Good Food to Eat Before Bed: Drinks and Foods for Sleep

What you eat in the hours right before you go to sleep can have a massive impact on your overall sleep cycle. The same goes for certain types of drinks. The food you eat is essential to your personal wellness holistically, so it stands to reason it would be essential to your sleep quality as well.

For instance, suppose you eat food you know might cause you indigestion within an hour or so of laying your head on your pillow. The ensuing acid reflux and heartburn might prevent you from falling asleep as quickly as you could have and potentially even wake you multiple times throughout the night.

To help ensure a positive sleep cycle, eat foods you know will help you sleep well and won’t inhibit your rest. Here are some of the best foods you can eat before bed:

• Bananas: These yellow fruits are full of potassium and carbs, making them easy to digest quickly. At the same time, bananas contain high levels of magnesium, a mineral that helps facilitate bodily relaxation. All these elements ensure bananas make for a late-night snack on which you can rely.
• Hummus: Buy some premade hummus at your local grocery store or mash up chickpeas to help set yourself up for a good night’s sleep. The healthy fats in hummus will satiate you throughout the night, and the high amount of tryptophan (an amino acid that might promote sleep) could help you rest easy.
• Kiwis: These fuzzy little fruits help boost your serotonin levels, which in turn help increase the level of melatonin (a prominent sleep chemical) in your brain. The large amounts of antioxidants, vitamin C, and other nutrients are some of the other health benefits you can expect to gain from kiwis.
• Low-sugar cereal: Pour yourself a bowl of your favorite low-sugar cereal before tucking in for the night. Whole-grain cereal is especially rich in vitamin B6 and carbohydrates, both of which are easy to digest and can help regulate your energy levels.
• Peanut butter: A scoop of peanut butter can serve as a high-fat and very satiating bedtime snack. A little can go a long way when it comes to this or any other type of nut butter. Just one tablespoon of peanut butter before bed might help you stay full throughout the night.
• Turkey: This protein can leave you feeling drowsy—especially when you eat a lot of it— largely due to how much tryptophan turkey contains. This is also one reason Thanksgiving feasts leave some guests ready to head to bed early.

Certain types of drinks can double as restful sleep elixirs. Consider these three options the next time you need to get some shut-eye:

1. 1. Chamomile tea: This herbal tea has helped lead people into a deep sleep for centuries upon centuries in different parts of the world. Curl up with a cup of chamomile tea as you wind down for the evening to see if it helps you drift off easier.
2. 2. Tart cherry juice: Try tart cherry juice for a nightcap to reap the benefits of melatonin, a sleep-regulating hormone. Consider replacing any alcohol you drink before bed with this alternative. While alcohol might help you fall asleep fast, it disrupts your circadian rhythm and will leave you feeling less rested the next day.
3. 3. Warm milk: Heat a glass of warm milk to pave the way to a night of better sleep. Dairy products like cottage cheese can also help you doze off a little easier, in addition to containing a high amount of calcium. Avoid more sugary dairy items, such as ice cream, as these can damage your sleep patterns.

Eating the wrong food before bed can wreak havoc on your sleep-wake cycle. Try to steer clear of these types of food before you go to sleep:

• Fried food: Fast food restaurants are often open later at night, but the food they sell might do more harm than good to your bedtime routine. Fried foods like chicken tenders and french fries might cause acid reflux as you try to sleep. They also can lead to a higher risk of heart disease.
• Spicy food: While plenty of healthy spicy foods exist, they’re not a good option for a midnight snack. They’re more likely than blander foods to cause heartburn, one of the leading causes of poor sleep.
• Sugary food: When you eat sweet foods before bed, they can cause your blood sugar levels to spike and drop. This makes it harder for your mind and body to enter a state of rest. Additionally, some sugary treats, like dark chocolate, also contain caffeine, a surefire sleep disruptor.

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