How Dinner Plays a Vital Role in Achieving Better Sleep

Most people stand by a night routine, hoping to calm themselves before going to bed and guaranteeing a sound sleep at night.

Among the most-tried strategies include turning off of electronics devices at least half-an-hour before bedtime, dimming the lights, and avoiding sipping coffee in the afternoon. Some even spray their pillows with lavender.

However, despite these strategies, many people still find it difficult to achieve a good night's sleep.

The good news is that there's one more thing you could try. The principle is that a sound sleep at night begins at dinner, and science has proven this. 

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The Role of Tryptophan

Tryptophan is an amino acid that boosts the release of sleep hormones. It is also found in some of the food you regularly eat, like chicken, fish, and peanuts.

Sleep experts say that an individual's attitude towards eating plays a vital role in achieving better sleep. Digestion slows when a person is lying down, resulting in an uncomfortable feeling when attempting to sleep on a full stomach.

Therefore, eating a heavy meal for dinner can impact your sleep. It is important to know what type of food to include and avoid at dinner.

Weight Matters

Before preparing for dinner, find out how your sleeping pattern impacts your weight.

One-third of adults in the United States say that they are not getting the ideal eight hours of sleep every night. Studies present that the fewer hours of sleep you get, the higher chance there is of becoming obese.

Leptin is a hormone that destroys or controls one's appetite. Ghrelin, on the other hand, regulates hunger and consumption of food. 

Deprivation from sleep reduces the leptin levels and improves the ghrelin level, which causes you to want to eat more.

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Ideal Intervals

Nutritionists recommend a three-hour interval between dinnertime and bedtime. This allows digestion to take place. 

This may pre-empt health problems such as heartburn in the evening, and even insomnia. By allowing this delay, the possibility of experiencing symptoms of heartburn will be reduced. 

Laying down may lead to the stomach's contents to reflux into the esophagus, resulting in the experience of GERD or heartburn symptoms.

This is more likely to take place if your stomach does not get totally emptied by the time you sleep at night. If you wait for a few hours to lay down after your last meal, you are less likely to experience sleep disturbances or disruptions that may contribute to insomnia because of the effects of food on sleep.

However, the long-term belief that an interval of two hours between the last meal and bedtime can improve the blood sugar levels has yet to be proven.

Researchers from Japan who conducted a related study in 2019 said they could not find any link between the two-hour interval and HbA1c levels.

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