Healthy sleep rules: remove gadgets and apples from the bed

“Tell me what you eat in the evening, and I’ll tell you how you sleep” – this is how you can paraphrase a well-known saying. What foods should be excluded in the evening, and what can and should be eaten before bedtime? Explains nutritionist Anna Ivashkevich.

1. Skip Sugar and Simple Carbohydrates in the Evening

Try to avoid sweets before bed: chocolate, simple carbohydrates, juices, and fruits with a high glycemic index. Their use leads to an increase in blood sugar levels: we experience a surge of energy and wake up feeling hungry. For dinner, protein with vegetables or a small amount of complex carbohydrates with protein are suitable. This will help increase your melatonin levels, which means you fall asleep faster.

Examples of good bedtime snacks include cucumber or celery hummus, a small handful of soaked cashews, or half a sugar-free baked apple.

2. Only drink caffeinated drinks before noon

The effect of caffeine can last up to 12 hours, which means that if you can’t sleep at night, an overdose of caffeine during the day may be to blame. Try replacing tea and coffee with alternative drinks.

3. Eat Foods Containing Melatonin

Melatonin is one of the main keys to a natural healthy sleep cycle. Certain combinations of fruits and carbohydrates support melatonin or contain tryptophan, which promotes melatonin production.

Eating a heavy meal or a large amount of sugary fruits in its pure form right before bed is not worth it, but you should include these foods in dinner or in a snack an hour before bedtime.

Here is a list of foods rich in melatonin:

• bananas
• caviar
• Brown rice
• ginger
• barley
• tomatoes
• radish
• Red wine

Foods containing tryptophan, necessary for the production of melatonin:

• soaked nuts
• fish, turkey
• sprouted grains
• eggs
• sesame seeds

4. Add Magnesium Foods or Supplements to Your Diet

Magnesium deficiency can lead to sleepless nights. The way out is to include magnesium-rich foods in your dinner: cocoa, nuts (cashews, almonds, pine nuts), buckwheat, sesame, spinach – or drink special supplements.

5. Drink Natural Supplements

Has sleep deprivation become the norm for you? Natural nutritional supplements will help: valerian root, passionflower and melatonin. They can be found in the form of tea or tablets. True, they can be used for a rather limited time. If sleep problems continue for several weeks or even months, consult a therapist.

4 steps to good sleep

Diet is important, but not the only key to healthy sleep. Mayer therapist Natalia Edel talks about what else will help to avoid insomnia.

1. Scientists advise sleeping without a nightgown or pajamas to lower body temperature. The ideal temperature in the bedroom is 15-19°C. It is very important to air the room before going to bed.

2. Gadgets have no place in the bedroom. The light of the screen can reduce the production of melatonin by 20%, so it is better to postpone the smartphone and laptop for an hour or two before bedtime. If you use the gadget in the evening, it is important to lift it higher and keep it at eye level in order to relieve tension from the muscles of the neck and shoulders. Moreover, it has been proven that if we keep the phone next to the bed, then we sleep more sensitively – the consciousness is waiting for messages and calls.

3. Healthy sleep requires regular exercise. The key word is “regular”. Evening “attacks” of cross-fit will only increase adrenaline, and the quality of sleep will worsen. It is better to distribute the load during the day: walk, go to the gym. If there is no time left for walks, try to give up the car and use public transport. Even a short walk to a stop is better than nothing.

4. Make a to-do list for tomorrow, it helps you fall asleep faster. Probably, in this way the brain shifts part of the “responsibility” to paper.