Can Certain Foods Help Me Sleep Better?
There’s a lot of talk about when your last meal of the day should be. Should it be hours before you go to sleep or can you eat right before you go to sleep. What are the problems of eating right before you sleep? Weight gain and acid reflux are attributed to the problems it causes. While it’s proven that acid reflux can be caused when eating at bedtime, there’s varied opinions about whether it causes weight gain. After all, a calorie is a calorie, no matter when you eat it. However, some people can’t sleep, so consuming some foods to help you sleep better might be the answer.
Why can’t you sleep if you’re hungry?
Your survival instincts might be keeping you awake. In caveman days, hunger kept man awake to search for food. Too little food isn’t normally the problem, but the instinct still remains, so if you find yourself wandering the room, unable to sleep, go for a midnight snack—as long as you don’t have acid reflux. The body uses that food to help boost serotonin levels. Choose food high in tryptophan—a protein. Turkey is known for its tryptophan and so is other poultry, pork, seafood and beef. Tryptophan also needs help from carbs to boost serotonin levels.
Besides serotonin, the body requires melatonin.
Melatonin triggers the signal to tell the body to go to sleep. It’s part of the internal clock. You can get melatonin from almonds and other nuts. Nuts also have riboflavin, magnesium and phosphorus. Magnesium reduces stress hormones, which may also help you sleep. It’s also a good source of antioxidants, to help protect your body. Just a handful of nuts, especially walnuts or almonds, can make slumber time easier.
Snack on tuna, salmon or other fatty fish.
Just eating the fish, whether tuna, salmon, sardines or mackerel are high in Omega-3 and tryptophan. Don’t eat them alone, but mix them up with some mayo, celery and onions and spread on a cracker for the carbs. The vitamin D combined with the carbs and Omega-3 that fights inflammation can take you to dreamland sooner. They all help to increase the serotonin, which is responsible for the quality of sleep, how quickly you fall asleep and your sleep cycle.
- Maybe your not big on eating meat at bedtime and fish are out of the question, try warm milk or chamomile tea instead. Milk has both tryptophan and calcium that helps lower stress levels. Chamomile tea acts like a natural relaxing compound.
- Make a small parfait from Greek yogurt, frozen or fresh cherries, a half a banana and chopped walnuts. All the ingredients can help you nod off faster. Just drinking the cherry juice can also be beneficial.
- Combine protein like nuts, eggs, fish, yogurt, poultry and beef with carbs, such as whole grains, honey, kale and bananas. If you include bananas, you’ll boost your potassium level, which helps you sleep sounder throughout the night.
- If you frequently have problems sleeping, but are also trying to lose weight, plan ahead. Save some of your calories for bedtime and have a snack ready about an hour before you go to bed.
For more information, contact us today at Rising Fitness Gym
There’s a lot of scientific language that makes it more difficult to understand simple things. For instance, the term macronutrients can be a bit intimidating. It shouldn’t be. It’s the name of the category that includes three types of food, carbohydrates, proteins and fats. The other category is micronutrients and those include vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. There’s a lot of debate about whether counting macronutrients to lose weight is better or focusing only on calories. Eating healthy and ensuring you have enough of each micronutrient is what is important, but you can do that while you count calories.
At Rising Fitness in Houston, Texas, clients normally stick with their schedule, particularly on the weekend. Consistency is ultimately important to get maximum benefits, and they know it. They don’t sabotage their hard work by skipping a workout over the weekend, because they know that consistency is necessary for fitness to become part of their healthier lifestyle. Staying active over the weekend and enjoying physically demanding activities, whether it’s fun like family hiking or far less fun, like vigorous cleaning, is also important.
Do you suffer through a long recovery after a particularly intense workout? Eating a combination of carbs and protein after a workout could relieve that. Consuming protein after a workout can help reduce muscle pain and is necessary to repair the microtears in muscle tissue, while being also important for muscle growth. Protein is ultimately important for faster muscle recovery.
Portion size counts. While it’s not important if you’re eating lettuce or most other vegetables, when it comes to food higher in calories, portion size counts. People often wonder why they aren’t getting the success they expect, but upon questioning, I find they make a lot of portion size mistakes. Think about it, you could eat the whole stalk of celery, bag of carrots or head of lettuce and it won’t make much difference to your calorie count. However, there’s a huge difference between eating a few potato chips and a family size bag.
If you workout at Rising Fitness in Houston, Texas, you’ve probably already have heard of hummus and maybe even have a few great variations of it that you love. It’s not just good for you, it’s delicious. It’s made from chickpeas—also called garbanzo beans, olive oil, lemon juice and a paste made from sesame seeds called tahini. It is higher in fiber than other types of dips and high in protein. That means it keeps you feeling full longer and help you lose weight.
If you thought all foods containing carbs were bad, think again. You need carbohydrates in your diet and many of those are good carbs, ones that provide both energy and the nutrition your body requires. Low carb diets don’t cut out all carbs, just carbohydrates that are in highly processed foods, starchy foods, those high in sugar and additives. There are three categories of carbohydrates, fiber, sugar and starches. You need carbohydrates to fuel the body, by being broken down for energy.
Clean eating means eating more whole foods and avoiding processed foods, particularly those high in sugar and refined flour. Some people have tried clean eating and focused on how difficult it was and maybe you were one of those people. It doesn’t have to be, although if you eat in restaurants frequently, it is a little harder. It can be an inexpensive, simple method of losing weight forever. At Rising Fitness, we’ve made it easier with a personalized dietary plan to help you learn how to cook healthier to develop healthy habits. If you’re eating in a restaurant, you’ll learn ways to choose healthier foods.
It doesn’t matter what you do, everything has a sweet spot. You know when it’s just the right amount. Goldilocks knew it when she sat on the chair, tasted the porridge and slept in the bed. There’s also a sweet spot when it comes to how long and how often you workout. It’s one reason we recommend that you time your workouts. Timing can tell you a lot.
I firmly believe that Rising Fitness in Houston, Texas, provides the best program to get clients fit faster. However, once people start here, they often want to live a fitness lifestyle that goes beyond the walls of the gym. That includes having fun with the family hiking, biking and even running. We help clients get into shape to run and guide them on getting started. Each new physical undertaking requires knowledge to stay safe and injury free.