Some of the foods in your diet plan could be interfering with your sleep. Some of the foods that might be responsible for keeping you awake at night include:
1. Coffee: We all love our cup of coffee. While it may help keep you alert in the morning and after the afternoon nap, you need to be careful how much you take in a day. Coffee remains in the body for around 5 hours, with 25% of the same lingering on 10 hours after your last cup. That said, you might want to skip the afternoon coffee to sleep well at night.
2. Alcohol: While many people think alcohol will help them fall asleep, this is farther from the truth. Although you might feel a little drowsy after a few bottles, you’ll be forced to make repeated trips to the bathroom deep into the night. Such disruptions make it hard to sleep well or even wake up feeling rested.
3. Chocolate: Unknown to many, the regular bar of dark chocolate contains plenty of caffeine. It contains almost the same concentration of caffeine as coffee, one of the reasons you should avoid chocolate for several hours before bedtime. Avoiding chocolate altogether would help improve your sleep cycles too.
4. Spicy Foods: While you may enjoy spicy foods, capsaicin is known to raise body temperature, a factor that could affect your ability to sleep. If you have been suffering from sleeplessness after having such meals, consider skipping the chilis for better sleep.
5. Foods made from refined fats: Refined and trans fats are not only bad for your health, but are also known to inhibit sleep. For this reason, it would be advisable to avoid foods that contain these fats. If possible, prepare your meals and only use non-refined fats. Researchers believe that trans-fats interfere with orexin, a neurochemical known to induce sleep. Ingesting foods high in these fats reduces sensitivity to orexin, thus low-quality sleep.
You can eat all of the right foods but if your bed is uncomfortable you will never get the sleep that you need. Make sure you are going to bed on a mattress that is comfortable and supports you. Check out these Tuft and Needle mattress reviews.
