Introduction Good health is often considered one of life's greatest assets. It is not merely the absence of diseases but a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being. In today's fast-paced world, maintaining good health is paramount to leading a fulfilling and productive life. This comprehensive guide explores the various aspects and benefits of good health, providing valuable insights into its value and the steps you can take to achieve and maintain it. Physical Health Regular Exercise: Engaging in regular physical activity is essential for good health . Exercise strengthens muscles, improves cardiovascular health, enhances flexibility, and boosts overall energy levels. Aim for at least 150 minutes of restrained-intensity aerobic exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise per week, along with muscle-strengthening activities on two or more days a week. Balanced Nutrition: A well-balanced diet provides you...
Have you ever had a late-night snack and then struggled to
sleep? Or maybe, that food you ate for a bedtime snack lulled you into the
perfect night of sleep. I have worked myself with those late-night cravings
only to have a sleepless night. As a functional medicine doctor, I know that food is medicine. We use a whole-body approach to get to the root cause of your symptoms and consider diet and supplements to be pivotal solutions to most health conditions. The same principle applies to getting a good night's rest.
I'm about to tell you about the foods to help you sleep and the foods to avoid to ensure you're getting optimal sleep. First, let's talk about how your diet impacts your sleep pattern.
Contents hide
How Your Diet Impacts Your Sleep
How Your Sleep Impacts Your Diet
How When You Eat Impacts Sleep Health
Five Foods That Help You Sleep
Foods to Avoid for Sleep Health
FAQ's
Article Sources
How Your Diet Impacts Your Sleep
Did you know that every cellular process in your body relies
on nutrients from the food you eat? It's true! Your body needs a healthy
balance of macronutrients (protein, fats, and carbohydrates) and micronutrients
(vitamins and minerals). If that delicate balance gets disrupted, it can thwart
your body's natural production of all the hormones it uses to regulate your
body's critical processes, including the sleep hormone melatonin.1
Melatonin binds to receptors in your body to help you relax. Melatonin doesn't directly make you sleep. Instead, levels of these messenger hormones increase as it gets dark outside to tell your body that it's time to sleep. 2 While your body naturally produces melatonin, some foods are rich in melatonin that will help mimic this pattern, and you sleep. I'll discuss those and other foods that help you sleep more in detail later.
Just as there are foods to help you sleep, there are foods that will hinder your ability to get a good night's rest. You likely know that if you drink a can of soda or a cup of coffee before bed, you can be sure you're not getting much quality sleep that night. For a typical person, caffeine remains in the blood for roughly 6 hours after you consume it.3 Reducing your intake of toxic caffeine and limiting your caffeine consumption to the early hours of the day is an easy first step when using food for better sleep.
I typically recommend that you don't consume anything containing caffeine at all, but if you must, limit your intake of drinks such as coffee, soft drinks, or tea after 2 p.m. It's also important to limit your caffeine intake throughout the day. The recommended daily intake is 400mg, according to the Food & Drug Administration.4 That may seem like a lot; however, an 8-ounce cup of coffee contains between 95 to 200mg of caffeine, so you reach the limit very quickly. Of course, as I said earlier, in The Myers Way®, I recommend removing all caffeine from your diet.
Just as your diet can impact your sleep, your sleep pattern can also affect your diet. Let's talk about how your sleep impacts the foods you eat.
How Your Sleep Impacts Your Diet
When your sleep pattern and diet live in harmony with each other, it boosts your overall health. Quality sleep boosts your metabolism, supports your immune system, improves memory, increases productivity, and builds protein molecules. When you get optimal sleep, you are also more likely to eat healthier and maintain optimal weight.5
On the other hand, when you don't get enough quality sleep, the hormones that control appetite and hunger – leptin and ghrelin – become imbalanced. This imbalance can trigger cravings for foods full of carbohydrates, sugar and caffeine.
Your body turns carbohydrates into glucose quickly for energy if it isn't getting enough calories from proteins and fats. A spike in glucose triggers your pancreas to produce insulin, a hormone that regulates glucose levels. If you aren't getting enough sleep, it can increase your risk of developing insulin resistance. This can have long-term effects such as weight gain and an increased risk of heart disease, sleeping disorders such as sleep apnea, or diabetes.
These disorders, in turn, affect your ability to get a restful night's sleep and start the cycle all over again. It's a tough one to get out of.
Don't worry! I'm about to tell you how you can adjust your diet to get foods that will help you sleep and what foods to avoid. What's just as important as eating foods that help you sleep is when you eat those foods. Let's talk about that.
How When You Eat Impacts Sleep Health
If your goal is to eat more foods that help you sleep, it's
essential to understand how the digestive system works at night. Just like you,
your digestive system needs a break after strenuous activity or a day on the
go. Your digestive system is constantly working throughout the day, absorbing
the nutrients from the foods you eat and eliminating waste. It gets tired, too!
When you sleep, your digestive system