You know what they say: you are what you eat. It’s true, especially when it comes to your sleep cycle. Whether you’re dealing with insomnia or just looking for a better night’s rest, the foods you eat can play a huge role in how well (or not) your body functions at night. In this blog we will discuss some worst foods to eat before bed.
Here are four worst foods to eat before bed—and why:
Chocolate
And the worst food to eat before bed? Chocolate. The reason: it contains caffeine, sugar and fat, all of which can affect the quality of your sleep.
There’s also tyramine (an amino acid found in many foods like chocolate) and theobromine (a compound found in cacao beans). Both of these are stimulants that may keep you awake at night.
Coffee
The last thing you want to do is drink a cup of coffee before bed because it will keep you up. It’s not just the caffeine that does this; it’s also because coffee can cause acid reflux and heartburn, leading to insomnia. The acidity in coffee can also cause headaches or abdominal pain.
In short: if you’re drinking coffee before bedtime, don’t expect to get any sleep at all. Not only will it keep your mind racing and prevent you from falling asleep easily, but it could also cause some other unpleasant side effects like nausea and irritability!
Alcohol
Alcohol is a depressant, which means it can cause you to feel tired and sleepy. It also prevents your body from producing melatonin, the hormone that makes you sleepy. This is why many people have trouble falling asleep after drinking alcohol at night.
You may be able to sleep fine on the nights after you drink alcohol, but every time you do so consistently enough that it causes disruptions with your circadian rhythm (circadian rhythms are our internal clocks), it can lead to sleep disorders such as delayed sleep phase disorder and insomnia.
Spicy food
Spicy foods can cause indigestion, heartburn, acid reflux, ulcers and stomach pain. If you have trouble sleeping after eating spicy food, it may be time to cut back on the hot sauce. It is worst foods to eat before bed.
The spiciness of a spicy meal comes from capsaicin—the same chemical that gives chillies their heat. Capsaicin is what makes your tongue tingle when you eat hot peppers, and it’s also thought to help with weight loss because it increases your body’s metabolism (how fast your body burns calories). But if you’re trying to sleep soundly at night, go easy on the spicy foods during dinner hours since they contain stimulants like caffeine and can keep you awake when your head hits the pillow.
Don’t eat these foods before bedtime!
- Don’t eat these foods before bedtime!
- Why? Because they’re not good for you.
It’s no secret that we should all eat our fruits and veggies, but did you know that eating certain fruits before bed can actually help promote better sleep? Avoid these mentioned four worst foods to eat before bed.
Conclusion
We hope this article has convinced you to make some changes to your diet. The last thing we want is for you to suffer from bad sleep and health problems because of something as simple as what you eat before bedtime. As always, consult with your physician if any of these symptoms are too severe for comfort or recur over a period longer than two weeks; it could indicate that something more serious is going on.
