Sleep is a complex process that affects almost every type of tissue and system in our bodies.
So, what can we do with our diet and what foods can we eat to promote a healthy sleep every night?
Before we talk about nutrition let’s find out what key things that happen while you are asleep, which include:
Energy conservation and storage
Self-repair and recovery
The brain stores new information and gets rid of toxic waste.
Nerve cells communicate and reorganize, which supports healthy brain function. Your brain and body stay amazingly active while you are asleep. Recent findings suggest that sleep plays a housekeeping role that removes toxins in your brain that build up while you are awake.
The body repairs cells, restores energy, and releases molecules like hormones and proteins.
During sleep the cardiovascular and immune systems are reinforced which helps regulate metabolism– from the brain, heart, and lungs to metabolism, immune function, mood, and disease resistance.
Research shows that a chronic lack of sleep, or getting poor quality sleep, increases the risk of disorders including high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, depression, and obesity.
It’s no secret that both nutrition and sleep play a fundamental role in our health, but the complex and important relationships between them are frequently overlooked.
Nutrition can influence the quality of your sleep, and certain foods and drinks can make it easier or harder to get the sleep that you need. At the same time, getting enough sleep is associated with maintaining a healthier body weight.
What are the best foods to eat to help you sleep?
A balanced diet made up of a variety of vegetables and fruits can provide a broad range of vitamins and minerals, contributing to better sleep while promoting a healthy weight.
Because sleep and nutrition are extremely complex and involve multiple interconnected systems of the body, it is challenging to conduct research studies that can demonstrate one single diet that is best for sleep. What appears most important is that a person gets adequate nutrition without overconsuming unhealthy foods.
Growing evidence indicates that sufficient nutrient consumption is important for sleep. One large study found a lack of key nutrients, such as calcium, magnesium, and vitamins A, C, D, E, and K to be associated with sleep problems involved in sleep.
Look for foods high in B vitamins; B vitamins are believed to help regulate melatonin. Foods rich in B vitamins include fish, lean poultry and meat, legumes, eggs, and dairy.
Foods containing tryptophan, melatonin, and phytonutrients (e.g., cherries), were linked to improved sleep outcomes. These effects may be due in part to dietary influences on serotonin and melatonin activity.
tryptophan an amino acid present in foods such as milk.
Many different types of diets can offer this kind of nutritional balance, and some have been evaluated more closely for how they affect sleep. For example, a diet, which is plant-based with lean meats and high-fiber foods, has been found to improve heart health and sleep quality. People who changed their diets to include high levels of fiber, potassium, and magnesium and reduced salt and saturated fats to reduce blood pressure found that they got better sleep. Also, excess sugar can cause you to wake up more frequently.
What foods to Avoid
Fatty or high-protein foods: Because digestion naturally slows when you sleep, going to bed too soon after eating a steak dinner or other high-protein foods can lead to disrupted sleep, since your stomach will feel uncomfortably full. Foods high in saturated fat have a similar disruptive effect on sleep patterns.
Spicy foods: Spicy foods can cause painful heartburn that could make it difficult to lie down comfortably, which makes it harder to fall asleep.
Caffeinated beverages- caffeine’s effects can last up to six hours, and sometimes even longer if the beverage is high in caffeine.
Alcohol is known to worsen obstructive sleep apnea as it further impairs airway muscle tone throughout the night. This leads to increased blockage of the upper airway during sleep.
How Sleep Affects Nutrition
Sleep is essential for the body and an increasing amount of evidence points to its role in maintaining proper nutrition and a healthy body weight.
Insufficient sleep has been associated in multiple studies with an elevated risk of obesity. Lack of sleep has also been connected to greater waist circumference, which is a worrisome indicator of numerous cardiovascular heart problems.
Studies have found that people who don’t get enough sleep are more likely to increase their food consumption without increasing their activity levels to offset it. Sleep deprivation also appears to provoke a tendency to select high-calorie foods that offer less nutritional benefit and create a greater risk of weight gain.
Certain hormones are driving factors behind these poor nutritional choices associated with sleep deprivation. The normal production of leptin and ghrelin, hormones that help control appetite and hunger, is thrown off even after short periods of inadequate sleep. Other chemicals in the brain that help guide food choices may also be impacted by a lack of sleep. Sleep is known to affect concentration, decision-making, and mood, all of which can play into the types of foods we choose to eat daily.
Can Sleep Help You Lose Weight?
Getting enough hours of quality sleep can improve dietary decision-making and contribute to a well-rounded weight loss plan. Studies have shown that people who are trying to lose weight have better results when they get good sleep. Sleeping well can reduce overeating and is a motivator to more physical activity by helping you wake up more energetic and refreshed.
How To Improve Sleep and Nutrition
Anyone can get better sleep by improving their sleep hygiene, which includes an individual’s bedroom environment and sleep-related habits. Keeping a regular sleep schedule is important to sleep hygiene. We all tend to push bedtime later and later. Research has found that a late sleep schedule is correlated with a higher risk of weight gain, which makes this step a potential benefit for both sleep and nutrition. It is also important to keep the time you sleep and wake consistent daily.
Giving yourself time to relax before bed is another element of sleep hygiene. This includes avoiding foods and drinks, like caffeinated beverages or spicy foods, that can make it harder to get to sleep. Eating too late at night can also throw off sleep. A good rule is to not eat anything less than 2 or 3 hours before you go to bed.
Other sleep hygiene improvements include making sure that your bedroom is cool, dark, and quiet, having a comfortable mattress and bedding, and trying to get daylight exposure and moderate exercise every day.