waking up a lot during the night. This kind of disturbed sleep is anything but restful. Remember we need a full 7-8 hours of restful sleep to properly function.

Sugar is one to generally avoid before bed BUT if you have to satisfy that sweet tooth go for natural sugar, like the kind found in fruit. Its best to pair this fruit with a protein and healthy fat this way to blood sugar spike that would keep you wake is minimized. So think, some almonds and an apple or cottage cheese with an apple.

Spicy foods:

I love spicy foods, really I can’t get enough BUT having them too close to bedtime could be causing that heartburn which makes it impossible to fall asleep. Spicy foods can irritate the digestive tract leading to digestive upset.

Don’t go giving up spicy foods, really they have a whole host of benefits from boosting the metabolism, reducing inflammation and they can even inhibit the growth of cancer cells – just don’t have them before bed.

Fatty foods:

Simply put these foods require a lot from the body to be broken down, and so much energy. This is not how you want your body to be when trying to drift off to sleep. Heavy meals in general are not your friend when you want a good nights sleep.

Alcohol:

Regardless of what you’ve heard alcohol is one of the worst culprits in disturbing sleep. While it may help you to fall asleep quicker, alcohol metabolizes quickly and will disrupt your sleep causing you to wake during the night.

To keep alcohol from disturbing your sleep I would recommend keeping that glass of wine or beer limited in consumption and not drinking any within 3 hours of your bedtime.

If getting quality sleep is a real problem I would recommend keeping sleep diary that you can also record meals had, kept over time this will help you find connections between your diet/lifestyle and the quality of sleep you’re getting. Then you can make the adjustments necessary.

If you have any questions regarding sleep this is something that a health and nutrition coach can help you figure out whats causing the problem and help guide you in addressing them. Please feel free to email or using the contact page.