Foods play a significant role in your natural sleep-wake cycle.
As nutritionists suggest, you need to cut out certain food items before bed for better sleep.
Read ahead!
These days, at least one in every five people struggles to get a good night's sleep. This is very contagious, leading to several mental and physical issues (some of which are even life-threatening) in the long run. Hence, it's important to maintain proper sleep hygiene on a regular basis.
As it turns out, diet makes for a significant factor in the overall quality of your sleep. There are some food items that, if consumed before bedtime, can reduce the body's melatonin levels and further prevent you from getting proper sleep at night.
Cruciferous Vegetables
Cruciferous vegetables - such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, etc. - are loaded with nutrients, offering your health a number of health benefits. But they contain huge amounts of insoluble fiber which takes lots of time to digest. So, if you eat them before bed, this could cause some digestive issues and eventually a disruption to your sleep quality.
Foods rich in caffeine
Caffeine interferes with the body's melatonin production and keeps you alert for a long time. Also, it can remain in your system for 6-7 hours. Hence, it's suggested to avoid caffeine after 5 pm.
Caffeine can be found in tea, coffee, chocolate, and even some ice creams.
Foods with high water content
You surely need to drink plenty of water to stay hydrated. But consuming too much water before bed will get you a full bladder, and then make you get up in the middle of the night for obvious reasons. So, it's best to avoid water or foods (such as celery, watermelon, spinach, etc.) that contain high levels of water before bedtime.
Spicy foods are arich source of capsaicin
Spicy foods are loaded with capsaicin which is hard on your stomach. Also, they take a long time to digest and can trigger several issues like heartburn, acid reflux, stomach ulcers, and more. Hence, it's a no-brainer that eating them before bed is not good for your sleep-wake cycle.
Sugary foods cause a blood sugar spike
Sugary foods - such as cereals, desserts, candies, and more - are detrimental to your sleep pattern as well. Firstly, they take a long time for digestion, wreaking havoc on your system. Also, they cause your blood sugar levels to spike and then crash rapidly. This, in turn, can ruin your sleep quality to a significant extent.
The list also includes fried foods, tyramine-rich foods, tomato sauce, fatty cheese, foods with a high acid content, etc.
