5 Unhealthy Foods To Avoid For Better Sleep Quality!

Did you know that eating unhealthy food at night influences your sleep pattern? What you eat for dinner is an important factor that decides how well you sleep at night. Planning your meal and controlling your portion size could help you not go wrong with your evening meal. Apart from portion size and eating on time, there are other factors too that must be taken of to avoid waking up frequently at night. Certain unhealthy foods must be avoided at night so that your sleep is not disturbed as you need a good night’s sleep to begin a new day without fuss.

Sleeping well through the night is vital for your health and for carrying out your daytime tasks efficiently. Lack of sleep impacts your work, well-being, and your mood negatively. Have you experienced sleep deprivation at times even when you’ve been very active throughout the day, exercising and being free of stress or worries? You must know that what you eat influences your sleep too. Certain unhealthy foods should be avoided before bedtime, as they could disturb your sleep and keep you awake all night.

To know the troubles caused by improper eating and ways to overcome them, here is an older blog post that could be helpful:

Troubles caused by improper eating

Here are some unhealthy foods to avoid at night:

High-fat food

Fats are digested slowly. If you eat high-fat food before going to bed, it can cause acid reflux, and make you feel bloated, keeping you awake at night and making you sleepy during the day.

Certain foods that are high in saturated fats and are better avoided including fatty meat, butter, soft cheese, fried food, ice cream and cheese pizza. You may replace them with healthier alternatives such as small portions of yogurt parfait, baked food, olive oil for dressings, low-fat cheese, and lean meat.

Caffeine

Consuming caffeine at nighttime causes sleep disruptions and causes you to wake up frequently at night. Caffeine could also make it difficult for you to fall asleep at bedtime. This can result in headaches, nausea, and sleepiness.

Reduce your caffeine intake or stop using caffeine altogether. You may replace it with apple juice, peppermint tea, or black tea, but avoid them at night.

Spicy Food

Due to indigestion and discomfort caused by spicy food, if you go to bed after a spicy meal, your sleep gets impaired. It can cause acid reflux and disturb your sleep, making you restless.

Some foods like avocados, peas, carrots, potatoes, or nut butter can be added to make your food less spicy.

Food high in sugar

Refined carbohydrates and foods with high sugar content cause poor sleep quality. They can cause inflammatory responses in the body and overstimulate you, making it difficult to sleep.

Late-night desserts may be replaced with dates, fruit salad, Greek yogurt, baked pears, or homemade energy balls.

Here’s a recipe for homemade energy balls that’s healthy, quick and easy:

Homemade energy balls recipe

Highly processed food

Highly processed foods such as processed meat, potato chips, frozen desserts, and burgers are loaded with preservatives and artificial flavors. These unhealthy foods when consumed frequently, especially at bedtime can cause poor quality of sleep and daytime sleepiness.

You may replace these foods with fruits, hard-boiled eggs, wholegrain food, vegetables, salads, dry fruits, and nuts.

Apart from the unhealthy foods listed, eating larger meals and late-night dinners also affect your sleep quality negatively. The quality and quantity of your evening meal play a big role in how well you sleep at night. Make a change in your eating habits and plan your meals/snacks, so that you have a good night’s sleep and wake up with a smile to embrace every new day.

Which eating habit has helped you avoid sleep deprivation at night? Do share in the comments.

This video has tips that will help you sleep better.