Getting adequate sleep is extremely important for your overall health. It keeps your brain healthy, may reduce the risk of developing certain chronic illnesses, and helps boost your immune system. It’s generally recommended that you get uninterrupted sleep between seven and nine hours each night. You can use various strategies to promote good sleep, like making modifications to your diet, as some foods and drinks have sleep-promoting qualities.

However, some foods are better, while others can keep you wide awake. Some best and worst foods are mentioned below:

Best Foods To Eat Before Bed

Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken noodle soup is the ultimate comfort food, and the fact that it is soothing is precisely what makes it such a good bedtime food. Comforting foods can help your nervous system shut down and relax to give your whole body a sense of safety. Also, soup is easy for the body to digest so that you won’t wake up with indigestion. Additionally, go for a lower-sodium option, as too much salt can keep you wide awake.

Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes can help you sleep better. It contains B6, which boosts melatonin and mood, preparing for sleep, so eating sweet potatoes before bedtime makes you feel relaxed and sleepy. Plus, the vegetable is fabulicious, so you don’t have to wake up hungry in the middle of the night.

White Rice

Eating white rice before bed can decrease the time it takes to fall asleep. White rice helps promote a sense of fullness and restfulness as it is high in carbohydrates. It also has a high glycemic, which is said to make people fall asleep faster.

Spinach

Spinach helps to promote sleep with its long list of sleep-inducing nutrients. The leafy green is also an excellent folate source, magnesium, and vitamins B6 and C; not only is it a source of Tryptophan, all essential cofactors in synthesizing serotonin and melatonin. Spinach also contains an amino acid, glutamine, that stimulates the body to reduce the cellular toxins that lead to sleeplessness.

Turkey

An amino acid Tryptophan found in most meats has shown powerful sleep-inducing effects. A recent study among insomniacs found that just half a gram of turkey meat is enough to increase hours of deep sleep significantly. Include turkey with brown rice, a carbohydrate-rich food high in sleep-supporting magnesium, and vitamins B6 and B3 to enhance the sleeping effects.

Chamomile Tea

Chamomile tea is a traditional herbal tea that offers a variety of health benefits. It is well known for its flavones that decrease inflammation, leading to chronic diseases like heart disease and cancer. Drinking chamomile tea can boost your immune system, improve skin health, and reduce depression and anxiety. Besides, chamomile tea has some unique properties that may enhance the quality of sleep. Chamomile tea comprises antioxidants that promote sleepiness, and drinking this tea improves overall sleep quality.

Worst Foods To Eat Before Bed

Chocolate

Before you eat chocolate near bedtime, know that chocolate is full of sugar, which can severely impact how well you sleep. The research found that people who ate more saturated fats and sugar experienced less deep sleep and woke up more during the night. Chocolate also contains some caffeine, which can keep you awake for hours and stimulate the nervous system.

Greasy Hamburgers

The high-fat content is the offending sleep ingredient in this meal, which triggers acid production in the stomach and leads to sleep-inhibiting acid reflux, which is not right before sleep. Experts recommend avoiding greasy or fatty foods before bedtime to ensure you get a good night’s sleep.

Pizza

Pizza is the most well-known and classic late-night meal, but it is not the best option to eat before bed. Tomato sauce is acidic, and cheese is rich in fat, making this popular dish precisely the wrong thing to eat before sleep. Doctors suggest making lunch your biggest meal of the day and avoiding eating three hours before bed to prevent nighttime indigestion that could prevent you from getting a good night’s sleep.

Ice Cream

Eating dessert after dinner is lovely, but ice cream isn’t the best option for sleep. Dairy can have lots of fat, and also low-fat ice creams are high in sugar, which means you apparently will not be getting adequate sleep if you eat ice cream late at night.

Sugary Cereal

Many of us crave some sugar cereal at night for a sweet snack, but you’re better off sticking with a high-fiber, low-sugar kind, like bran flakes or cheerios. Sugary cereals digest quickly in your digestive system, as low-fiber diets are linked to lighter sleep, so the stalk in blood sugar could throw off some of your sleep hormones. When you’re not getting enough sleep, you’re more likely to seek energy by eating more food but avoid it.

Pasta

Pasta is a comfort food until you try to fall asleep, as it is refined carbohydrates, which, like sugar, stimulate that fat storage in your system and then lets it run through all night. Whole-wheat pasta is a better option, made from complex carbs higher in fiber and won’t increase your blood sugar.

Final Thoughts

Not all foods ruin your good night’s sleep. Some nocturnal noshes double as sleep aids. Certain foods can help you sleep as they have a sleep-inducing, relaxing effect on the body that makes falling asleep more comfortable. Try keeping notes on what foods help you sleep and what foods may hinder your sleep. The foods listed above are a simple start to figuring out why you cannot sleep at night. Most find that their sleep is being interrupted by more than one cause as well. So, consider altering other habits in your daily routines to help you sleep better.