Is it hard for you to sleep? Know what foods will help you fall asleep

Insomnia problems are more and more frequent in today’s society, however, they have a remedy.

The first step to achieving this is to find out why you have trouble sleeping at night.

Some of the most frequent causes are stress, alcohol consumption, excessive lighting or noise, caffeine, a temperature that is too high / low, overexcitement or, as we will see below, an inadequate diet.

Relationship between food and rest

There is a close relationship between your diet and rest. If, for example, you eat too much, digestion becomes complicated and causes stomach aches, reflux and gastrointestinal discomfort that cause your insomnia.

And the same thing happens the opposite: not sleeping well causes in the individual a feeling of emotional discomfort (due to stress) that translates into a worse diet (both in the quality of the food and in the quantity of it).

Therefore, pay attention to this vicious cycle. And, to do so, the first thing you must do is identify which foods help you fall asleep, and which ones cause the opposite effect.

What foods help you fall asleep

They help to fall asleep easy-to-digest foods, quality protein or carbohydrate sources. Therefore, you can be good examples of dinners:

• A fish dish with cooked vegetables and banana.
• Cod with steamed potatoes.
• Courgettes stuffed with bonito.
• Chicken and vegetable soup with rice noodles.

However, dinner is not the only condition that you should pay attention to. What’s more, it is necessary that you incorporate a healthy diet into your diet. In this sense, certain studies as Nutrients (released April 2019), argue that the Mediterranean diet is the one that produces the best quality of sleep. Therefore, it should be included in the diet fruits, vegetables, cereals, legumes and fish (these being the foods that make up the basis of the Mediterranean diet).

Moreover, other studies have associated high consumption of ultra-processed substances in adolescence with poorer sleep quality. And, finally, we point out other of the most relevant conclusions from recent studies:

• Serotonin promotes sleep, being a neurotransmitter that acts as a relaxant.
• Melatonin regulates circadian rhythms, also helping to sleep better.
• Tryptophan is an amino acid precursor of both substances, so it is recommended to add it to dinner from certain foods.

What foods cause insomnia

By contrast, It is not advisable to consume stimulant substances before going to sleep. Thus, should avoid taking:

• Café.
• Caffeine.
• Sugar.
• Saturated fats.
• theobromine

Come on, you have to avoid dining with sausages, cold cuts, desserts with a high sugar content, chocolates or very spicy dishes, to give a few examples.

In short, a quality (and quantity) diet is essential to achieve a good break. And, furthermore, we remember the importance of exercising, meditating And, of course, do not hesitate to go to a specialist if you find yourself, for months, in a spiral of insomnia from which you cannot get out.

Finally, we remember that you can find many other health and food posts on our blog.