When you’re trying to get a good night of sleep, you need to make sure that you’re not doing things throughout the daytime that are working against your efforts. For this reason, it’s important to learn about the various foods that keep you awake so that you can avoid them, particularly as bedtime approaches.
After all, if you’ve been making sure that you start an effective winding down routine, you’ve left your blue-light emitting mobile devices out of your bedroom so they won’t keep your mind active or stop your brain’s production of melatonin, you’ve dimmed the lights and are even enjoying lavender scented aromatherapy sprays for your room or sheets, then you don’t want to be left sleepless because you’ve inadvertently eaten foods that keep you awake.
Of course, to avoid them, you need to know what they are. Discovering the foods that keep you awake doesn’t mean that you’ll need to give them up entirely. It just means that you’ll be able to eat them more strategically so that they won’t have as much of an impact on your sleep as they would if you’d consumed them at bedtime.
The following are some of the culprits that could be stopping you from sleeping:
Alcohol – although wine, beer, and other types of booze might make you feel sleepy, it actually works to interrupt your sleep cycle. This means that while you might fall asleep more quickly, you’re more likely to wake up and have a hard time getting back to sleep again.
Steak – a heavy, high-fat protein like steak can take forever for the body to digest. Leaner proteins, carbs and veggies are processed much more quickly. If you have a late dinner that includes steak, your metabolism will still be roaring along when it would be far better for your restfulness if it were to start slowing down.
Tomatoes – these foods, as well as others that contain a high acid content such as spicy foods, garlic and onions, increase the likelihood of experiencing acid reflux. This is not only uncomfortable but it can be problematic at nighttime when you’re lying down and the acid no longer has to fight gravity to rise into your esophagus. Keep acidic food consumption to earlier times in the day if this is problematic for you.
Caffeine – caffeine and other stimulants do just that – they stimulate you. They promote alertness and wakefulness in many people. As such, they can also keep you awake.
Sugary treats – cookies, chocolate, doughnuts, candies and other foods high in carbs cause fluctuations in blood sugar, often in the form of spikes and crashes. That can cause an energy roller coaster, easily disturbing sleep.
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