Diet and insomnia: is there a relationship?

What we eat can affect sleep, but at the same time sleeping little and badly can have repercussions on food choices.

Our lifestyle habits can interfere with night’s rest much more than you think. Not surprisingly, the first thing that is recommended to those suffering from insomnia is to improve their sleep hygiene.

Among the many tricks, ranging from going to sleep at regular times to staying away from mobile phones and tablets before getting under the covers, there are some that concern nutrition.

What we eat can affect sleep, but even sleeping poorly can affect food choices and health. There are studies that show that, in the long term, sleep disorders can be associated with overweight, obesity and diabetes.

“It has been seen, in particular, that those who sleep badly, tend to eat more carbohydrates the next day, behavior that can favor the development of metabolic diseases,” points out Lino Nobili, head of the Sleep Medicine Center of the Niguarda Hospital in Milan.

Food and sleep

If you have trouble sleeping, you should first avoid binge eating and eating heavy in the evening. “Meals that are too large require longer digestion, which can interfere with sleep,” confirms Nobili.

The ideal is to always have dinner at the same time and wait at least two hours before bedtime. In this way there is plenty of time to digest the meal, as long as it has not been too abundant and “heavy” (fried, fatty, etc.).

To promote a good rest, it is also advisable not to exaggerate with spicy foods and avoid drinks containing caffeine and similar substances (coffee, tea, cola), which exert an exciting and therefore awakening activity at the level of the nerve centers».

Foods that facilitate sleep

“Some studies suggest that an evening meal based on carbohydrates (rice and pasta starches, fructose, sucrose) can promote the triggering and maintenance of sleep, facilitating the absorption of an amino acid, tryptophan, involved in the synthesis of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that, with melatonin, regulates mood and sleep rhythm and has a calming action. On the contrary, a protein meal tends to make it more difficult to absorb this amino acid.”

Foods rich in tryptophan, such as oatmeal, wheat and rye flour, spelt, millet, dried legumes and some vegetables (asparagus, chard, spinach, etc.), could therefore promote sleep.

In addition to choosing the right foods, the time of the evening meal is also important. “The advice is to avoid eating too early or just before bedtime. In the first case you risk falling foul with evening snacks, enemies of sleep and line, or waking up at night due to hypoglycemic peaks; in the second you can incur some disorders, in particular in gastroesophageal reflux » observes Nobili.

Beware of alcohol

“Alcohol has a sedative effect, but its action is very rapid. After promoting rapid falling asleep, it is eliminated from the body and the central nervous system enters a state of relative “hyperexcitability”, facilitating nocturnal awakenings. So it is better to avoid it in the evening or, at most, drink only a glass of red wine during the meal» warns the expert.