Find Out Which Foods That Promote Sleep Will Give You a Good Night’s Rest
We all know that sleep and diet are both key to good overall health, but what is less well known is the strong link between the two. Good sleep promotes a healthy appetite and foods that promote sleep can make it all happen.
Those who do not eat well may be causing themselves a bad night of rest, and lack of sleep can cause poor eating habits. This can become a self-perpetuating cycle, with bad habits in one leading to bad habits in the other. The good news is that there are foods that are not only good for you, but that will also actually help you sleep as well. These foods that promote sleep do double duty on the health front, and thus you would do well to consider adding them to your diet.
What and when you eat has a great effect on your sleep. Beyond the obvious effects of things like caffeine and alcohol on your sleep, regular foods can have great effects as well. Eating spicy foods such as peppers before bed is a bad idea because you could be kept up by indigestion or heartburn.
Eating a full meal close to bed time is also not a good idea as it can cause these same issues as well. Drinking lots of fluids before bed is could also affect your sleep by causing you to wake in the middle of the night to take a trip to the bathroom.
But besides the foods and eating habits that effect your sleep in obvious ways, what about foods that affect the brain in a more basic way? There are foods that can have effects on the brain at a chemical level that can help promote sleep. Foods that contain tryptophan, an amino acid, when eaten along with foods contain simple sugars known as carbohydrates can have a powerful sleep inducing effect on the brain. Eating foods that contain calcium along with these other two further improves the effect.
Tryptophan is a precursor to both melatonin and serotonin
Serotonin and melatonin are both hormones manufactured in the brain that help it sleep. Tryptophan is a building block the brain uses to create these two sleep hormones.
There are two ways to increase serotonin and melatonin production in the brain, the first is to eat foods that contain Tryptophan, and the second is to eat foods that make tryptophan more available to the brain. This is where carbohydrates come in. Carbohydrates make tryptophan more available to the brain by stimulating the release of insulin into the blood stream.
The insulin clears the blood of other amino acids which would otherwise compete with the Tryptophan, thus making it more available to the brain. Calcium also aids the brain in using Tryptophan in producing melatonin.
So now that the basics of how these foods promote sleep has been covered, it is important to know which foods and combinations of foods best produce this effect. Dairy is a good choice because dairy products contain both tryptophan and calcium. Below are some foods that contain tryptophan, calcium, protein, or a mixture of them.
Oatmeal with Milk and Walnuts
Carbohydrates and protein make this combination a great snack to eat before bed.
These contain melatonin; just make sure it is the tart variety, the kind used for making pie.
This is a perfect sleep inducing food because it contains half carbohydrates and half protein.
Bananas are a triple treat as they contain tryptophan, melatonin, and serotonin. Add a piece of bread for a carbohydrate.
These have both tryptophan and carbohydrates, so they make a good sleep inducing food.
So if you are having trouble falling asleep, try someof these foods that promote sleep. You will likely find that you are falling asleep faster and easier.