ZZZzzzzzz........

I haven't been a great sleeper.  I get up every morning at 4:45 to come to the box. Come evening,  if  I sit down on the couch before 9pm...I am OUT!  In the past 4 years I've probably only made it all the way through 5 movies without falling asleep.   I am I have to say something is changing in my sleeping habbits.   It's been years that I have slept...

I mean REALLY slept through the night.

  Well...the past week or so, I have slept like a baby. 

 No waking up and checking the clock,

 no tossing and turning,

 no crazy dreams! 

 I wake up refreshed. I did some studying to see if it had aything to do

 with my change of diet and here's what I learned.

Food choices that you make greatly influence sleep.

• Root vegetables are high in minerals and are more grounding and settling to the body helping promote restful sleep.
• Tryptophan, an essential amino acid found in turkey, milk, miso soup, eggs, nuts, figs, fish, bananas, dates and papaya, helps the body to produce serotonin, a neurotransmitter that helps promote relaxation and sleep.
• Complex carbohydrates and starches promote sleep as they release sugars into the blood causing a compensatory release of insulin followed by a drop in blood sugars causing the body to feel fatigued. Try adding a potato or sweet potato to your evening meal.
• Lettuce can often promote healthy sleep as it contains an opium-related substance combined with traces of the anticramping agent, hyoscyarnin. Include lettuce as part of your evening meal.
• Include foods high in Vitamin B3 (niacin) such as fish or poultry. Niacin is involved in serotonin synthesis and promotes healthy sleep.

 

 

 

Certain foods can negatively impact sleep.

•  Avoid foods high in caffeine such as coffee, tea, cola and chocolate.
•  Sugary desserts and for some even the consumption of fruit after dinner is best avoided if you desire a good night's sleep.  If sugar is ingested right before bed, a drop in blood sugar occurs in the night calling upon the adrenal glands to release hormones to restore blood sugar balance. This release of hormones wakes you up and affects the normal sleep patterns.[
• Foods high in tyramine ... If you have difficulty sleeping, avoid bacon, cheese, chocolate, eggplant, ham, sauerkraut, sugar, sausage, spinach, tomatoes and wine close to bedtime.
• Alcohol,  interferes with the natural sleep cycles and also increases anxiety levels interfering with sleep.
•  Food intolerances are often the cause of snoring and can contribute to gas, heartburn, indigestion, pain and discomfort.
• Diets high in meat or other proteins can inhibit sleep by blocking the synthesis of serotonin, making you feel more alert. Diets high in protein are also more acidic and take longer to digest.
• Avoid too many ingredients in a meal and too much food late at night.
• If you would've told me that I would be sleep better just by changing my diet, I would have laughed.  My sleep is better than ever.  I feel healthy, strong and rested.

HOW HAVE YOU BEEN SLEEPING?