Sleep Problems and what you Eat
November 3, 2009 by admin
Filed under Sleep Problems
The food you eat has a lot to do with how well you sleep after eating them. Most people think nothing of having a late night snack but they don’t know that doing that can negatively impact the quality of their sleep.
Think about the foods and drinks you consume at night when you begin to suffer from sleep disorders as they can be playing a role in how you sleep. A common culprit is coffee, which contains a great deal of caffeine, which can negatively impact sleep and can keep you aroused at night.
Contributing Factors
As coffee can be a factor, consider not having any caffeinated coffee after about three o’clock in the afternoon. Think about having decaffeinated teas afterward and into the night. Teas can contain substances that actually help you sleep, such as chamomile tea.
A glass of wine after your evening meal or before bedtime can actually impair sleep. It may make you tired but you do not get a solid, deep sleep and you may have to get up to go to the bathroom within a few hours of sleeping. Try not to drink anything 90 minutes or less before going to bed. This can greatly impact the peace of sleep you get at night and you will sleep deeper, not having to get up to go to the bathroom.
Foods to Avoid
You want to make sure not to have spicy or tomato-based foods before going to bed as spicy foods tend to warm up the body so that you can feel tired but you won’t sleep well. Tomato-based foods can cause heartburn at night, which can interfere with sleep. Spicy foods can also cause your digestive system to function overtime so that you can get gas and bloating with cramps at night. You will not sleep well. Don’t lie down within three hours of eating foods that can cause heart burn so that you can safely digest the food before sleeping.
Poor digestion can be the cause to your sleep problems. This means that you should eat at least three hours before sleeping so that you can safely digest your food before you rest at night. If your digestion tends to be slower than average, increase the time of eating before going to sleep.