Good sleep is like a medicine, and many of us are deprived of it. Good sleep gives full rest to the body and mind, and keeps both relaxed. A man spends 1/3rd of his total time in sleep. Yet sleep is not a loss, but a gain. A good night’s sleep promises you an energetic, full day the next day. But nowadays, loss of sleep is quite common. Due to job pressures, family or financial problems or health reasons, many people are deprived of sleep. Many of them find solace in sleeping pills, which can harm them more in future rather than giving benefits. Wrong food habits and lifestyle can also keep you away from good sleep and dreams.
Food for Good Sleep
Through this column, let me give you a few simple tips that can help you a lot.
Have supper a little bit early
If you a heavy supper in the late night and go to bed very soon, sleep won’t come to you. Discomfort in the stomach is the reason. Have your dinner at least 2-3 hours before you go to bed. Also, have a small walk in your courtyard or garden to stimulate your digestive process a little bit more.
Avoid high-fat, chilly and spicy food for supper. They can give you gastric problems. They loosen the muscles of the esophagus, and hence, combining with acids of the intestine, the food regurgitates back, giving you discomfort. Also called Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD), it gives you burning chest pain and a taste of acid in the back of the mouth, disrupting good sleep.
Stay away from coffee and tea before you go to sleep
Drinks containing caffeine should be avoid 6-8 hours before sleep. Coffee, tea, cola and chocolate are some of the common caffeine-containing food items. Caffeine is contained in coffee in high amounts. 1 cup of coffee contains 75 milligrams of caffeine, while it’s around 50 milligrams in one cup of tea. Caffeine stimulates the brain and keeps it awake and refreshed for a long time.
Eat fruits, sleep well
Apple, grapes and banana can offer you good sleep. Food items made using curd and sweets with jaggery added are the next alternatives. Grains without removing bran and roti made using whole wheat grain give good sleep. Yet sweets, which get easily absorbed into the blood, bakery items, etc., contain less serotonin, thus disrupting and reducing sleep hours.
Milk is the best sleeping agent
If you have half a glass of warm milk, you will get good, deep sleep. How does milk help you to get good sleep? Milk contains an amino acid called tryptophan, and it’s also abundant in calcium. Calcium present in milk helps the production of sleep hormone melatonin from tryptophan in the brain, and that’s why you feel sleepy. Eggs, chicken and pulses also contain tryptophan. When they are taken along with carbohydrate-containing food, they can provide you with good sleep.
Never sleep for long hours after lunch
A nap of 10-20 minutes in the afternoon can give you refreshment. It helps you to get rid of tiredness as well. The time between 2 pm and 3 pm is ideal for such a short ‘break’. But if you sleep for long hours, it gives you tiredness, lack of energy, and you won’t get enough sleep at night. So always take care never to slip from nap to deep sleep during the day.
Image source: Pixabay
Also read a few more topics on sleeping disorders and methods to get sound sleep. Click on the links to read
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