A lot of factors can contribute to insomnia. Some foods and beverages, in particular, can have an impact on the quality and duration of your sleep. This article examines foods that can make you sleepy. Insomnia is a frequent sleep problem in which you have difficulty falling, staying, or getting enough sleep. Insomnia can disrupt your regular routines and cause you to feel tired or sleepy during the day. Older age, stress, hormones, certain lifestyle behaviours, shift work, particular foods and drugs, and an unsuitable sleeping environment are all common causes of insomnia.
The Connection Between Insomnia And Food
What you eat can have an impact on the quality and length of your sleep, both directly and indirectly. Certain foods or food components might interrupt your circadian rhythm (internal clock), causing your sleep habits to change. If this is done repeatedly, it can lead to sleeplessness.
Furthermore, your diet has the potential to drastically modify your gut bacteria (which aid in digestion and absorption), which in turn can affect other metabolic processes, including sleep. Long-term nutritional variables may also contribute to chronic inflammation, which has been linked to sleeplessness. Here are some regular everyday foods and beverages that can cause sleep deprivation.
1. Spicy Foods
This may be bad news for spice enthusiasts, but consuming hot and spicy foods immediately before bedtime might cause insomnia. Eating spicy foods can cause stomach acid to build, resulting in indigestion, heartburn, and constipation in some circumstances, disrupting sleep patterns.
2. Caffeine In Excess
Caffeine in coffee and tea can have an effect on and block the brain's receptors for adenosine, which is a hormone that promotes sleep. Caffeine increases attentiveness, which can be one of the major causes of insomnia; therefore, it is best to avoid drinking coffee at night.
3. Alcohol
Another often-utilised psychoactive drug is alcohol. Many individuals drink to help them slumber. Alcohol, on the other hand, can impair good sleep patterns by altering sleep phases and leading to insomnia. Furthermore, cross-sectional research (observational studies analysing data from a single population at one moment in time) has demonstrated that alcohol may cause circadian rhythm disruptions and short sleep duration. Alcohol also increases breathing-related sleep disturbances, such as snoring and low oxygen saturation levels, especially in persons who already have a medical condition.
4. Fat In Excess
Excessive consumption of saturated fats in the diet can also cause insomnia and affect sleep quality. According to one study, increased saturated fat consumption throughout the day impaired sleep quality and influenced nighttime sleep. Another study connected high-fat consumption to frequent instances of waking up during the night.
5. Energy Drinks
Drinking aerated or punchy drinks before night or around dinner time might also disrupt sleep. This is because these thirst-quenching beverages are high in caffeine and sugar, which rapidly enhance energy levels while gradually disrupting the sleep cycle. As a result, if you suffer from insomnia, you should avoid them at all costs.