Creating a restful bedtime routine: can diet have an impact?
Getting a good night’s sleep is essential for our overall health and well-being. However, the importance of sleep duration and sleep quality is often overlooked. There are several lifestyle factors that can influence sleep quality, including what we eat and drink. What foods can help you to sleep? This blog post will explore the importance of sleep, foods that could promote restful sleep, and which food and drink to avoid before bedtime.
How much sleep is enough?
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends that generally, adults need at least 7 hours of sleep a night (and many need more than this!). Good sleep hygiene is important to curate the best possible environment for sleep. Sleep hygiene can include having a bedtime routine, stopping using our devices at least 30-60 minutes before bed, having a dimmer light on when getting into bed, and going to bed at the same time every night.
Health effects of poor sleep
Poor sleep doesn’t just make you tired the next day; it can have severe consequences for your overall health. Chronic sleep deprivation is linked to a range of health issues, including:
- Impaired cognitive function: Lack of sleep can negatively impact your memory, decision-making, and ability to concentrate. Research has found that poor sleep increases the risk of vehicle crashing due to fatigue whilst driving.
- Increased risk of chronic diseases: Poor sleep is associated with an increased risk of conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure
- Weakened immune system: Sleep is crucial for immune function. Regular bad sleep can make you more susceptible to infections and increase recovery time from illnesses.
- Mental health issues: Chronic sleep deprivation is closely linked to anxiety, depression, and other mood disorders. Sleep deprivation can make us more irritable, which can affect our professional and personal relationships.
- Weight gain: Poor sleep can also lead to weight gain in some people. This may be due to stress on the body, or to the excessive consumption of high energy snacks and a dysregulation of mealtimes.
Foods that can help you sleep
Given the significant impact that sleep has on our health, it’s essential to consider factors that can improve our sleep quality, including our diets. Some foods have been found to potentially help with restful sleep due to the micronutrient profiles. Although at present, there is insufficient evidence to prove that certain foods improve sleep, this is an emerging area of nutrition.
For example:
- Kiwi: Some research has suggested that consuming kiwi before bed may improve sleep onset, duration, and quality. This may be due to the serotonin content in Kiwis. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that regulates sleep. Kiwis also contain many antioxidants that support overall health.
- Tart Cherry Juice: Tart cherries are one of the few natural sources of melatonin, the hormone that regulates our sleep-wake cycles. Drinking a tart cherry juice blend was shown to potentially improve sleep quality and duration in adults with insomnia in one study conducted in 2010; however further research is required to support this claim.
- Poultry& fish: contain tryptophan, which is an amino acid that is broken down into serotonin and melatonin, both of which are crucial for regulating sleep.
- Soy: Another food found to be high in tryptophan is soy. Soy is also high in isoflavones. There is weak evidence that suggests that people who had diets high in isoflavones had better sleep than people with low levels of isoflavones in their diets.
More high-quality research is required to find more robust associations between eating certain foods and the beneficial effects this can have on sleep.
What might stop me sleeping?
Conversely, there is more evidence suggesting that certain food and drink impair sleep. Here are some food and beverages you should avoid before going to bed:
- Caffeine: Caffeine is a well-known stimulant found in coffee, tea, pre-workout and many soft drinks. It can stay in your system for several hours and disrupt your ability to fall asleep and stay asleep. Caffeine can have different effects on different people. A recent systematic review and meta-analysis found that drinks high in caffeine should be consumed between 8 and 13 hours before the time you want to fall asleep to avoid reductions in sleep duration.
- Spicy foods: spicy foods just before bedtime may trigger gastro-oesophageal reflux and indigestion in some people, making it difficult to get comfortable and fall asleep.
- Alcohol: While alcohol may make you feel sleepy initially, it can disrupt your sleep cycle, particularly the REM (rapid eye movement) stage, leading to fragmented and less restorative sleep.
- Large meals: Eating a large meal right before bed can cause discomfort as the body is still attempting to digest the food. Attempting to sleep right after a big meal could also cause discomfort due to indigestion.
- Not eating enough: many patients we see in clinic don’t eat enough during the day and try to go to bed hungry – this stops them being able to fall asleep, as well as causing them to wake up hungry in the night.
Creating a restful bedtime routine involves more than just setting a regular sleep schedule or creating a relaxing environment; it also includes paying attention to what you eat and drink. By incorporating foods that could promote sleep and avoiding those that can interfere with it, you may be able to improve your sleep quality and overall health.
As with all health advice, it’s important to pay attention to how your body responds to different foods. If you are experiencing ongoing severe sleep issues, please visit your GP.
And if you want more personalised advice, feel free to book in with us here
Written by: Aishah Angell (Registered Dietitian) and reviewed by Jennifer Low (Registered Dietitian)
References
- The Sleep Foundation. (2023). “Effects of Sleep Deprivation.”
- Sleep Research Society. (2017). “Kiwi Fruit and Sleep Improvement: A Study.”
- Journal of Medicinal Food. (2010). “Effects of a Tart Cherry Juice Beverage on the Sleep of Older Adults with Insomnia: A Pilot Study”
- The Sleep Foundation. (2023). “The Role of Tryptophan in Sleep Regulation.”
- Harvard Health Publishing. (2020). “The Effects of Caffeine on Sleep.”
- Sleep Medicine Reviews. (2023). “The effect of caffeine on subsequent sleep: A systematic review and meta-analysis.”
- Milton Keynes University Hospital. “Gastro-Oesophageal Reflux and Nutrition”
- Bupa UK. (2024). “How does alcohol affect your sleep?”
- The Sleep Foundation. (2024). “Alcohol and sleep.”
- “Indigestion.”
- AAA Foundation For Traffic Safety. (2016). “Acute Sleep Deprivation and Risk of Motor Vehicle Crash Involvement.”
- (2022). “Sleep Deprivation: Effects on Weight Loss and Weight Loss Maintenance.”
- Asia pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition. (2011). “Effect of kiwifruit consumption on sleep quality in adults with sleep problems.”
- The Sleep Foundation. (2024). “How much sleep do you need?”
- The Sleep Foundation. (2024). “Mastering Sleep Hygiene: Your Path to Quality Sleep.”