The Relationship Between Diet and Sleep: Eat Right and Sleep Better
You may not realize it, but our diet directly affects the quality of sleep. Eating the wrong food can disrupt the biological clock and affect the body's need for sleep. Eating the right food can help you adjust the hormone levels in your body, promote the secretion of melatonin, and let you fall into deep sleep.
Let’s take a look at how some common foods in the diet can play a role in improving sleep.
Dietary Tips to Improve Sleep
1. Increase Tryptophan Intake: Let You Fall Asleep Faster
Tryptophan—this sounds like a profound word, but it is actually an amino acid found in many foods that helps your body make melatonin. Melatonin is a key hormone that regulates sleep and helps you fall asleep and maintain deep sleep.
- How to get tryptophan?
Food sources: Turkey, chicken breast, milk, pumpkin seeds, bananas, etc. are rich in tryptophan. - My suggestion: One hour before going to bed every night, you can drink a glass of warm milk or eat some snacks rich in tryptophan, which will not only help you relax, but also make it easier for you to fall asleep.
Case analysis:
Xiao Zhang is one of my clients who has trouble falling asleep every night because of his active mind. After adjusting his diet, he drinks a glass of milk every night before going to bed. Gradually, he finds that it takes him a lot less time to fall asleep, and he feels more energetic when he wakes up the next day.
2. Limit Caffeine and Alcohol: Let Your Body Really Relax
We all know that caffeine is a powerful stimulant, especially in the afternoon and evening. Intake of caffeine will keep your brain active and affect sleep. While alcohol can help people fall asleep quickly, it will disrupt deep sleep, causing frequent awakenings at night and affecting recovery.
- How to avoid these disturbances?
Avoid consuming coffee, tea, and caffeinated beverages after 4 p.m. to prevent them from having a negative impact on sleep.
Avoid alcohol intake, especially at night. Although alcohol makes people drowsy, it will interfere with deep sleep and make you feel more tired when you wake up. - My suggestion: If you are used to drinking alcohol or coffee at night, try replacing it with herbal tea or warm water, which can relieve stress without affecting sleep.
3. Increase Magnesium Intake: Relax Muscles and Help You Fall Asleep
Magnesium is a mineral that is essential for nerve and muscle health. It helps muscles relax, relieves anxiety and stress, and promotes better sleep quality.
- Food sources:
Foods rich in magnesium: spinach, almonds, pumpkin seeds, dark chocolate, etc. - My suggestion: Try eating some magnesium-rich foods at night, such as a handful of almonds or a piece of dark chocolate. This will not only provide you with sufficient magnesium, but also relax your body and mind and prepare for sweet dreams.
Case analysis:
Xiao Li is a high-pressure professional. For a long time, his sleep quality has been unsatisfactory, especially at night, when he is prone to tension and anxiety. After adjusting his diet, he began to add magnesium-rich foods to dinner and found that he fell asleep faster and slept more deeply, and he was no longer tired when he woke up in the morning.
4. Control the Amount of Dinner: Don’t Eat Too Much
Eating too much, especially high-fat and high-sugar foods, not only puts more burden on your stomach, but also causes blood sugar fluctuations and affects sleep. In order to ensure that the body can get enough rest and recovery at night, eat a light dinner and avoid eating too much or eating too greasy food.
- My advice:
It is best to eat dinner 3 hours before going to bed.
The food should be light, and you can choose protein-rich foods and low-GI carbohydrates, such as grilled chicken breast, vegetable salad, with some brown rice or sweet potatoes.
Are You Also Troubled by Sleep?
As a health management expert, I often encounter many clients who mention sleep problems. Some people have high work pressure, and some people have bad living habits. Many times, we ignore the impact of diet on sleep quality. In fact, every bite of food we eat subtly affects our sleep quality. By adjusting our diet, many people can improve their sleep and restore their energy.
If you have also been troubled by the quality of sleep, why not start from today and try these dietary tips? You will find that if you sleep better, your quality of life will also improve.
Interactive Topic
Are you also troubled by the quality of sleep? Have you tried to adjust your diet to improve sleep? Or if you have other tips for sleeping, please feel free to share them in the comment section and let’s discuss together how to get high-quality sleep!