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Eating For Better Sleep

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Getting adequate amounts of quality sleep is very underestimated when looking to improve your overall health. We generally think of adjusting our food intake or our exercise routine but when questioned about sleep it is often overlooked.


Adequate sleep can reduce risk of CVD, CHD, and stroke, keeps your brain healthy and can even boost the immune system (1,2,3). 


The general consensus is that 7-9 hours of uninterrupted sleep is recommended per night. Think about how often you get uninterrupted sleep and if your sleep compares at all to the general guideline (4,5). 


If uninterrupted sleep is not something you get enough of, there are a few lifestyle factors including what we eat and drink that can help improve sleep. Follow along as we discuss which food and drink can promote better sleep (5,6).


Nuts: Almonds

Almonds are a type of tree nut with many health benefits, one of them including better sleep. Almonds contain melatonin which is a hormone that helps regulate our internal clock and lets our body’s know when it is time for sleep. (7). They also provide magnesium (19% of DV in 1 ounce). Magnesium’s role in promoting better sleep is that it can reduce inflammation. Magnesium may also help counteract cortisol which is a known sleep disrupter (6,8).


Adding almonds into your daily snack schedule in the afternoon or evening can’t hurt when trying to get better sleep!


Teas: Chamomile & Passionflower Teas

Adding tea to your nightly routine is a nice way to bring calm to what are mostly chaotic days. Chamomile tea and passionflower tea are two teas that contain flavonoid antioxidants which are known to reduce inflammation, boost immune health and reduce risk for heart disease. Its main function has been to study its effects on reducing anxiety. A specific antioxidant, apigenin, produces a calming effect by binding to certain brain receptors. It is not foolproof, but adding passionflower tea into your nightly routine could promote better (9,10).


Protein Sources: Turkey & Fatty Fish

Turkey is a high protein food option that helps keep muscles strong and regulate our appetite. When we think of turkey, however, we often think of Thanksgiving and a full belly of turkey and how tired we feel afterwards. This comes from the amino acid, tryptophan, which increases the production of melatonin (11). Some studies show that eating adequate protein before bed results in better sleep as well. 


Another high protein option is fatty fish. This includes salmon, tuna, mackerel, and trout. Fatty fish are high in omega 3 fatty acids, specifically eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). In current research the omega 3’s combined with vitamin D (also found in fatty fish) help produce more serotonin (12).


More research is needed to determine the role of turkey and fatty fish in improving sleep but when in doubt consuming a dinner or bedtime snack rich in protein is always a good idea. 


Fruit: Kiwi

Kiwi may benefit your digestive health, reduce inflammation, and lower your cholesterol. These effects are due to the high amounts of fiber and carotenoid antioxidants that they provide (13). The sleep-promoting effects of kiwis are generally attributed to the consumption of kiwi promoting serotonin production. It’s also been suggested that the anti-inflammatory antioxidants in kiwis, such as vitamin C and carotenoids, may be partly responsible for their sleep-promoting effects (13). 


To conclude, more scientific research is needed to conclude what foods help promote better sleep. There is limited research on the above foods and food groups. When in doubt, including these healthy food items into your daily routine!


References

  1. Mengyu Fan, Dianjianyi Sun, Tao Zhou, Yoriko Heianza, Jun Lv, Liming Li, Lu Qi, Sleep patterns, genetic susceptibility, and incident cardiovascular disease: a prospective study of 385 292 UK biobank participants, European Heart Journal, Volume 41, Issue 11, 14 March 2020, Pages 1182–1189, https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehz849

  2. Eugene, A. R., & Masiak, J. (2015). The Neuroprotective Aspects of Sleep. MEDtube science, 3(1), 35–40.

  3. Mengyu Fan,  Dianjianyi Sun,  Tao Zhou,  Yoriko Heianza,  Jun Lv,  Liming Li, Lu Qi. European Heart Journal, Volume 41, Issue 11, 14 March 2020, Pages 1182–1189, https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehz849

  4. Hirshkowitz M, Whiton K, Albert SM, Alessi C, Bruni O, DonCarlos L, Hazen N, Herman J, Katz ES, Kheirandish-Gozal L, Neubauer DN, O'Donnell AE, Ohayon M, Peever J, Rawding R, Sachdeva RC, Setters B, Vitiello MV, Ware JC, Adams Hillard PJ. National Sleep Foundation's sleep time duration recommendations: methodology and results summary. Sleep Health. 2015 Mar;1(1):40-43. doi: 10.1016/j.sleh.2014.12.010. Epub 2015 Jan 8. PMID: 29073412.

  5. Chattu, V. K., Sakhamuri, S. M., Kumar, R., Spence, D. W., BaHammam, A. S., & Pandi-Perumal, S. R. (2018). Insufficient Sleep Syndrome: Is it time to classify it as a major noncommunicable disease?. Sleep science (Sao Paulo, Brazil), 11(2), 56–64. https://doi.org/10.5935/1984-0063.20180013

  6. Zeng, Y., Yang, J., Du, J., Pu, X., Yang, X., Yang, S., & Yang, T. (2014). Strategies of Functional Foods Promote Sleep in Human Being. Current signal transduction therapy, 9(3), 148–155. https://doi.org/10.2174/1574362410666150205165504

  7. Meng, X., Li, Y., Li, S., Zhou, Y., Gan, R. Y., Xu, D. P., & Li, H. B. (2017). Dietary Sources and Bioactivities of Melatonin. Nutrients, 9(4), 367. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu9040367

  8. Abbasi B, Kimiagar M, Sadeghniiat K, Shirazi MM, Hedayati M, Rashidkhani B. The effect of magnesium supplementation on primary insomnia in elderly: A double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial. J Res Med Sci. 2012 Dec;17(12):1161-9. PMID: 23853635; PMCID: PMC3703169.

  9. Srivastava, J. K., Shankar, E., & Gupta, S. (2010). Chamomile: A herbal medicine of the past with bright future. Molecular medicine reports, 3(6), 895–901. https://doi.org/10.3892/mmr.2010.377.

  10. Elsas, S. M., Rossi, D. J., Raber, J., White, G., Seeley, C. A., Gregory, W. L., Mohr, C., Pfankuch, T., & Soumyanath, A. (2010). Passiflora incarnata L. (Passionflower) extracts elicit GABA currents in hippocampal neurons in vitro, and show anxiogenic and anticonvulsant effects in vivo, varying with extraction method. Phytomedicine : international journal of phytotherapy and phytopharmacology, 17(12), 940–949. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.phymed.2010.03.002

  11. Halson S. L. (2014). Sleep in elite athletes and nutritional interventions to enhance sleep. Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 44 Suppl 1(Suppl 1), S13–S23. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-014-0147-0

  12. Patrick, R.P. and Ames, B.N. (2015), Vitamin D and the omega-3 fatty acids control serotonin synthesis and action, part 2: relevance for ADHD, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and impulsive behavior. The FASEB Journal, 29: 2207-2222. https://doi.org/10.1096/fj.14-268342

  13. Stonehouse W, Gammon CS, Beck KL, Conlon CA, von Hurst PR, Kruger R. Kiwifruit: our daily prescription for health. Can J Physiol Pharmacol. 2013 Jun;91(6):442-7. doi: 10.1139/cjpp-2012-0303. Epub 2013 May 15. PMID: 23746068.

 
 
 

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