Eat well, sleep well: Here are some tips to optimize your sleep

This Friday, March 15, is International Sleep Day: 59% of French people have noticed a deterioration in their sleep in recent years.

Diet affects sleep quality; Certain foods are preferred over others.

Sports, showers, stress, screens… food isn’t the only cause of poor sleep.

According to a recent Odoxa study, 59% of French people have noticed a deterioration in their sleep in recent years. However, for good health and being fit throughout the day, it is important not to neglect your sleep. Of course, diet plays a major role. Certain foods facilitate sleep. While others keep you awake. Here are some tips.

You have often been told that you should eat something light in the evening: salad or soup. But that’s not such a good idea. The first thing to keep in mind is “Eat enough calories while making sure meals are balanced”, says TF1 Info Julian Lewis, a researcher specializing in sports nutrition at Liverpool John Moores University. Indeed, in case of deficiencies, our body develops strategies to draw on its reserves, thus disturbing sleep.

Diet can increase the production of serotonin (happiness hormone) and melatonin (sleep hormone). This is done by consuming foods rich in tryptophan, an amino acid that the body cannot produce on its own. Fortunately, it is found in many foods: dairy products, legumes (lentils, chickpeas, dry beans), grains (oats, soy, corn, rye, sesame, buckwheat), oilseeds (walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts), bananas, Dark chocolate. (minimum 70% cocoa), but also in protein. However, they have a stimulating effect on the body. “Red meat, in particular, is difficult to digest. You should favor reasonable portions and lean meats like turkey and fatty fish like salmon and sardines instead.”

He advises.

Another tip: eat sugar slowly, as it helps you sleep. Choose starchy foods (rice, pasta, semolina, bread, potatoes, etc.) and fruits. Their interesting content of vitamins and minerals helps fight the deficiency that can be responsible for sleep disorders. As surprising as it may sound, kiwi can help you sleep thanks to its serotonin content. You can also rely on warm liquids before bed, such as sweet herbal tea. It is a natural remedy to lower your temperature a bit and thus make it easier to fall asleep. Be careful, it’s better “Stop drinking an hour before bedtime to avoid getting up in the night to go to the bathroom. So I recommend keeping a bottle of water on your bedside table.”. And for athletes, it is recommended to take it “A small snack like yogurt, a glass of milk or a protein shake an hour before bed for good quality sleep”Julian Lewis suggests.

You should also not neglect the meal schedule. “The body likes to have a routine. Routine works best. You just have to find the balanceCertifies the expert. Do not eat too early, as you may wake up at night hungry. Not too late either, as you will have trouble sleeping due to digestion. This raises the body temperature, which is detrimental to sleep.

, he explains. Ideally, you should eat dinner two to three hours before bed at a regular time if possible.

Avoid fatty and spicy foods

“We all have anecdotes and memories of being heavy and not sleeping well after a hearty meal”, he recalls. In fact, eating a lot of fatty food in the evening is bad for sleep deprivation, because sleep is disturbed due to digestion problems. To sleep well, forget pizza, burgers, cold meat, fatty meat, chips and industrial cakes. Cooked fats, especially fried foods, but also cabbage and fermented foods such as sauerkraut, can lead to bloating and thus impair sleep quality. Some spices increase body temperature and cause heartburn.

Avoid all stimulants such as coffee, tea and most energy or cola drinks. Due to its caffeine content, coffee stimulates the nervous system for up to six hours after consumption. It fragments sleep and induces subtle arousal. Alcohol should also be limited. If it initially promotes sleep due to relaxation of muscle tone, it then secretes adrenaline at night, hence the restlessness of sleep. In addition, alcohol is an aggravating factor for nocturnal breathing problems (apnea, snoring).

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Other factors can disrupt sleep

But Julian Lewis reminds us, “There is little scientific data on the subject and it is difficult to single out diet as the sole cause of poor sleep. There are other factors, particularly physical activity”. Evening games are not recommended. For sports people, “It is possible to take a cold shower after exercise to stimulate the nervous system and promote recovery.It assures. 15 to 20 minutes before bedtime, take a warm shower, not too hot, to warm up the body, put it to sleep as quickly as possible, and then, this will further help the body cool down.”

Consider refreshing your room in the evening. It must be “Cool weather between 17 and 19 degrees” And “a quiet, dark place”.

Stress can also cause difficulty sleeping and cause insomnia. Mindfulness meditation or self-hypnosis is a practice that can help reduce your stress levels before bed. Finally, stop using screens an hour before bed. They produce blue light that activates photosensitive light receptors 100 times more than white light. They thus disrupt our natural rhythm and shorten our sleep time. If sleep problems persist, consult a doctor or dietician.