Be careful what you eat in the evening, especially before going to sleep! Some foods can seriously harm the quality of your sleep and should be avoided at all costs!
Sleep, essential for our physical and mental well-being, is often influenced by various factors: the temperature of the room, the quality of our mattress, our stress level, the ambient light or even nighttime scrolling sessions that end up escaping our control. But one crucial element is often underestimated: what we eat before going to sleep. Indeed, our evening food choices can have a significant impact on the quality of our sleep. Also, it is better to avoid certain foods before going to bed.
While it may be tempting to end the evening with a little treat, we strongly advise you to avoid dark chocolate. Indeed, the combination of sugar and caffeine – yes, there is caffeine in chocolate, especially dark chocolate – will increase your body’s energy. In short, avoid it to get a restful sleep! But overall, any sugary food should be avoided, because it increases blood glucose levels, which causes energy spikes that delay falling asleep. Also cross off anything that contains fat, because it is difficult to digest, forcing your body to work longer during the night, which can lead to restless sleep. This is particularly the case with ice cream, which combines fat and sugar, or pizza.
Likewise, avoid cheese, which is rich in tyramine, an amino acid that can keep your brain alert for longer. So it’s a good idea to resist your urge to snack after dinner. Also, avoid red meat, as it is rich in animal proteins that require a lot of energy to digest. At the same time, its protein is rich in tyrosine, an amino acid that promotes brain activity. Even more so if it is combined with spices, as it will boost your metabolism and cause your body to wake up.
Spicy foods, no matter how tasty, are also a good place to avoid before bed. They can cause heartburn and digestive discomfort, which are notorious for disrupting sleep. Additionally, capsaicin, an active compound in chili peppers, can raise body temperature, making it harder to transition into deep sleep.
As for drinks, coffee is of course a no-no. Remember that caffeine can stay in the body for hours and stimulate your nervous system, and its effects can last from 8 to 14 hours. Be careful, sodas and some teas also contain caffeine. In addition, alcohol, often perceived as a relaxant, can actually fragment sleep and reduce its quality by disrupting REM sleep cycles, which are essential for recovery.
Finally, even if they may seem harmless, you should be wary of so-called diuretic foods, i.e. foods that are very rich in water, such as cucumbers, carrots, celery or watermelon: they can in fact cause frequent nighttime awakenings due to increased urination. Because waking up in the middle of the night to go to the toilet obviously harms the quality of your sleep. And for the same reasons, do not abuse herbal teas and other concoctions, which often produce similar effects…