Over the river and through the woods, but NOT like THIS...

Please don't drive if you're sleepy this Thanksgiving holiday. 

Maybe the Griswold's survived their sleepy road trip, but you very well may not.
Drive Alert, Arrive Alive!

Sleep Hygiene Tip of the Week: Foods that can help you sleep better

In December the discussion focused primarily on foods, drinks and eating habits that may make it difficult to sleep well. Today SHC turns to comestibles that may actually help you to fall asleep. After scouring several sources, we've arrived at the following list of most popular sleep-enhancing foods.

These contain maintain vitamins, minerals and nutrients that are useful for encouraging sleepiness, including magnesium, selenium,  tryptophan, calcium, vitamin B6, theanine, lycopene, vitamin C, and melatonin. Others boost glucose or glycine levels to promote sleep. Still others help to prevent other problems, like heartburn or hot flashes.

Remember, heavy, high-fat, high-acid meals right before bedtime are still a No No. But a small bite of some of these items below may help push you over the edge of sleepiness.

Here are some options, in no particular order, with notes about why they might be helpful.

Almonds (magnesium, selenium, tryptophan, calcium)
Bananas (vitamin B6, magnesium, tryptophan)
Breakfast cereal with milk (calcium, vitamin B6)
Chamomile tea (glycine boost)
Coldwater fish like halibut, tuna and salmon (vitamin B6, selenium)
Dairy products (calcium, tryptophan)
Dark chocolate (serotonin)
Decaffeinated green tea (theanine)
Edamame (natural estrogen compounds)
Eggs (tryptophan)
Elk meat (tryptophan)
Grapefruit (lycopene, vitamin C)
Grapes (melatonin)
Greens, such as mustard, kale and spinach (calcium, vitamin C, magnesium)
Honey (high glycemic index)
Hummus or chickpeas (vitamin B6, tryptophan)
Jasmine rice (high glycemic index)
Lemon Balm tea (terpenoids)
Lettuce (lactucarium) -- try this lettuce tea from Reader's Digest
Miso soup (amino acids that boost melatonin)
Oatmeal (magnesium, calcium, melatonin)
Oranges (tryptophan, vitamin C)
Papaya (lycopene, vitamin C)
Passionfruit tea (Harman alkaloids)
Peanut butter on whole-grain crackers (tryptophan)
Pineapple (tryptophan, vitamin C)
Pumpkin seeds (tryptophan)
Shrimp or lobster (tryptophan, selenium)
Strawberries (vitamin C)
Tart cherries, cherry juice, dried cherries (melatonin)
Turkey (tryptophan, selenium)
Tomatoes (lycopene)
Walnuts (melatonin, selenium)
Watermelon (lycopene)
Whole grains (magnesium, selenium

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Sources consulted:

AARP Foods That Can Help You Sleep
Cleveland Clinic Health Hub 5 Foods That Help You Sleep
Eating Well 9 foods to help you sleep
Good Housekeeping 10 Foods That Make You Sleepy and 10 That Keep You Up
Health.com 4 Nutrients to Help You Sleep Better
Organic Gardening 9 Foods to Help You Sleep
PopSugar Skip the Sleeping Pills with These 15 Sleep-Inducing Foods
Reader's Digest 16 Foods That Help You Asleep
US News The Best Foods for Sleep
Women's Day 10 Foods That Can Help You Sleep




SleepyHeadCENTRAL strongly encourages people with ongoing sleep health problems to approach a medical professional to determine appropriate differential diagnoses and treatment. This post, like all other posts on SHC, is not intended to substitute for medical advice.  

VISIONS OF SUGARPLUMS || Sleep Hygiene Tip of the Week: 10 foods to avoid eating right before bed

If you are going to eat late at night, such as at a party or for a midnight snack, you could do better by avoiding the following 10 foods. Consuming these could lead to problems with overstimulation, repeated trips to the bathroom at night, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) or heartburn and/or low metabolism leading to weight gain and potential obesity. 

1. Bacon and other smoked meats contain high levels of the amino acid tyramine; consuming these triggers the release of norepinephrine in the brain, leading to wakefulness rather than sleepiness. 
2. Celery is a natural diuretic. What this means is, if you eat a bunch of celery at bedtime, you may need to get up to use the bathroom as your body processes it. 
3. Chocolate has caffeine in it and this will, naturally, stimulate your brain and keep you awake. Studies also show that candy bars right before bed can lead to nightmares. 
4. Cheese before bedtime is going to be a troublesome gut bomb. Just because it is dairy doesn't mean it will be good for you like a glass of warm milk will be. 
5. Citrus fruits are high in acid, which is not the best thing to consume right before going to bed, especially if you also consume something that is high in fat. Fat and acid in the stomach while you sleep do not mix well and can lead to troublesome reflux. 
6. Fatty meats like hamburger and steak may have good quantities of sleep-promoting properties like tryptophan, but the fat and general texture of these foods will slow down digestion and lead to indigestion and heartburn if eaten too close to bedtime. 
7. Ice Cream's high fat is harder to digest, will relax the esophageal sphincter, leading to potential reflux, and the sugar bomb will keep you awake before leading to a hypoglycemic crash. On top of that, the sugar will not be burned off as energy; the body will convert it to fat as a result. You can't win.
8. Nuts may consist of healthy fats, but they are fats, nonetheless and will be harder to digest and potentially lead to heartburn. 
   
9. Pizza's combination of high acid and high fat products is practically a guarantee of heartburn at bedtime, and many people overeat this highly popular food. Best to save your pizza cravings for earlier in the day.
10. Spicy foods do a couple of things to the body: first, they stimulate all kinds of processes, which can disrupt sleep, and second, they inspire the body to generate a higher temperature. Your body, when getting ready for sleep, actually wants to cool down, so this late-night thermal boost can make it hard to sleep.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

 

from SleepyHeadCENTRAL.com