Contents:
- Medical Video: 7 Foods You Should Start Eating Before Bed
- Can you eat before bed?
- Foods that can be consumed before going to bed
- 1. Milk
- 2. Banana
- 3. Sweet potatoes and potatoes
- 4. Honey
- 5. Foods that contain lycopene
- Foods that must be avoided before going to bed
- 1. Stimulants
- 2. Fatty foods
- 3. Spicy food
- 4. Dark chocolate
- 5, Chicken
Medical Video: 7 Foods You Should Start Eating Before Bed
Sleep is one of everyone's favorite activities. Unfortunately, certain factors can interfere with a person's sleep quality, making you have trouble sleeping or insomnia. However, do you know if what you eat before bed also affects the quality of sleep?
Can you eat before bed?
The study from Northwestern University, quoted by WebMD, found that eating at night contributes to doubling in weight gain, even when the total calories consumed are the same. Unfortunately, the research was limited to mice, not humans. But despite these uncertainties, eating too close to bedtime can indeed cause indigestion and sleep problems.
Although you are not recommended to eat too close to bedtime, it does not mean you have to sleep with hunger. If you feel hungry at night, make sure you know what healthy and unhealthy foods before bedtime are.
Foods that can be consumed before going to bed
1. Milk
Drinking a glass of warm milk or herbal tea before going to bed can help your body produce melatonin. Melatonin is a hormone that can regulate the cycle of wake and sleep. Melatonin production can help the body send signals to the brain so that the body is ready to sleep.
2. Banana
Eating bananas before bed can help you to sleep well, because bananas contain natural muscle relaxants like magnessium, potassium, tryptophan amino acid, and vitamin B6 which can help you reduce sleep difficulties or insomnia.
3. Sweet potatoes and potatoes
Sweet potatoes and potatoes contain complex carbohydrates that can help sleep, and potassium which contributes to muscle relaxation.
4. Honey
Honey can help you relax and make it easier to sleep at night. The natural sugar content in honey can increase insulin and tryptophane. So, eating a spoonful of honey before going to bed can help you sleep well.
5. Foods that contain lycopene
Lycopene is a type of antioxidant found in red or orange fruits and vegetables, such as tomatoes, oranges, watermelons, papaya, and others. Taking lycopene before bed can make you sleep better.
Foods that must be avoided before going to bed
While foods that are not recommended for consumption before bed are:
1. Stimulants
Stimulants such as caffeine and sugar can make it harder for you to sleep. So, try to reduce or even avoid caffeine or sugar before you plan to sleep. Don't drink tea or coffee at least a few hours before going to bed. In addition, you also need to avoid cigarettes and alcohol before going to bed because they won't help you sleep.
2. Fatty foods
Fatty foods such as burgers, ice cream, or other fast food can produce acid in the stomach. In fact, the stratospheric fat content in fast food can stimulate stomach acid production in the stomach, so that it can cause heartburn. This certainly can interfere with your sleep.
3. Spicy food
Consumption of spicy foods before bed can cause digestive disorders that can interfere with your sleep. This is caused by capcaisin, the active ingredient in chili which can affect sleep through changes in body temperature.
4. Dark chocolate
Black chocolate turns out to contain high levels of caffeine and theobromine which can keep you awake at night, especially if you are sensitive to caffeine.
5, Chicken
Chicken or other types of protein will be counterproductive if consumed at night. Eating lots of protein or chicken before going to bed will make digestion run slower, so the time you should use to sleep will actually be used to digest the food.
