10 Foods To Avoid Before Going to Bed!

Do you struggle to sleep well these days? Wondering what is leading to this problem? Well, the culprit could be the food you ate before going to bed! Yes! Eating the wrong type of food late in the evening or nights can affect your sleep routine negatively. They can either activate your brain or cause digestive problems that can hamper a good night's sleep.

To avoid this issue in future, we shall learn about 10 Foods to Avoid Before Bedtime! Staying away from these foods before hitting the bed can help you sleep better and feel fresh the next morning.

Here is a list of foods to avoid before sleeping at night:

1. Caffeine Foods:

If you find it hard to sleep well at night, then blame it on the cup of coffee or tea you had before bedtime. Coffee or tea contains caffeine which can activate your brain and disrupt you sleep. It temporarily blocks sleep-inducing chemicals and give us an adrenaline rush to alert the body. Restrict your overall caffeine consumption to a maximum of 2-3 cups a day. Maintain a time gap of 3-4 hours before bed time to minimize the effects. Other Caffeine foods to stay away from are chocolate, energy drinks, colas etc.

2. Sugary Foods:

Binging on sugar-laden sweets and desserts before bedtime can wreck your sleep. Excess sugar in the body can make you feel restless throughout the night and give you frequent awakenings. That's not all! Over consumption of sugar can increase your appetite and food cravings which can tempt you into late night snacking. In the long run, this cycle can impact your health and lead to serious problems like weight gain, diabetes etc.

A glass or two of wine or other alcoholic drinks may make you feel sleepy. However, studies show that alcohol can shorten the sleep cycle and impact your REM rate. This can disrupt your sleep and make you get up frequently. Prolonged consumption of alcohol can give you insomnia, a condition of chronic sleeplessness. In such cases, the person may have to increase the quantity of alcohol each night to cope up with this problem.

4. Spicy Foods:

Spicy foods may satisfy your taste buds but worsen your sleep! Eating foods that are high on spice can cause digestive problems like acidity, heartburn, stomach pain etc. which can push you to a state of discomfort at night. Also, spicy foods can increase your body temperature and interfere with your sleep pattern. So, try and reduce the amount of spice in the food or have it in the morning hours to avoid stay awake all night long.

5. Excess Water:

Water is good for the body, no doubt about it! But drinking too much water before hitting the bed can be bad for your sleep! Over consumption of water can fill up your bladder and increase urine output. As a result, you will be forced to urinate frequently at night, leading to sleep deprivation. Try to have less water in the evening or few hours before you sleep.

People with sensitive stomachs must avoid eating acidic foods like citrus before bedtime. Foods like oranges, lemons etc. can cause acid refluxes and heartburn. The symptoms increase when you sleep flat on your back, which can wake you up frequently. Also, overripe or dry fruits and tyramine-rich foods like tomatoes can activate your brain and make you stay awake for a long time.

7. Diuretic Foods:

Diuretic foods are those which irritate your urinary bladder and make you pee frequently. Foods that contain high amounts of salt, sugar, spice, caffeine or acidic ingredients can disturb the urine cycle and make you rush to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Try to cut down these foods for a few days to notice the difference.

8. Gassy Foods:

Lentils, cruciferous vegetables like cauliflower, broccoli, , Brussel sprouts etc. can cause bloating in the stomach and make you feel gassy. You tend to experience heaviness and discomfort in your abdomen which can hamper your sleep. Try to restrict eating these foods in the day time. You can choose light foods for dinner which are easy to digest and do not pressurize your digestive system.

9. Red Meat:

Eating a large portion of red meat may leave you tossing and turning in the bed all night long. Red meat is rich in protein which is difficult to digest. Having it just before bedtime overwork your stomach muscles and make you feel crampy. It is better to avoid heavy meats for dinner and choose lean proteins like fish, white meat etc.

10. Junk Food:

If you cannot resist your temptation to binge on junk food like pizza, burger or fried snacks before bedtime, then get ready to forgo your sleep. These foods interfere with your sleep pattern and give you a poor sleep. Over a period of time, this sleep deprivation can increase your cravings for junk food and push you into a deadlock. It is better to nip the bud early to avoid problems in the future.

Those are some of the main foods to avoid before bedtime to enjoy a quality night sleep. If you do not find any change in your sleep pattern even after cutting down these foods, then you may have to see a doctor.