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Here Is How Your Eating Habits Can Impact Your Sleep

This is how your eating habits can affect your sleep. Read to know more!

By Sravia Sivaram

Nearly half of the people regularly struggle to get enough quality sleep. Not many know that the way you eat has a major impact on how much and how well you eat.

The better rested you are, the easier it is to reach or maintain a healthy weight.

Researchers have found that those who regularly slept early for fewer than 5 hours per night were 32% more likely to gain 30 or more pounds than those who regularly slept for 7 or more hours. When it comes to getting fit, sleep is very important.

do eating habits affect sleep

What matters more here is that a stream of highly processed, inferior foods can make it harder to get the quality sleep that you need.

Studies have found that people who ate diets high in sugar and refined carbs tend to take longer to fall asleep and wake up more frequently during the night.

Unhealthy fats can negatively affect your body's normal sleep-wake cycle, making it harder to doze off at night. This is because staying up late can impact your ability to make choices that will help you get leaner.

Running short on sleep will also make it harder to resists junk foods. Sleep deprivation can crank up the pleasurable effects of salty, sugary and fatty foods.

do eating habits affect sleep

When you don't get enough sleep, your body prompts you to eat more calories and burn few of them. Eating clean foods will actually deliver the nutrients your body needs to sleep better.

Research has also found that people with adequate levels of vitamin D, found in foods like eggs, mushroom and fatty fish are 33% less likely to experience insomnia than the others.

Omega 3 fatty acids found in fish like tuna and salmon also contribute to a better night's sleep.

Your body also relies on potassium and magnesium that helps relax your muscle so that you can drift off to sleep sooner.

Calcium rich foods produces the hormone melatonin that tells your body when its time to feel sleepy.

Further, people who ate foods that are high in fibre got more restful sleep than the others who ate processed foods.

do eating habits affect sleep

Picking on good evening snacks and having them 2-3 hours before going to sleep will also help you get better snooze time.

Snacking on grain crackers, tart cherry juice, walnut halves, half a slice of whole grain toast with almond butter, 8 ounces of low-fat milk, a cup of chamomile tea etc are some of your best snacking options.

Story first published: Tuesday, October 31, 2017, 18:28 [IST]
Read more about: sleep calories