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Six foods you should never eat before bed

Health

If you’re a nocturnal creature, getting hungry after dinner is normal and you will find yourself scavenging for whatever you can put your hands on until you crawl to bed.

While there is nothing wrong with having a bowl of fresh salad or a glass of yogurt when the pangs come knocking, it is what most of us tend to eat that is the problem. Blame it on addictions or preferences, eating certain foods before bedtime is a bad idea. 

What we eat can definitely affect our sleep and lead to a night full of tossing and turning. It is therefore important to watch what you ingest before bedtime.

Here are six foods that you should avoid eating before hitting the sack.

Turkey

Turkey is a protein-rich food and thus causes your brain to produce dopamine. Dopamine is referred to as a ‘motivation molecule’ as it will give you high amounts of energy and this could mean you’ll be tossing around in bed for a good part of the night. Also, avoid chicken and steak when it is close to bedtime. If you are looking for a protein fix, stick to salmon and game meat. They contain a high level of melatonin which is good for sleep.

Workout helpers

The secret behind sports shakes and snacks is the caffeine which helps with performance. Caffeine is something you generally want to avoid at night if you want a deep and restful sleep. It is therefore important to always check the label on your protein shake after your gym session to make sure it doesn’t have caffeine. If you take any workout drinks before going to bed they should be for post-workout.  Pre-workout shakes will contain lots of caffeine and stimulants.

Hot sauce

It is generally always better to avoid spicy foods before bedtime. Foods like hot sauce will not only irritate your stomach, they may also cause heartburn which makes it hard to wind down to sleep. Spicy foods also cause the release of histamines into your body which increases wakefulness.

Alcohol

Taking alcohol before bed might help knock you out but you will not be getting any quality sleep. This is because as you sleep your liver will still be hard at work trying to eliminate the alcohol out of your system. Your heart is also likely to beat faster which might wake you up and it would be hard to go back to sleep after this.

Fried foods

No matter how strong your munchies are, be sure to avoid taking a trip to the drive-through. Fatty foods and greasy foods take some time to be digested and thus pass through your system at a slower pace than proteins and carbs. This means that when you are sleeping your body will still be in overdrive trying to break down the fried foods you ingest. This will definitely affect the quality of sleep you will get.

Coffee

Coffee contains loads of caffeine which we all know promote wakefulness. With caffeine, it is best to be consumed no later than early afternoon. If you wish to indulge in coffee in the mid-afternoon, it would be best to stick to decaf or half-caf. 

 

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