If you often struggle to fall asleep at night, it’s possible that your choice of late-night meal could be to blame. Not all foods are suitable for consumption before bedtime, as certain ingredients and properties can disrupt your sleep, leading to discomfort and restlessness. Surprisingly, some vegetables can even contribute to this problem. To help you avoid sleep disturbances, I’ve compiled a list of 12 foods that can keep you awake at night. By being aware of these items, you can make informed decisions about what to avoid if you want to promote a restful night’s sleep.
12 Foods That Can Keep You Awake At Night
1. Alcohol
This is a bit unclear because alcohol can induce sleep when taken prior to going to bed. Alcohol isn’t a valid choice for depressants. If people go to sleep following having a drink and fall asleep, they may not have the best quality sleep and may wake up during sleeping periods.
Circadian rhythms of our bodies are one the ways that your body controls sleep. Alcohol disrupts this rhythm, causing the body confusion about when it’s the time to sleep and when not.
A recent study has confirmed that alcohol can decrease sleep duration, causing negative effects in REM sleep.
The term REM stands of rapid eye motion sleep. It is a crucial stage of sleep when there is a lot of random and fast eyeball movements. This phase is vital for a restful and healthy sleep.
Each healthy human being needs at 7 hours of REM sleeping each night. Drinking alcohol can be detrimental to this, thus reducing the quality of sleep you receive each night.
2. Fatty Foods
There is evidence to suggest that fatty food items have an adverse effect on sleep. In 2016, a research found that taking a lot of saturated fats can make sleep appear sluggish and unsatisfactory.
This is because the digestion systems aren’t very active during sleep. Therefore, eating fatty foods could cause an issue when you’re getting about to go to bed for the night, because they’re hard to digest.
Avoid heavy and oily food items like french fries, fried chicken or mozzarella sticks. Also, avoid potato chips
3. Spicy Foods
Spicy food items are thought to have lots of spices, like mustards, chili peppers, curry, and so on. The effects of spices are a feeling that is close to pleasure and pain.
Although delicious as spicy food might be, they’re not ideal for sleeping since they make you stay awake all late at night. There are a variety of reasons for why this occurs. A few of them are acid reflux, indigestion and heartburn.
In 2019, a research concluded that spices can affect sleeping quality.
If you eat a meal that is rich with spices might be able to notice a slight rise in temperature. It could be a small increase but it will influence the quality of sleep. In order for the body to begin to sleep, it needs to be able to maintain a temperature of 70 and 66 degrees Fahrenheit. Anything that is above or below the range could affect the quality of sleep.
Foods that are spicy and sour can be harmful to people suffering from digestive issues like heartburn or peptic ulcers due to the fact that they trigger extremely uncomfortable sensations. When you have peptic ulcers on your body, food that is spicy can cause discomfort. In addition, when you have heartburn food items, spicy ones can cause some discomfort in the chest region.
This discomfort can cause you to stay awake for longer periods and disrupt your sleep.
If you have to eat spicy food, allow some time between bedtime and the time that you eat the food.
4. Celery
Celery is such a nutrient-rich vegetable. It has all you require from antioxidants to vitamins as well as antioxidants. It is also able to help reduce inflammation.
Here’s the reason it is regarded as food that will keep awake at night It is a diuretic food. Many view the meal as an effective diuretic.
After a meal of celery, you might require a restroom more frequently. Sleep disturbances like this will definitely affect how well you sleeping.
5. Foods Containing a Lot of Salt
Salt can make food taste better. If you don’t have the right amount of salt could cause you to not feel like eating. Also, eating a meal with enough salt will adversely affect your sleep.
A study published by the European Society of Endocrinology agrees that salt can affect the quality of sleep that a person. The study found that those who consume salty foods prior to going to bed experienced greater “superficial” sleep, and were more susceptible to sleeping disturbances.
They may have woken up earlier than normal or woke at late at night in order to consume a glass of water. They woke up less content and wanted to rest more throughout the day, since they felt tired and tired.
The reason why this happens is because salt can cause water retention, especially when it is taken in large amounts.
There should be a gap between the time you consume salty foods and the time you go to bed.
I’d like to add that salt can have an effect upon blood pressure. It is advised to avoid eating foods that are salty in case you are experiencing problems in your heart.
A surge the volume of your blood, which is closely related to the consumption of huge amounts of salt, can put more stress on the tissues of your heart. Additionally, avoid salt if you are suffering from kidney problems.
6. Cruciferous Vegetables
Examples of cruciferous vegetables include arugula and bok choy and broccoli, as well as collard greens, cabbage and cauliflower. Brussels sprouts . These are the vegetables that are vital to your body, and it is essential to be included in your diet since they are so beneficial for your health.
The problem is that they can disrupt your sleep time and make you more awake at late at night, because they leave you feeling fuller, as beans.
The indigestible sugars found in the cruciferous vegetables may cause you bloated as the body may have difficulty breaking them into smaller pieces.
Instead of a few late-night veggies instead, why not keep eating fruits and vegetables for lunch or breakfast?
7. Beans
Beans are among the most nutritious edible legumes there. They are full of health benefits because it is a rich source of protein, and just enough fiber.
However paradoxically, it may affect your sleep.
Many people find that eating beans triggers “gassing,” a feeling of being more full than you would normally be. There is a good chance that you’ll have trouble getting a better night’s sleep in the event that you feel stuffed and feel like you need to go to the bathroom at least every three minutes.
A lot of gas in your stomach could make you more prone to burp and could make finding an ideal sleeping position difficult. If you have to eat beans, you should take beans with lunch. As the time for sleep approaches and you are getting ready to consume only food items that do not cause gas.
Consuming foods that contain fiber can help you sleep better, particularly when you do not experience gas issues after eating high-fiber foods.
8. Dairy Products
This is particularly true for people with lactose intolerance. In simple terms, lactose intolerance can be described as an inability to process lactose. This is due to a defect of the lactase enzyme.
The symptoms of lactose intolerance are such as abdominal pain, bloating and occasionally diarrhea, when people consume products high in lactose. It is recommended to stay clear of dairy products and anything that contains an excessive quantity of lactose. This is especially true at night when it’s time to sleep.
Also, you should refrain from drinking a lot of milk even if lactose intolerance because it could make you feel full for a long time following the intake of these supplements.
9. Meat (Cured Meats)
When it comes to food items that you should avoid at the night, cured meats should be at the top of the list for those who suffer from asthma.
A study has proven that processed meat can aggravate asthma symptoms. Moreover, because asthma symptoms tend to be more severe at night, this can spell troubles in the night.
Processed meats contain the chemical tyramine. It can be an amino acid responsible for that release of norepinephrine in the body.
Norepinephrine is one of the neurotransmitters which allows the body to be prepared. It’s the lowest when we asleep. So, any substance which boosts the concentration of the body during sleep could significantly disturb sleep.
10. Foods With a High Glycemic Index
Foods that have a high glycemic index, in simple terms is a food that increases the levels of blood sugar. They may be found in a variety of food items, such as bread, processed foods food items, processed foods, sugar, etc.
Consuming foods with high levels of sugar that has been processed has been associated with, and quite rightly to insomnia. 12 The fluctuations in your sugar levels can cause you release hormonal substances that could disrupt your sleep through altering the levels of hormones within your body.
If you suffer from diabetes the high sugar foods may cause you to pee more often, which means you’ll wake up early from your sleep and disrupt your sleep quality.
11. Tomatoes
They are a great anti-inflammatory food source that improve immunity. However, similar to processed meat tomatoes have a significant quantity of tyramine.
The protein triggers that your brain releases the neurotransmitter norepinephrine. It makes you brain work harder than it would be during sleep.
12. Water
You’re likely to be aware of this, but drinking water can interfere with your sleep. If you consume a large amount of water prior to bedtime you’ll feel stuffed and feel compelled to go to the bathroom. Awaking in the middle of nap times can affect how well you sleep.
Final Thoughts
Sleep is an important element that our bodies require and we must do at getting the most as we can. If you’re experiencing trouble sleeping in the night, take a look at the 12 food items listed on this list, and you may discover the root of the problem.