Is food sabotaging your sleep?

Skip slumber problems with nature’s best night-time aids

hat you eat can maximise or mess up your weightloss goals, but your diet choices can also affect how well you sleep. Life just feels so much better after a good night’s rest, doesn’t it? You have more focus and energy, your mood is lifted and you even look better, but according to a new study commissioned by mattress company Simba Sleep (simbasleep.com), a whopping 69 per cent of us are drifting through our days totally sleep-deprived. That’s over half of the population who aren’t getting the recommended 7-9 hours’ rest a night, an epidemic that’s now believed to be the result of a poor diet. Sleep cycles

Getting enough ZZZS is one of the most important phases in our 24-hour circadian rhythm, or body clock. During the hours we’re resting, our body is getting to work, recovering from the day’s activities and regenerating cells. ‘Sleep is absolutely vital for health. It can help enhance your cognitive functions, regulate your weight, balance hormones, calm your mood, repair muscles, and enable detoxification, boosting your overall immune system. Not to mention, studies have even shown that the risk for heart disease and diabetes increases with lack of sleep,’ explains nutritional therapist and founder of Sweetly Simple Jodie Brandman (jodiebrandman.com).

Understanding sleep is the first step in learning how to sleep better. Your body goes through five different sleep cycles, and they don’t necessarily happen in the same order - the key thing is that spending adequate time in each sleep phase is vital to waking up feeling well rested. ‘Stage one is light sleep, when you’re starting to drift off; stage two is disengagement from surroundings, with a drop in body temperature and regular heart rate and breathing; stages three and four are the deepest and most restorative stages, breathing and blood pressure lower, muscles relax, hormones are released, and growth and repair of the body happens. This is also when cortisol (the stress hormone) and inflammation reduces; stage five is REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, when dreaming occurs and energy is provided to the brain and body,’ continues Jodie. Natural fix

So what’s the connection with diet? Sleep and diet are inextricably linked because what you put into your body affects all your body’s systems for hours. However, many of us are unaware of the correlation, with just 11 per cent confessing to modifying our diets to see how it can impact night-time rest. Certain foods prevent you from getting into the deeper stages of sleep, which means you’ll feel groggy the next day, while other foods take longer to digest, which means your body will be geared towards helping you digest food when it should be in rest-and-recuperate mode. ‘This means finishing eating three hours before bed to give your digestion time to settle, and avoiding heavy foods like curry,’ shares Jodie. Spicy food is thought to negatively affect sleep as the compound capsaicin, which is found in chilli, can alter the body’s temperature and cause restlessness.

Restless sleepers take note: sugar and processed foods along with simple carbs aren’t helping your case. ‘White flour, white bread and pasta are some of the most detrimental foods for sleep as they lack vital nutrients and can spike blood-sugar levels before bed, boosting your energy at a time when you want to be calming down,’ says Jodie. And let’s not forget about caffeine. If you want to guarantee a visit from the sandman, coffee consumption should be kept for the morning time, likewise for lesser-known sleep offenders like green tea and dark chocolate, as these still contain caffeine. ‘Caffeine is a stimulant and can exert its effects for up to 12 hours, keeping you up at night if you’re more sensitive or have

Tryptophan, the precursor to serotonin, is also important and foods rich in this chemical – like fish, turkey, chicken, sprouted grains, beans and pulses – are thought to aid sleep

caffeine detoxification issues,’ explains Jodie. Think having a nightcap might be the way forward? Think again, as alcohol interrupts a regular sleep cycle. ‘Research has shown that you are actually more likely to wake up in the night after a drink or two. It can enhance deep sleep in the first half of the night, but lead to sleep disruptions in the second half,’ continues Jodie.

If you want to play it safe, a nutritional diet is the best way to go in order to increase levels of important hormones like melatonin (the hormone responsible for helping you to fall asleep) and serotonin (the feel-good hormone that enhances the production of melatonin). Tryptophan, the precursor to serotonin, is also important and foods rich in this chemical are thought to aid sleep. ‘Tryptophan can be found in protein-rich foods like fish, turkey, chicken, sprouted grains, beans and pulses. So swapping your late-night chocolate biscuit for a piece of turkey may be the answer to better sleep,’ says Jodie. Minerals like magnesium and potassium are also powerful sleep-savers, as they help to relax muscles and lower stress levels. ‘Leafy green vegetables are one of the best sources of magnesium, and greens, avocado and coconut are potassium-rich,’ adds Jodie. Lighter foods like a small portion of quinoa with salmon and salad or chicken breast and roasted vegetables are nature’s alternative to sleeping pills.

Sleep solution

A good night-time routine can also help to promote a good night’s slumber time by allowing your body to find its natural pattern, so set the scene with plenty of relaxing activities. Getting out into bright sunlight during the day can help regulate your hormones and circadian rhythm, so make sure you take a morning walk or nip out on a lunch break to get some sunshine. Stress management is a must in terms of getting a good kip, so try some meditation, yoga or deep breathing during the day to help you to calm down and relax. Also, exercising will help promote better sleep due to the release of serotonin, but this should be done in the morning or daytime rather than close to bed time, as cortisol (your stress hormone) gets raised.