There is a relationship between diet and sleep. You will find it difficult to fall asleep after a cup of coffee , and many a child has had a glass of warm milk if he or she could not sleep. You can of course make good use of this. How do you fall asleep after dinner if you want to be sure of 8 hours of sleep? And what is better not to eat before a night of sleep? Can be useful if you want to get through the night, or just to know which food you should leave out.
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Eating before bed can be both positive and negative. Because to be active, your body needs energy. This may create stored fat, but getting it straight from your diet is a lot easier. During your sleep, your body also needs energy, after all it has to recover from all the stimuli of that day. One hour of sleep costs you one kcal per kilogram of body weight. You burn more easily with most activities, but you do need energy to sleep. Stuffing yourself before bed is certainly not necessary. That is even disadvantageous, because your digestion is at a low level when you sleep. In addition to nutrition, also check the influence of a good mattress on your night‘s sleep .
If your stomach is full enough, your body will still spend a little more energy digesting that food, leaving less energy to sleep. Not very handy, but then you can’t eat anything at all? Certainly. After all, going to bed with a rumbling stomach is not the most fantastic starting point for falling asleep. The trick is not to overload your digestive system, but also not to leave it without work. That sounds difficult, but it’s actually quite easy.
You can have some food before going to sleep, but choose something light. Preferably carbohydrates, which break down faster than fats and proteins. Almost every diet claims that it is best not to eat anything after a certain time, but research has shown that it mainly depends on what you put in your mouth. Aside from the fact that any food around bedtime is more likely to cause heartburn, there’s really nothing wrong with a piece of fruit. Think of an apple or kiwi. A bowl with cucumber and carrots with hummus or cottage cheese is also fine. And if you want to help falling asleep, choose products that promote falling asleep. Walnuts and almonds contain the sleep hormone melatonin. Yogurt, cheese, bananas and tuna, for example, contain a lot of tryptophan, a building material that helps your body to produce melatonin.
Keep the snacks tasty for the Friday afternoon drinks, and that bag of chips won’t spoil in the cupboard tonight either. No matter how healthy a salad or tasty dip for your raw vegetables is, don’t make it too spicy because of stomach acid. Fortunately, you are allowed a whole range of drinks, but preferably no alcohol, coffee, cola or black tea. And, very surprisingly, it is better to leave energy drinks in the evening.
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Written by
Milan Roelofs
My name is Milan Roelofs and I am one of the two founders of Morningstar Sleeps. At Morningstar we have a mission and that is to provide as many people as possible with a good night's sleep. We do this by selling perhaps the best mattress on the market. But also by providing people with as much information about sleeping and giving as many tips and tricks as possible. Sleep has an unprecedented importance and therefore we take our mission seriously.
Frequently Asked Questions
Not too much, not too fat, preferably with less protein. No alcohol, no caffeine. In fact, everything that most people think is tasty and easy can negatively affect your night's sleep.
Light products such as fruit or a bowl of raw vegetables with hummus. Especially useful if you choose foods with tryptophan (bananas, cheese, tuna) or melatonin (walnuts, almonds), which help you fall asleep faster.
