Noise, light, and temperature — these are three aspects in your external environment that affect the way you sleep. But did you know that food affects sleep too?
Research even suggests that a bad night’s sleep can lead you to crave more unhealthy snack and junk food the next day. So, given the fact your nighttime food choices can have lasting health ramifications
Chocolate also contains some caffeine, which can stimulate the nervous system and keep you awake for hours.
The offending sleep ingredient in this meal is the high-fat content which triggers the production of acid in the stomach and leads to sleep-inhibiting acid reflux—a no-no before bed.
Chicken or any type of protein on its own takes a lot of energy to digest, and lengthening this process could throw your sleep schedule out of whack.
Cheese is rich in fat and tomato sauce is acidic, making this popular late night dish exactly the wrong thing to eat before bed.
Dairy can have a ton of fat and even low-fat ice creams can be high in sugar — which means you probably will not be getting a ton of sleep if you eat ice cream late in the evening.
This doesn’t just have to do with the dairy in the milk but also the sugar in the cereal, which spikes your blood sugar and puts your body’s fat “storage” to work through the night.
This might seem like an outlier on our list of what not to eat before bed, but celery is a natural diuretic.
Pasta is straight carbohydrates which, like sugar, activates that fat “storage” system in your body and then lets it run through the night.
Spices like cayenne can get your blood flowing and increase your body temperature which is the opposite of where it needs to go for a good sleep.
Coffee will keep you wide-eyed thanks to its caffeine content (which will stay in your system long after you drink it) and alcohol will prevent you from reaching a restorative deep sleep, so it’s best to just stay away from these two altogether.