Eating Before You Sleep

Many people are already familiar on which food to avoid before hitting the sheets. Alcohol, sugary desserts and coffee are just some of them. Surprisingly, there are food that you can actually eat to have the best night’s sleep. You just have to learn what nutrients you are to look for when doing your grocery chores.

Some health experts say that a lot of people know what they do not have to do when about to sleep. Eating heavy meal, drinking caffeine, and spicy foods are included in this list. There are people who eat all night or do not eat at all before going to bed—both are factors in which sleep can be disrupted. These people do not know that a having a small snack is okay, especially when eating food that contain tryptophan.

What is Tryptophan?

Tryptophan is known as an amino acid. It is being converted to serotonin and melatonin—they are known as a chemical responsible to the brain’s natural relaxation process. Tryptophan can be found in the food usually highlighted during Thanksgiving Day—turkeys. It can also be found in other food such as:

• Seeds
• Nuts
• Eggs
• Bananas

Complex Carbohydrates and Serotonin

According to some health experts, tryptophan is not the only nutrition that your body needs when trying to get a good sleep.

Having food with complex carbohydrates are important. This is because they can help in promoting serotonin—a hormone released by the pineal gland, central nervous system, blood platelets and digestive tract. It plays an important role in regulating mood, constriction of blood vessels, learning and sleep.

For most people, eating food rich in carbohydrates can make them feel good when they are stressed out. Although this can mean unhealthy food choices such as donuts and other sugary food, it can help in increasing your serotonin hormone in the body. Too much of these sugars and carbs can cause sugar crash which is responsible in waking us up during the wee hours of the night.

Instead of eating food with high content of sugar and carbs, health experts suggest to opt for healthier carbohydrates for your body’s nutrition. These can help in boosting our relaxation hormones. These food choices include the following:

• Whole wheat crackers
• Whole grain pastas
• Beans

When tryptophan and healthy high-carbohydrate food are mixed, tryptophan will surely stay in your system for a longer period of time. This will help you when you are having trouble in sleeping at night.

Having a simple adjustment on your diet can be very essential in promoting a good night’s sleep. Here are some other snacks that you can eat an hour before you sleep:

A bowl of cereal added with milk can promote a good tandem in promoting a good sleeping pattern. Milk is known to contain tryptophan and whole-grain cereals have complex carbs.

Munch on some cheese sticks. Having low fat cheese stick an hour before you sleep can help in supplying tryptophan. It can leave you calm even during a day full of stressful events.

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