6 Diet Tips to Help You Sleep Better

Many people sabotage their sleep with a poor diet. Sleep is essential to function well, and the type of diet you follow will help you sleep better or not. The knowledge most people have on food and the effects it has on sleep is inadequate. But, you can research more to know what foods affect sleep quality and quantity, among many other things concerning your diet, if you aim to sleep better. Have all the must-haves in your bedroom, the dream cloud mattress, tidy and cozy room, the white noise machine, black-out curtains, and others but remember diet as well. Since what you eat or drink might be preventing you from getting a good shut-eye. Below is a guide to help you make the right food choices.

1. Mix it up 

Would you wish to net a healthy dose of sleep? Sleep at least seven or eight hours every night? If yes, choose to eat a more varied diet. Have various vegetables, cereals, and seeds to add to your meals. If you opt for a varied diet, you sleep longer than those who do not. Hence, your diet choices improve your sleep quality and overall health. Plus, if you need the inspiration to get out of a food rut cycle. Add a new vegetable to your grocery shopping list every week and seek a new recipe to add them easily to your diet.

2. Power down with pumpkin

Trade your warm glass of milk with pumpkin seed powder. It packs with the amino acid tryptophan. Tryptophan is essential for sleep, for it produces two hormones to help with it. Melatonin helping in controlling sleep-wake cycles and serotonin that regulates mood and promotes sleep. For better sleep, switch to a bowl of unsweetened greek yogurt with a teaspoon of pumpkin powder and some seeds instead of the usual glass of milk to help you get ready for bed.

3. Choose carbs carefully 

In most homes, dinner time is around 6 to 8 pm. It is the best time to eat low-GI starchy carbohydrates and not later. Since it helps to improve the levels of serotonin your body needs for sleep. Thus, choose to eat squash, quinoa, sweet potato, buckwheat, or legumes. Avoid processed carbs, such as muffins, bread, cereals, and cookies, for they prompt a spike in blood sugar, then a crash. As your blood sugar levels drop, cortisol, adrenalin, glucagon is released to help regulate blood glucose. As a result, the hormones act as stimulants and cause you to sleep less restfully.

4. Reach for a cup of valerian root

Enjoy a soothing and slumber-inducing bedtime tea with the calming valerian root. It naturally promotes drowsiness and contributes to a long and relaxed sleep. Also, you can choose to have chamomile tea or any other that has similar sleep-inducing benefits. It is better than taking one or two bottles of beer, for it affects your sleep quality. Reach out to your sleep specialists and enquire about the best teas for sleep.

5. Don’t eat too close to bedtime

Eat your last meal at least two hours before bed and avoid high-fat dishes. If your body is busy with digestion from the heavy, fatty meals you eat, it will not focus on you sleeping better. Also, as you lie down with a full stomach for long, you increase the chances of having acid reflux. Additionally, eating spicy dishes in the evening causes heartburn, and as a result, you lack a restful night.

6. Consume tart cherry juice 

Cherries, more so tart cherries, have naturally occurring melatonin, the hormone produced in the brain to help promote sleep through fighting insomnia. According to studies, consuming tart cherry juice helps you sleep longer, even up to one and a half hours long. Therefore, drink at least half a cup of the juice. For a start, an hour before your bedtime, and extend your sleeping time. Adding cherries to your diet will help with your insomnia, and more so the juice. However, do not have too much of it, for a lot of it can cause diarrhea and stomach pains, half a cup is enough for one night.