Sleep & Nutrition: How Your Diet Affects Your Sleep Quality

The impact of good sleep on our good health can never be underestimated. Every medical practitioner would never miss a chance to boast about this solid relationship between sleep and health. Thus, they would often advise you to make efforts to improve your sleep cycle through different means.

Well, as per experts, one of the perfect ways to improve your sleep quality is to have a good diet. In fact, many studies have shown how the quality of food you consume profoundly impacts your sleep patterns.

While certain food items help you sleep better, some dietary things can deprive you of good sleep. And a disrupted sleep pattern may invite various health problems, significantly pertaining to your mental health. Thus, paying attention to what is on your food plate is essential if you desire a deep and profound sleep.

To get more relevant information on sleep disorders and how to cope with these issues, you can browse websites having significant information on this topic, such as Sweet Island Dreams.

Let us walk through some details about how your food choices during the day and before bedtime affect your sleep. 

What is the Relationship Between Diet and Sleep?

Many researchers have conducted studies at different times to establish a connection between your diet and sleep quality. These studies have involved controlled trials where people were given different kinds of food items. 

These studies have categorized food items that are good and bad for your sleep cycle.

For example, a high saturated fat and sugar quotient diet can hamper sleep.

On the other hand, a well-balanced diet with rich quantities of unsaturated fats lends a helping hand in promoting sleep.

On the other hand, some studies have registered that foods with tryptophan, a kind of amino acid, promote good sleep. But, on the other hand, when you sleep low, you ought to make bad food choices, such as frozen food or high-sugar concentrated food. 

In fact, higher-calorie food is exceptionally appealing for a sleep-deprived mind. This wrong choice of food again leads to a disruptive sleep cycle, eventually becoming vicious.

Thus, weight gain and sleep deprivation are closely related.

What To Include in Your Diet for a Good Sleep Cycle?

Sleep is a process that gets controlled by different hormones, and thus experts often advise incorporating these hormones in sufficient amounts in your diet. In fact, some effective combinations of food and drinks control your sleep cycle and make it more regular or disruptive. 

Foods and Drinks to Avoid

Here are certain food items you should avoid, especially during bedtime. 

Spicy Food Items

Who doesn’t love spicy food? However, It is also a fact that spicy food items do cause acidity and heartburn. But, as per experts, this heartburn and acidity can have a tremendous negative impact on your sleep cycle. 

Also, you should avoid consuming spicy food before bedtime, as this acid reflux increases when lying down. Thus, when you have insomnia or sleep apnea, having spicy food just before you go to sleep can increase your symptoms. 

Also, when you have spices in your food, it leads to an increase in your core body temperature. When you sleep, your body temperature drops eventually, and this mismatch between temperatures can be problematic for the human body to maintain. And this again disrupts your otherwise normal sleep cycle.

Alcohol

It is a common myth that people who consume alcohol sleep peacefully. However, this is a myth, as this happens only till the effect of alcohol wears down. Once you are awake, you will not get sleep as quickly as it seems. 

Also, consuming alcohol in heavy quantities can have a hazardous effect on your symptoms of sleep apnea and insomnia. In fact, try to replace that glass of alcohol with tart cherry juice and see the difference yourself. 

Essential Nutrients To Include in Your Diet For Good Sleep

Here are some crucial nutrients, as suggested by experts, that you should include in your diet to get good sleep.

Iron

Iron is a micronutrient we often ignore in our diets, especially for women. However, iron deficiency can make you tired due to the lack of hemoglobin. Thus, it also has a deep connection with the sleep cycle, and doctors often advise patients with insomnia to include more iron in their diets. 

In fact, iron is a crucial part of chemical processes linked to sleep patterns. For example, some food items with high iron quotients are Sardines, Tofu, Chicken, Spinach, and Oysters.

Omega-3 Fatty Acid

Another nutrient that is essential for getting sleep is Omega-3 fatty acids. There have been many studies conducted which have shown that patients, when given a balanced amount of omega-3, were able to doze off quickly as compared to those with nutrient deficiency.

As the human body cannot produce omega-3 on its own, doctors advise consuming more foods that contain high amounts of these acids. Food items that you can include in your diet, especially dinner, to get omega-3 fatty acids are walnuts and fish such as salmon, flaxseeds, and avocados.

Final Words

Sleep is essential for maintaining high energy levels during the day and improving your health. 

However, if you cannot sleep properly for any reason, you can always talk to a medical practitioner and include food items in your diet that can help you improve your sleeping issues. Happy eating!