3 Best and Worst Foods for Insomnia We can’t enjoy the daytime when we neglect
a good night’s sleep.
But sleep disorders are on the increase thanks to the modern lifestyle.
And women are 50% more likely to suffer from insomnia than men of the same age group.
So what exactly is insomnia?
Insomnia is defined by:
* Difficulty falling asleep * Difficulty staying asleep, or
* Waking in the early morning more than 3 times per week for at least 3 months.
There’s much more to insomnia than being tired and clumsy during the day.
Research is showing us a whole area of side effects linked to low quality sleep.
Sleep is essential for maintaining immune health.
It restores energy levels.
It improves memory and cognition.
It regulates the mood.
It provides time for every cell in your body to regenerate.
It helps decide when certain hormones are released and specific body functions take
place.
Asking for a pharmaceutical solution should never be an early step.
Sleeping pills are highly addictive and are hardly a cure.
In fact, one of the top side effects of prescription sleep medication is daytime sleepiness.
The first steps to a good night’s sleep have no side effects whatsoever.
These are lifestyle changes.
And changing your lifestyle often means changing your diet.
That’s what this short video is all about.
We’re going to look at 3 of the best and the worst foods for insomnia.
We’ll see why these foods particularly affect how well or how badly we sleep.
But before we begin, please click on the like button.
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Let’s start with that list.
Interestingly, when you eat these foods doesn’t matter.
They improve or reduce sleep quality whenever you eat them.
We’ll get the bad news over with first.
Coming up are the 3 worst foods you can eat if you have trouble sleeping.
Are any of these part of your daily diet?
Cutting them out will significantly improve the quality of your sleep!
Worst Food Number 3 - Butter If you want to enjoy a deep sleep, cut down
on your butter intake.
Butter is concentrated saturated fat.
While fatty meats are also not recommended, they’re not such concentrated forms.
Butter definitely is.
The higher the percentage of energy produced by saturated fats, the less slow wave sleep
we have, the longer it takes to fall asleep and the more often we wake in the night.
Reducing saturated fat intake and replacing those calories with protein and fibre has
positive effects in as little as 3 days.
Worst Food Number 2 - Soda The more soda you drink, the less you sleep.
And this effect isn’t only found in caffeinated sodas and energy drinks.
Even diet sodas without caffeine negatively affect sleeping patterns.
That’s because sugar and sugar replacements, from sucrose to stevia, make the brain produce
dopamine.
Dopamine has a stimulatory effect.
It:
* Makes us hungry for sugar * Slows digestion
* Increases urination * Raises the body temperature
* Speeds up the heart rate * Causes anxiety
We now know dopamine release is a response to sweetness in any form, not just sugar.
Soda or diet soda should never be part of your diet if you want good, reparative and
rejuvenating sleep.
Worst Food Number 1 - Processed Bakery Products The worst sleep-reducing food you can eat
at any time of the day is not a single item but an entire group.
That group is processed bakery products.
Bread, pastries, cakes, biscuits and even crackers have a few things in common:
* A high glycemic index score * They often contain high levels of saturated
fat * Added sugar or sweeteners
* They significantly and negatively affect how well we sleep
A recent study reported that postmenopausal women suffer from insomnia when they eat a
high glycemic index diet.
Actually, many studies show this effect.
Scientists think the key reason is insulin.
Insulin is released when we eat carbohydrates.
The more quickly a carbohydrate is absorbed, the quicker the insulin surge.
Insulin affects how the body uses a group of Large Neutral Amino Acids or LNAAs.
One very important LNAA is tryptophan.
Tryptophan is an ingredient of serotonin, the feel good hormone.
Serotonin doesn’t just make us feel good, it makes us feel sleepy.
A high carbohydrate meal late at night makes us feel sleepy.
This used to mean researchers thought a high GI meal before bed improved sleep quality.
But this idea has changed.
Although a high GI snack might help you fall asleep more quickly, you won’t stay asleep.
Especially if you are insulin resistant.
It’s no coincidence that we suffer from more sleep problems as we age.
Because the older we become, the more insulin resistant we become.
And when our cells are insulin resistant, sugar stays in the blood for longer periods
and we produce even more insulin.
Insulin surges trigger the release of chemicals like adrenaline and cortisol, and these wake
us up.
Those were the 3 worst foods to eat when you want a good, healthy, regenerating night’s
sleep.
We’ll find out about the 3 best foods in just a minute, after we’ve given you the
opportunity to claim your free gift.
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for Women.
This book is packed with dietary information that energises your waking hours and makes
getting a restful night’s sleep so much easier.
Because as we’re going to see right now, some foods have incredible superpowers.
We’ll start our sleepy countdown not with sheep, but with fish.
Best Food Number 3 - Oily Fish
You don’t have to picture them jumping over fences.
Just add a few portions to your weekly menu.
Oily fish are an excellent source of omega 3 fatty acids.
Modern diets provide too much of its close relative, omega 6.
But without the correct omega 3 to omega 6 ratio, we lose sleep.
To even out this ratio, reduce fried food intake and increase oily fish consumption.
Eat fish like salmon, pilchards, anchovies, mackerel and sardines.
Studies show that diets deficient in omega 3 lead to disturbed sleep patterns.
When we don’t get enough of it, our internal clock doesn’t function well and the sleep
hormone, melatonin, isn’t produced at the right times.
Best Food Number 2 - Cherries Cherries are a tasty way to banish insomnia.
They also work against cardiovascular disease thanks to their effect on the vagus nerve.
The vagus nerve works to relax the body.
It’s this effect that links insomnia to heart disease.
When the vagus nerve is stimulated, we are less anxious.
The heart rate slows and blood pressure dips.
Digestion improves and fewer stimulating chemicals are released.
In this relaxed state, the body is better equipped to sleep.
Cherries also contain high levels of sleep-inducing melatonin and serotonin.
It’s best to eat a handful of raw cherries than drink a glass of cherry juice.
Raw cherries contain lots of fibre.
Fibre is an important part of the number 1 best food for insomnia.
Best Food Number 1: Live Yoghurt With Bran Fibre
Although full fat animal milk yoghurt contains saturated fat, this isn’t enough to disturb
your sleep.
Animal and vegetable-based yoghurts encourage deep sleep because they contain healthy bacteria,
vitamin D and tryptophan.
The gut plays a huge role in how well we sleep.
By consuming healthy bacteria, we encourage the gut to work for us, not against us.
Vitamin D deficiency is heavily linked to insomnia, so the extra boost - especially
during the winter months - is important.
Finally, the amino acid known as tryptophan has long been associated with deep sleep.
There’s enough in a single serving of live yoghurt to make a difference.
But why add bran fibre?
Fibre is a prebiotic.
Our gut can’t absorb it, but our all-important gut bacteria can.
When you add a tablespoon of bran fibre to live yoghurt, you’re feeding your gut bacteria.
Fibre consumption has been proven to produce a deeper and longer period of sleep.
It’s no coincidence the modern, low-fibre diet is linked to every type of sleep disorder.
We hope you’ve learnt something new from our list of sleep inducing and sleep disrupting
foods.
Please don’t forget to like us, subscribe to us and claim your free 25 Energy-Boosting
Superfoods for Women book!
See you again soon!