You should avoid some foods if you want to sleep well at night. What you decide to nibble on before bedtime can drastically affect how well you sleep.
While some foods help you sleep well, other foods can wreak havoc on your body and rob you of a good night’s rest.
If you are looking for a peaceful night rest, here are the 10 foods you should avoid:
Pasta
Pasta may be a fast and easy fix if you are craving a quick bite before bed, but it is ideal for a good a good night rest. Pastas are white carbohydrates, and if you’re going to bed right after eating, they are going to turn into fat. Combining them with greasy sauces will also increase your love handles. There are foods to eat before bed to help you sleep and pasta is not one of them.
Garlic
Avoid garlic before bed if you are sleeping with a partner. Aside from the bad breath it gives you, garlic is known as a “hot herb,” and it tends to have some properties that can cause heartburn. One of the side effects of consuming garlic before bed is stomach upset. If you are vulnerable to acid reflux, the last thing you want to do is light your stomach on fire right before you lie down to rest with garlic.
Red Meat
Red meat is loaded with proteins and fats that will keep your body hard at work throughout the night. To achieve a deeper sleep, you ideally want all your systems at peace but meat takes longer to digest than other foods. Just don’t eat it right before bed, or your body will be busy breaking it down all night
Candy bars
Avoid candy bars at night. A recent study showed that 7 out of 10 people who eat candy bars before bed are more likely to be prone to nightmares. The hypothesis is that the high levels of sugar create more nightmarish brain waves. Rule out this late-night snack from your list if you want to sleep well. Some of the foods for insomnia include Turkey, salmon, sardines and almonds. You can also take yogurt before bed for a sound sleep.
Ice Cream
A bowl of ice cream is loaded with fat, and you are not going to give your body a chance to burn any of it before bed. Also, the sugar gets stored and turned to fat, too, so you can’t win with taking ice cream before bed. You can eat fruits and one of the best fruit to eat before bed is banana. Banana before bed helps you sleep well. Blueberries before bed are okay too.
Alcohol
While alcohol may help you sleep, it doesn’t lead to long-lasting and refreshing rest. Alcohol actually interferes with the restorative functions of sleep, often paving the way for shallow sleep and several awakenings throughout the night. Also, people who regularly use alcohol to fall asleep develop a dependency on it, which creates a frustrating cycle. If you are aiming for a deep, peaceful sleep, avoid alcohol before bed time.
Cereal
Cereals often contain high amounts of refined sugar and are full of carbohydrates. That might set you off on a bit of a spike and crash in your blood sugar levels, which is not the ideal way to put your body at peace before bedtime. If you can’t resist cereals, go for whole-grain and low sugar cereals that will satisfy you but won’t keep you awake.
Celery
As a natural diuretic, celery will make you pee more if you take it at night. Diuretics elevate the rate of urination because they push water through the system. Vegetables are some of the most nutrient-rich foods you can give your body, but avoid celery to enjoy uninterrupted sleep.
Dark Chocolate
If you are aiming for a good night’s sleep, dark chocolate is one of the foods you should avoid. It might be hard because chocolate cravings are real but dark chocolate is a sneaky source of caffeine, which is known to keep you up. Almost all chocolate contains some level of caffeine. They are also loaded with stimulants like theobromine which make your heart race a little bit.
Pizza
Pizza isn’t a light meal. The layer of tomato sauce in pizza has high levels of acidity, which is just another catalyst for acid reflux. The fatty and greasy toppings especially high-fat meats and cheeses may cause heartburn. A slice is not bad but stick to one slice if you don’t want to be restless at night. Pizza is not one of the foods to eat before bed to lose weight either, stay away.
Credit: Kate Halim