How To Eat Your Way To A Good Night's Sleep

Sleep deprivation is a chronic problem worldwide. A recent study revealed that one in three people in the United States suffer from chronic lack of sleep. And we’re paying for it with a raft of health problems from weight gain to heart disease. In this article, we focus on how your eating habits can help you to get a good night’s sleep.

Complex Carbs for Dinner
We are often encouraged to cut back on the carbs in order to lose weight but when it comes to getting a good night’s lumber, complex carbs are the way to go. The reason? They have the ability to help release serotonin - a neurotransmitter in the brain that has a calming, sleep inducing effect. Complex carbs are also high in fiber, which has also been shown to be able to promote better sleep. 

A 2016 study showed that replacing saturated fats and high sugar foods with fibrous carbs in the dinner meal led to a significant improvement in both the quantity of quality of sleep. Make sure that half of your dinner plate is filled with such starchy carb foods as potatoes, pasta or rice.

Protein Helps Too
Protein high foods contain tryptophan, which is an amino acid that acts as a precursor to the two big sleep inducing hormones, serotonin and melatonin. Clearly the higher the tryptophan content of your proteins, the more effectively it will help promote sleep. The highest tryptophan containing proteins include chicken, eggs, yogurt, peanuts and oats. 

Combining complex carbs with high tryptophan containing proteins at your evening meal makes sense for another reason. For tryptophan to promote serotonin and melatonin production it must first cross the blood-brain barrier. Complex carbs have been shown to help them do so. Carbs lead to a high release of insulin, which acts to clear away other amino acids, allowing tryptophan to make its way to the brain. 

When to Eat to Promote Sleep
When it comes to timing your meals for better sleep, we recommend having your last meal around four fours before you go to bed. That will give your body plenty of time to digest and absorb those nutrients before you get into sleep mode.

There is some research that maintaining a regular pattern regarding your eating times also promotes better sleep. Studies on mice have found that erratic feeding times led to an interrupted body clock which compromised the sleep of the mice. More research is needed to determine whether this also holds true for humans. It is known, however, that establishing a regular routine of going to bed and getting up is important in promoting a good night’s rest.

Foods to Avoid 
In order to avoid a night of interrupted sleep, minimise the following foods from your diet. If you do have to eat them, make it before 4pm.

• Caffeine

• Cheese

• Sugar

• Spicy Food

• Alcohol

Wrap Up
What you eat has a big say in how well you sleep. In order to get the best night’s sleep, have your dinner meal 4 hours before bedtime. Make half of your plate complex carbs, with the balance made up of high tryptophan proteins and healthy fats. Stay away from sugars, alcohol, and caffeine in the evening. Combine these efforts with a regular sleep routine and you’ll be well on your way to a good night’s sleep, night after night.