Sleep Problems and Food

What you eat will have a distinct effect on the quality of sleep you get with a direct relationship between meals and sleep upsets. Most folks think nothing of seizing a “midnight snack” or taking a late dinner but regrettably, doing these things can actually be causing you to have a bad night’s sleep.

To make certain that you don’t have sleep disorders due to your eating habits it would be a good idea to make a list of your favorite foods and beverages that may be having an ill effect on your sleeping pattern. Of course, the first drink on that list is likely to be caffeine related beverages like coffee on account of the awake feeling they supply.

In order to eliminate drinks like coffee from hindering your sleep you should have your last cup prior to three. If you are a late afternoon drinker consider using tea instead because there are a number of teas which provide benefits to your health as in herbal teas which promote overall health and are decaffeinated.

Alcohol can also cause problems with sleep so that always popular drink of wine just before bed may actually be keeping you up. In order to avoid this limit drinking to pre dinner instead of late night drinks like the nightcap or after dinner glass of bourbon. To make sure a restroom break doesn’t get you out of be don’t consume any liquids 90 minutes before heading off to bed. It may be surprising how much these small alterations will positively contribute to a good night’s rest.

For the most part you want to avoid certain foods that could cause sleep trouble such as spicy foods because these tend to warm the body, increase circulation and can actually remove feelings of tiredness. Spicy foods also make your digestive system work harder and may give you problems like heartburn, gas and constipation. These are two things that can also create issues when attempting to get to sleep so in order to prevent this avoid spicy foods for dinner. You should be able to have spicy foods at lunch time if you can’t stay away from them too long. You may also want to avoid eating three hours before going to bed due to the fact that your body will become more active in terms of internal movement.

Digestion while you are sleeping can cause disruptions or not being able to get fully into the REM and deep sleep stages of the sleep cycle. Your body will be going through the paces of digesting your food so to avoid this consider eating dinner a minimum of three hours before bed. If you feel your digestive tract is slow consider eating dinner earlier to ensure you get a good night’s rest.