The Best Foods To Eat For A Good Night

The best foods to eat for a good night’s sleep
Sleep has become widely recognized as playing a really important role in our overall
health and wellness – alongside diet, stress management and exercise.
Recently, researchers have been learning more about how poor sleep influences our
dietary choices, as well as how diet influences sleep quality. Not sleeping for long
enough or poor quality sleep are associated with increased food intake, a less healthy
diet and weight gain. Lack of sleep also leads to increased snacking and overeating.
And it causes us to want to eat foods high in fat and carbohydrates – with increased
chemical rewards to the brain when we do eat these foods.
Essentially, poor sleep drives your body to find high energy foods to keep you awake
which makes fighting the cravings for unhealthy foods very difficult to resist. But, on
the other hand, when we have slept well our appetite hormones are at a normal level.
We don’t crave unhealthy food so much – and we can make better choices about what
to eat.
THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP
All cultures around the world have traditions about which foods promote
sleep. Foods such as milk, chamomile, kiwi fruit and tart cherries, have all been said
to work wonders for a good night’s sleep. Given how much the food we eat affects us
on a day-to-day basis, it is not surprising that our diet plays such a big role in our
quality of sleep. What we eat also has a big impact on our organ function, immune
system, hormone production and brain function.
A really important hormone that controls our sleep patterns is melatonin. Melatonin is
produced in the brain and the amount of melatonin you produce and how efficiently
our brain uses it is affected by our diet. One of the biggest influences on our
melatonin levels appears to be our intake of a type of protein called tryptophan.
Tryptophan is an essential amino acid – the building blocks of proteins. Essential
amino acids are a group which our bodies cannot make; it can only be sourced
through diet.
Other nutrients that appear to be helpful for sleep include B vitamins and magnesium.
This is because they help tryptophan to be more available in the body. If your diet is
lacking tryptophan, B vitamins or magnesium it is very likely that your melatonin
production and secretion will be affected and your sleep quality will be poorer.
EAT TO SLEEP
It stands to reason then that following overly restrictive diets or diets that put you at
risk of nutrient deficiencies can really affect your sleep. But by increasing your
intakes of foods rich in specific nutrients, it may well help to promote better sleep
quality and duration
Dairy foods, for example, can be great at helping you sleep. Not only is dairy an
excellent source of tryptophan, but it also contains magnesium and B vitamins which
help to promote the activity and availability of tryptophan. Nuts, like dairy, also
contain all the nutrients known to promote increase melatonin production and support
its release.
Fish is a great source of tryptophan and B vitamins. Fish with bones, such as sardines,
will also provide magnesium. Including fish in your diet regularly may help to
promote healthy melatonin production when you need it. Pulses, beans and lentils also
contain high amounts of tryptophan and B vitamins. Adding some tofu or paneer to a
vegetable stew or curry can also help to increase your likelihood of having a great
night’s sleep. You could also add in some soya – which is another good source of
tryptophan – to optimize your sleep potential.
And if you’re still struggling to sleep, it might be that you’d benefit from some meat.
Meat of all kinds contains all the essential ingredients for a good night’s sleep. So if
you find yourself hungry before bed, for the ideal bed time snack, try a glass of semi-
skimmed or skimmed milk, a small banana or a few nuts – all of which can really help
to improve your sleep and your willpower the next day. It’s also worth pointing out
that it takes around an hour for the tryptophan in foods to reach the brain, so don’t
wait until just before bedtime to have your snack. And it’s also advisable to have a
balanced diet that includes plenty of foods that are high in tryptophan throughout the
day to optimize your chances of a good night’s sleep.
Source: The Conversation

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