Sleep Tip #7 National Nutrition Month

March is National Nutrition Month across America! With that in mind our latest sleep tip doesn’t involve anything with your bedroom! Well there might be one important thing to think about, but we will get to that in a second. What we have is a few tips on how your diet can affect your nightly sleeping habits.

According to the Mayo Clinic, if you are on a normal sleeping schedule, eating food past 10:00 pm may be a recipe that leads to insomnia.  They suggests finishing dinner several hours before bedtime and to try and avoid foods that cause indigestion. This includes foods that are greasy or fried, and could cause an unsettled stomach or heart burn which can keep you awake.

Your evening meal should include proteins, vegetables and healthy fats. Eating enough protein at dinner will help prepare your body to enter the sleep cycle. The vegetables contain fiber and other nutrients that will assist with digestion and along with the healthy fats, will replenish your cells and help your body recharge for the next day.

We know there are some nights when you get hungry at night. It happens and the Mayo Clinic recommends that you snack on foods that will not disturb your sleep, such as dairy foods, such as a yogurt, or string cheese. Or a slice of toast with some butter is great too! Something that is a light snake can help you settle and be able to go back to sleep. Also it’s important to drink enough fluid at night to keep you from waking up thirsty. Not too much though or too close to bedtime since you could be awakened by the need with a trip to the bathroom. And just like we discussed in our previous tip; avoid coffee, coke, and other beverages that have caffeine in them as that can make you restless while trying to go to sleep.

One last little bit of this tip to keep in mind is to not eat while you’re in bed.  Not just because the crumbs and things get messy, but also because you should help your body understand that your bed is for sleeping, and not for eating.  It will make it easier as you are trying to get to sleep, as you body will understand that it’s now time to recharge by sleeping rather than expecting food to eat.

We hope this tip will help you to start paying more attention to the things you are eating, and begin to make good habits now! As you begin to apply these tips you’ll begin to see a much bigger improvement in your overall sleep and be able to have more energy and feel more rested each day.  And if as you are starting to make these changes you feel like there might be a problem with your mattress, you are always welcome to visit one of our locations to talk to a Best Mattress sleep expert who can help you find a new mattress to match your comfort level and budget.  You also can contact us here to learn more, or to find the nearest location to you!