Hi Ant & Ali here with our Wellbeing Words of Wisdom. 

Today we want to discuss how the foods you eat at night can actually help or hinder your sleep.  

Think back to when you were a child. Were you ever given a warm glass of milk before going to bed to help you sleep? Or maybe you’ve heard the old wives’ tale to drink warm milk before bed? But do you know the reason behind this? 

Well, warm milk has a soothing effect from the warmth itself, but it also contains an amino acid called tryptophan, which converts to serotonin, a hormone that promotes relaxation. Serotonin is a precursor for melatonin, which helps with our sleep cycle.  

When it comes to milk, whole milk contains more tryptophan than low fat milk. But milk is not the only dairy product that contains tryptophan. You will also find it in cheese and yogurt, but in lower quantities. 

Other foods that contain tryptophan include chicken, turkey, red meat, pork, tofu, fish, beans, nuts, seeds, oatmeal, certain fruits and eggs. 

Eating a small snack containing any of these foods close to bedtime, can help encourage sleep. Because tryptophan is utilised in the brain, it needs to be accompanied by a carb source in order to cross the blood brain barrier.

The quality of your carb source does matter though, as we don’t want to be eating simple carbs such as high sugar biscuits and sweets or drinking sugary drinks before bed. You should choose a complex carbohydrate. 

Some snacks you could try are: 

Half a banana with peanut butter, wholegrain cracker with cheese, or a small glass of warm milk with a slice of wholemeal toast.  

Now, the idea is that this is just a snack, so you are not hungry going to bed, or waking up hungry in the middle of the night. 

Conversely, having a large meal close to bed time can inhibit sleep, by causing discomfort due to you feeling bloated, suffering from acid reflux or indigestion. 

If the body is trying to digest large quantities of food, the core temperature will increase, but when we are looking to promote sleep, we need our core temperature to slightly drop. This drop in core temperature coincides with the release of melatonin, so eating too much can hinder this process. 

Ok, we spoke about foods that can help promote sleep, but there are also foods and drinks that can hinder sleep.  

We all know caffeine can inhibit us falling asleep and not to have it after 3pm. 

Spicy foods late at night will increase your core temperature and may cause heartburn. 

You may feel alcohol gets you to sleep quicker but it affects the quality of your sleep, so you won’t wake up feeling as refreshed. 

Staying hydrated is obviously important, but there needs to be a cut-off point before bedtime so that you are not waking up during the night to pee. 

And I know it’s not food or drink, but you should also know that nicotine is a stimulant, with effects similar to caffeine, so smoking close to bedtime can affect your sleep too. 

As quality sleep is so important to optimal health, make sure you are doing all you can to get the best sleep possible.