How Diet & Fitness Help You Sleep

If you’ve been keeping up with our blog, or if you’ve been paying attention to the latest health articles on the Web, you know how important sleep is—how almost everything can be linked back to sleep. You can imagine how bummed out we are to hear that according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, otherwise known as the CDC, thirty percent of us are sleeping a sad average of no more than six hours a night. That’s 40.6 million Americans not getting enough sleep! The National Sleep Foundation tells us that the recommended amount of sleep is seven to nine hours a night. Apparently, anything less than that opens the door to an increased risk of health problems such as diabetes, heart disease, depression, substance abuse, and even an increase in appetite and the risk for future weight gain or obesity. At a recent meeting of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, a new and unpublished study shared that a lack of sleep could impact diet by boosting our cravings for less healthy foods and by hindering our decision-making ability when it counts—like when we’re up against fatty and calorie-filled snacks.

As alarming as all of this may be, we’re actually here to give you some good news that will most likely help! There are several things that you can do to help you get the sleep you need. And to avoid all of those nasty complications that come with sleep deprivation. All of these tips tie back to eating well and staying active.

Exercise keeps your muscles, bones, and heart strong and in shape to conquer the day. It may also help you sleep! Previous studies have shown that participating in an exercise training program has moderately positive effects on sleep quality in middle-aged and older adults. So for all you parents and grandparents out there, stay active for a good night’s sleep! We recommend that you exercise earlier in the day. After your workout, your body needs a few hours to cool down. A cool body sleeps better, so be sure to give your body enough time to cool down so that you can get the sleep you need.

If you’re dieting, you might be staying away from carbs. But carbohydrate-rich foods, in moderation, give you the energy you need during the day and hit your sleep sweet spot at night. Tryptophan, an amino acid found in lots of carbohydrate-rich foods, creates serotonin in your body. This is the neurotransmitter that helps you wind down after a long day. Try a steady dose of carbs like oatmeal and other whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy foods. These options will not only help you get to sleep, but they’re healthy for you too! Remember to keep you dinners and bedtime snacks small. Large, late meals can adversely affect sleep!

Be cautious with caffeine! This stimulant of the central nervous system is notorious for delaying sleepiness and is known to cause sleep disturbances for those of you who do manage to doze off after a cup of coffee. This is because caffeine inhibits some sleep-promoting hormones in your body. Caffeine also stays in the body for several hours, so you should steer clear of the coffee at least several hours before bedtime.

Another beverage to keep an eye on is alcohol. Alcoholic beverages not only encourage binging on food, but it promotes a restless sleep and boosts daytime fatigue. And we don’t even have to discuss the likelihood of hangovers.

The bottom line is that eating healthy and staying active could help you with any sleep problems you may be experiencing at night. We think it’s worth a try. At the very least, you’ll be living a healthy lifestyle!

Foods that Promote Sleep

Knowing which foods will help you go into a good deep slumber and which ones that won’t will help you make informed choices to get the best chance for some rest. Here are a few tips that we will suggest:

Look for Tryptophan-Rich Foods

Tryptophan – This is a substance with known sleep inducing properties. Eating foods rich with this substance helps you get precious amounts of sleep, without reaching for the usual sleep aids produced by the drug companies. Looking around, they are not hard to find. Even more, they are far less expensive than buying medication, which we all know could be habit forming and expensive.

Milk – Remember a time when your mom or dad gave you a warm glass of milk so you could get  a good night’s sleep? Well, it really isn’t an old wive’s tale, and milk’s ability to send you off meeting the sandman is in fact, supported by fact: Milk is rich in Tryptophan. In fact, most, if not all dairy products are filled with Tryptophan. There are other natural foods rich with this substance, and they include poultry, bananas, honey, oats, and more.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates complement dairy products rich with Tryptophan like peanut butter and jelly. Foods like bread, cereal, crackers, or cheese enhances the sleep inducing substance Tryptophan in your bloodstream. The End result? Better Sleep.

Bedtime Snacks

If you are a chronic insomniac, some late night snack may actually do the trick to get you some sleep. A bit of caution on the snacks though, keep them light, and not too heavy. Heavy meals tend to make the food sit on your stomach over the night and may actually tax your digestive system especially when your body is at rest.

Avoid high fat foods!

Here is another reason for you to avoid high fat foods. Extensive studies show that high fat foods, like burgers, fries, hotdogs, etc. not only disrupt your sleep cycle – they also are one of the culprits in weight gain.

Not to make this piece of advice too long, we suggest that you go to bed not necessarily with an empty stomach, but with right type of foods that can make you obtain sleep easier, not gain weight, and ultimately avoid illnesses by getting the proper diet, and the proper amount of sleep which allows your body cells to regenerate and keep you healthy.

www.n2sleep.com