In the last article on sleep [Increase Your Happiness and Productivity with Better Sleep], I mentioned that certain foods can keep you from getting good quality sleep. When you know what these foods are and avoid them, you’ll have a much better chance of falling asleep, staying asleep, and getting a restful seven to eight hours each night.

Keep in mind that some of the foods on this list are healthy foods, and I’m not saying they should be cut completely from your diet. All I’m saying is that they should be avoided before bedtime.

Please always speak with your physician or health care provider before making significant changes to your diet, particularly if you’re suffering from disease.

Why Sleep is Important

The body utilizes sleep time to restore itself completely so it can operate at optimum levels during waking hours. If something needs to be repaired in the body, it will take place while we are asleep.

People who are dealing with a disease process especially need quality sleep time to correct the problems that are occurring in the body, but also to be able to properly absorb the nutrients coming in through food.

Here are things to do, and foods to avoid, prior to going to bed so that you can ensure the best night’s rest possible…

Don’t Eat Anything at Least 2 Hours Before Bed. When you consume foods or beverages other than water less than 2 hours before laying down to sleep, your body will have to work hard to process the food and drink during sleep time. That time is supposed to be reserved for restoration.

Avoid Oats. Oats are great for breakfast, however when they are eaten at night their high fiber content can lead to digestive irritation, so avoid them in the later parts of the day.

Avoid Leafy Green Vegetables. These foods are natural diuretics and detoxifiers and they’re full of nutrients. However, because of this, they can cause us to wake up in the night to use the restroom. This also includes cabbage and beans. It’s simply easier for these foods to move through the body during the day because we’re up and active.

Avoid Ice Cream. This frosty treat is full of sugar and carbohydrates that act as stimulants. Ice cream contains natural energy, and bedtime is not the right time of day to take in energy.

Avoid Curry. The active component in curries can irritate the stomach, act as a stimulant and harm sleep patterns because they raise the body’s temperature. Waking up because you’re too hot is not helpful to sleep, so be sure to stay away from curry for 2-3 hours before bed.

Avoid Fruit. As beneficial as fruit is to our health, it still contains sugar, which acts as a stimulant that can interrupt sleep patterns. If you like smoothies, move them to earlier hours in the day so your body doesn’t have to fight off the sugar stimulation.

Avoid Cakes, Cookies and Other Processed Sweets. The combination of carbs and sugar in these sweet treats makes it hard for the body to relax. People reach for candy bars at 3 pm when their energy starts to dip because the sugar gets into the blood stream and stimulates everything… so an 8 pm candy bar is definitely not on the menu!

Avoid Red Meat. When eaten close to bedtime, red meat will not be digested properly. Some alternatives to the need for protein could be turkey or yogurt.

Avoid Pizza (and Other Greasy Fatty Foods). French fries, onion rings, nachos and similar greasy foods place a lot of stress on the stomach, especially before bedtime. Heartburn and indigestion can occur, particularly if these greasy foods are combined with beer.

Avoid Dark Chocolate. Now this is a food that has many benefits, however, when it comes to the evening hours it’s best to avoid dark chocolate due to its caffeine content. Eat dark chocolate during the day, as far away from bedtime as possible.

Avoid Alcohol. A nightcap may help you fall asleep, but it will not help you stay asleep. When people consume alcohol before bed, not only do they have trouble staying asleep, but they also wake up feeling more tired the next morning.

Avoid Caffeine. Stay away from caffeine before bed! People don’t realize that caffeine is in a lot of the everyday foods they consume: colas, coffee, cocoa, chocolate, energy drinks, candy bars, and even green tea. If you must have a warm drink before bed, try a hot cup of chamomile tea or hot water with lemon.

If you experience insomnia (or even if you don’t), avoid all the foods on this list before bed for a week and watch your quality of sleep improve drastically!

Want more natural health tips, straight from my desk? Click HERE [LINK: Free Gifts from Rochele] to receive more great information on how to improve your health, naturally.

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Namaste,
Rochel Marie Lawson, RN, AHP, CMS</strong>
The Queen of Feeling Fabulous and The Wellness Architect

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Did you know that sleep is one of the three pillars of Ayurveda? Along with eating and sex, sleep is considered one of the most important aspects of health and wellbeing.

Many scientific studies have shown that good, consistent sleep is vital to overall health and wellbeing. If you’re not sleeping well, eventually it will take a toll on your body and you will begin to manifest disease.

Today, let’s look at some of the main reasons people in the 21^st century aren’t getting enough quality sleep, and what you can do to improve your chances of getting a great night’s rest.

Blame it on Technology Habits

These days, we have a lot of exciting technology around us all the time: advanced computers, smart phones and more television programming available 24 hours a day than you could imagine! If you are having trouble going to sleep or falling asleep, taking a look at your technology usage (particularly at night) is very important.

Does your phone tweet, bing, dingle or twinkle at you while you’re trying to sleep? Do you stare at a blue screen within several hours of hitting the pillow? These two habits alone can make a huge difference in your ability to go to sleep and stay asleep.

Make sure to avoid using screens a couple hours before bed, and turn your phone to silent before you go to sleep to avoid being woken up by email dings.

Blame it on Time Zone Changes

If you travel to multiple time zones during the week, you may have difficulty falling into a restful sleep pattern. For instance, if you’re on the East Coast for the first part of the week, then the central part of the country, and finally on the West Coast – well, that can be a big problem!

You may not be able to correct the fact that you have to travel, but you can do things to help you sleep better.

The cells in the body work on a 24-hour clock. Naturally, we’re programmed to be awake when it’s light out and asleep when it’s dark out. If you are traveling to multiple time zones, you must immediately adjust to the time zone in which you will be sleeping that night.

For instance, if you live on the West Coast and you’re visiting the East Coast, the clock will read 6 pm ET when your body thinks it’s 3 pm PT. Fall in line with the reading on the clock. Make your routine as regular as possible for the new time zone. If you normally eat dinner at 6 pm PT, eat it at 6 pm in whatever time zone you’ll be sleeping.

Your body will synch up and within a day or a day and a half it will adjust to that zone. It can be challenging, depending on your schedule, but it’s not impossible.

Blame it on the Alcohol Consumption

Many people use alcohol to try and fall asleep. It’s true that alcohol has a sedative quality that makes you fall asleep more easily, but studies have shown that drinking before bed interrupts sleep patterns significantly. With alcohol in your blood stream, you’ll wake up in the moments when your sleep cycle is changing.

This is exactly why people wake up after a night of drinking – even if they get a nice long sleep – still feeling groggy.

The Best Sleep Habits

To get the best night’s rest, try this routine about two hours before bedtime: turn off all electronics, dim the lights in the bedroom and listen to some relaxing music. Take a nice hot shower or bath and maybe even diffuse a little bit of lavender essential oil.

The most important thing you can do to help you get better sleep is create healthy habits that promote relaxation and address the root causes of insomnia, if any.

Would you like to connect with me one-on-one to find personalized ways of getting better sleep? Click HERE [Contact Page] to set up a time to speak with me privately. I work with clients to help them reach their greatest health potential, naturally and healthfully.

Also, please pick up your free gifts here: www.gifts4free.com

Namaste,

Rochel Marie Lawson, RN, AHP, CMS

The Queen of Feeling Fabulous and The Wellness Architect Sin título

www.rochelelawson.com
www.healthhealingwellness.com
www.blissful-living.net
www.youtube.com/rochelelawson
www.facebook.com/rochelelawson
www.stressassessmentmagic.com
www.freegiftsfromrochele.com
www.linkedin.com/rochelelawson