;Resize=(1200,627)&impolicy=perceptual&quality=mediumHigh&hash=15773ad359771ba2ea8ea470badff7fd369820d0ffa1b051844157b74c3386b9 "Trouble falling asleep? It can be due to six foods")
There are nights when you just can’t fall asleep or stay asleep. It’s not always because of too much caffeine or too much time in front of screens. FOCUS online says which foods affect your sleep quality.
Every fifth German (20 percent) in Germany suffers from sleep problems. Hardly anyone can claim to fall asleep every night without any problems, sleep through the night and start the day fresh and relaxed in the morning.
Poor sleep – that could be the cause
There are many different factors that can affect sleep. Anyone who already avoids screens and caffeinated drinks in the evening should also pay attention to their diet in the evening.
It can also be the cause of insomnia. Even supposedly innocent foods that are healthy and light can disrupt sleep.
Salad and raw vegetables in the evening? Better not!
A fresh salad for dinner isn’t bad for your body, is it? Although tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers and the like are healthy, they are also difficult to digest.
The high fiber content causes gas to build up in the intestines, which can lead to bloating and cramps. Restorative sleep is then out of the question.
Avoid spicy food in the evening
Some love spicy food, others hate it. Before going to bed, however, you should avoid the sharpness.
Researchers from Australia found that spicy food and sleep disorders are linked. In one experiment, they found that study participants who ate Tabasco or mustard before bed were unable to fall asleep or had poor sleep due to nightmares compared to the test group.
The explanation for this is the substance capsaicin, which is contained in chili, for example. This can change the body temperature, which in turn influences the quality of sleep. So if you like to eat spicy dishes, you should rather eat them at lunchtime.
Ginger – healthy, but not at all good for sleep
Ginger is healthy and indispensable in Asian cuisine. People who want to lose weight like to use the tuber because the pungent substances in ginger stimulate the metabolism. But that’s exactly what can be fatal in the evening. A stimulated metabolism prevents falling asleep.
Garlic – bloats the stomach
Garlic makes you sleep less well. The leek plant puffs up quite a bit. It’s not very good to sleep with a bloated stomach. In addition, the tuber causes severe thirst. If you keep reaching for a glass of water, you also have to reckon with a less restful night.
Chocolate – not a good evening snack
Yes, chocolate is an absolute feel-good snack, but unfortunately not ideal if you want to have a good night’s sleep afterwards. This is because the cocoa bean contains theobromine. This substance has structures similar to caffeine and has a stimulating effect.
Dark chocolate even has a higher proportion of theobromine and is even less suitable as an evening snack.
Licorice keeps you awake for a long time
You should also not eat liquorice in the evening. The sweetroot can increase blood pressure, which is not very helpful when falling asleep.
Liquorice contains glycyrrhizin, a natural sweetener that affects the body’s salt-water balance, thereby raising blood pressure. If you eat too much liquorice at once, you can even get cardiac arrhythmia as a consequence of high blood pressure from liquorice.