Worst Foods to Eat at Night

Insomnia is one of the worst things in the world. You’re lying there on your mattress while the rest of the city is asleep. It’s incredibly frustrating, especially in the morning when everyone else is well rested and you’re struggling to keep your eyes open! Have you ever thought about what could be causing this? Most people point to things like tea and coffee, but it could in fact be the food you’re eating.

There are some foods that contribute to sleep disruption. They are foods that you wouldn’t even think of! Here is a list of a few things that you should avoid if you actually want to get a good nights sleep:

Spicy Food

You might want to forget about that curry you were planning on having tonight. Spicy foods can give you indigestion, which disrupt your body. The discomfort is going to interfere with your quality of sleep, especially as you are supposed to be relaxed when getting into bed. Spicy food also causes heartburn, so the best thing to do is skip the chillies completely, and go for something more mild. After all, your sleep is more important than your spice craving.

Chocolate

As if you needed another reason not to eat it! Yes, it tastes great, it is the best thing in the world, but it contains caffeine, so depending on how much you eat, it can almost be equivalent to drinking an entire can of coke. One tiny bite won’t cause much harm, but if you eat an entire bar, you can expect to be up throughout the night. Dark chocolate is the worst culprit. Apart from all of the caffeine, it contains a stimulant known as ‘theobromine’ and this actually makes your heart race. If you’re really craving chocolate, you can go for white chocolate which has minimal caffeine and doesn’t contain theobromine.

Burgers

Apart from being bad for you anyway, they can also give you heartburn and cause you lots of discomfort when trying to sleep. They are full of protein, which your body takes longer to break down and digest. This means that your body will be attempting to digest whilst you’re trying to fall asleep. Think of it like a computer that is trying to shut down, if it’s still trying to finish its tasks, it’s never going to switch off! Have you noticed that it’s all of the tastiest foods that you’re supposed to be avoiding?

Ice cream

I bet you’ve never heard that one before. As you know, ice cream is packed with fat and sugar, which is going to pump your entire body with energy. Think about when you give sweets to a child and they run around the room for hours; that’s what your body will be doing. You’re trying to relax your body, remember? You’re also not going to give your body a chance to burn any of the fat from the ice cream, so it’s just going to turn into stored fat, so you’re never going to win. It has also been said that eating anything that is high in sugar before bedtime can actually contribute to nightmares.

Alcohol

Although a glass of wine may help you fall asleep, it can disrupt the later stages of sleep, causing you to wake up throughout the night. This is what contributes to the drowsy and tired feeling in the morning. You’ll feel like you haven’t slept at all. Alcohol completely intervenes with your sleep cycle regardless of the general consensus that it can help. Insomniacs use alcohol as a sleeping aid, but in fact makes the problem worse!

So the next time you think about getting onto your mattress, avoid the foods listed above. You’ll find that you’ll fall asleep quicker, and feel more refreshed in the morning.

This article was written by Danielle Bagworth, a health and nutrition writer and an avid lover of sleep. She recommends Silentnight beds for the optimum amount of relaxation.