Food items that can ruin your sleep

It is said that a filled stomach can make your lids heavy and take you to the dream land with a sound sleep. However, it depends on which food you are filling your stomach.

New research has revealed the most anti-sleep food and ingesting them that can leave you tossing and turning around the bned all night.

Soy Sauce:

The fans of Chinese and Japanese delicacies might be taking up a lot of this ingredient in their diet as soy sauce is a must-have condiment that adds a satisfying umami note to anything from sushi to stir-fries. However, it could be the reason it might be hard to sleep after eating a takeaway because of an amino acid called Tyramine which is a common trigger for people who suffer with migraines and may also inhibit sleep as it causes the release of a hormone called norepinephrine which can stimulate the brain and delay sleep.

Green Tea:

Surprisingly, this healthy drink makes it to the list of sleep-curbing items as it is always thought of something very healthy. Nobody would go for a cup of coffee because of its high caffeine content in the evening as it delays sleep. But people opt for green tea as a healthy choice without even knowing that an average cup of coffee contains around 100mg of caffeine while the same size cup of green tea still contains 50mg. After having consumed a couple of cups of green tea, the caffeine contents of one coffee have been matched and consumed by someone who will later on complain about a low quality or lesser sleep. Caffeine actually blocks the brain chemicals that make the body sleepy and remains in the body for three to five hours depending on how fast one metabolizes it.

Chocolate:

Chocolate is almost everyone’s favourite go-to snack. But it is sadly an item which should be avoided after dark. Any chocolate, regardless of its cocoa content, is going to contain high amounts of sugar. Consuming too much sugar can impact on your quality of sleep and pull you out of deep sleep during the night.

Too much sugar also reduces the activity of orexin cells. These cells stimulate parts of the brain that produce dopamine and norepinephrine which are the two hormones that keep us aroused and physically mobile.

Processed foods:

Highly processed foods include fast food and prepackaged foods. While convenient, these foods contain many of the nutritional components above, including sugars and fats, which negatively impact sleep.

Researchers found that higher consumption of processed foods shares significant links with poor sleep quality.

Highly processed foods cause shorter durations of sleep and poor sleep quality in children aged 12–18 years.

Fatty foods

Consuming high fat content foods, such as fatty meats and desserts, may also disrupt sleep. The body’s digestion naturally slows when a person goes to sleep. Fatty foods will cause the stomach to feel full and may make it difficult for individuals to feel comfortable. They can also cause indigestion and acid reflux, which are also likely to result in poor sleep quality.

Higher fat intake had links to shorter total sleep time, less restorative sleep, and more sleep disruption. However, a much larger cohort study in men found an association between higher levels of trans fats and probable insomnia. A review of epidemiological found similar results.