Can Snacking Help You Sleep? The Inside Scoop

Many Americans struggle to fall asleep and stay asleep. It’s all too common to reach for a phone when insomnia strikes, and tapping away at a screen makes it a lot harder for your brain to wind down. So, before reaching for your phone when you can’t sleep, take a trip down to the kitchen instead.

Since there’s a lot of conflicting advice when it comes to how food and sleep work together, we’re here to draw some lines. What you eat in the evening could either be the best sleep aid or the very thing that’s ruining your rest.

Is What You’re Eating Affecting Your Sleep?

Not all snacks are created equal. While a light bite can help you sleep, eating a full, heavy meal right before bed is a recipe for a restless night. Your digestive system slows down significantly at night, and forcing it to process a heavy dinner or greasy leftovers can cause physical discomfort and indigestion.

Ever found yourself sweating at night after a big meal? That’s your body trying to digest the load you’ve fed it. It’s even harder to get to sleep when sweating, so if this is going to be a common problem for you, look into a custom pocket coil mattress that improves airflow and helps cool you down.

Beyond heavy meals, there are a lot of other sleep-stealers like high-sugar cereals, spicy foods, or caffeine-laden chocolate. These can overstimulate your system as well. So, for best results, avoid these as well as high-calorie, high-fat-content foods in the hours leading up to bedtime.

Here’s a quick, handy list of what to avoid before bed:

• Saturated fats: They affect your cholesterol, cardiac health, and increase your risk of obesity. All of these hurt your sleep, and they decrease your serotonin levels, too.
• Processed carbs: Nutrition studies on sleep quality show that eating processed carbs like chips and noodles before bed leads to lower-quality, lighter sleep.
• Alcohol: Plenty of sleep studies agree that alcohol before bed hurts your sleep. Yes, alcohol is a sedative, but once you’re asleep, alcohol messes with the rhythm of your sleep cycle and robs you of REM sleep.
• Caffeine: The fact that so many people need it to get their day started should tell you all you need to know. It blocks the chemicals in your body that tell you to sleep, and it can stay in your system for over 6 hours from when you drink it.
• Heavy or Spicy food: Anything heavy or laden with spices should be eaten at least a few hours before bed. These foods are rough on your digestive system, and spicy foods can cause acid reflux and heartburn when you lie down directly after eating them.

Late Night Snacks That Help You Sleep Better

If you’re feeling a little puckish or just need something to help you get back to sleep in the middle of the night, here are a few healthy options proven to help people sleep:

• Scrambled eggs: Lean and protein-rich, eggs help you stay satisfied through the night. Pair them with a little cheese or toast if you want the added benefit of foods that increase the secretion of serotonin.
• Peanut Butter sandwiches: Peanut butter contains tryptophan, an amino acid that helps the brain produce melatonin. Whole-grain bread has complex carbohydrates, which help to transport tryptophan to your brain more efficiently.
• Cottage Cheese and Fruit: Cottage cheese is packed with lean protein and has a healthy serving of tryptophan as well. Top it off with fruit like raspberries, cherries, bananas, or pineapple for an extra sleep-inducing boost.
• Hummus: Chickpeas are high in fiber and protein, and the American Society of Agronomy has found that this sort of intake keeps you full at night and contains the right amino acids. Pair with carrots or crackers.
• Cheese and Crackers: Dairy products are traditionally good for sleep, and people have recommended a warm glass of milk to help with sleep for decades. The helpful part of dairy is actually the calcium, so a cheese stick or a couple of slices will do the job just fine.
• Walnuts and Almonds: Nuts are generally packed with proteins that can keep you full and induce sleep. Certain nuts also have their own helpful properties. Walnuts, for example, have their own source of melatonin, and almonds are rich in magnesium, which is needed for quality sleep. You can also go for pistachios, which are packed with vitamins and antioxidants.

Beyond the Kitchen: The Foundation of Sleep

If you’re still struggling to fall (and stay) asleep despite healthy snacking and a good, controlled diet, the problem may be your sleep environment. For the best sleep, you need to pay attention to what you’re actually sleeping on.

Settling for a lumpy, old mattress or thin, uncomfortable sheets can negate all of the hard work you do in the kitchen. Do yourself and your long-term health a favor by investing in a custom mattress tailored to your own sleep needs. With a bespoke mattress from Custom Mattress Factory, you’re creating a whole new kind of sleep aid – a bed you really look forward to getting into.