Everyone has trouble falling asleep sometimes, and up to 15 percent of the population has chronic insomnia.
But what you eat — especially what you have for dinner and as a late-night snack — can help you catch the Zs you need. But it’s not as simple as drinking a warm glass of milk, which the Mayo clinic says has no evidence of helping you drift off.
But the experts there do think that having a small snack a few hours before bed time can help you get to sleep and make it through the night. Doctors there suggest a small bowl of oatmeal or cereal, or yogurt with granola.
The Mayo Clinic says that a large meal or spicy foods too close to bed time can make it too uncomfortable to get too sleep.
More than anything, it says to stop drinking caffeine eight hours before you plan to go to sleep.
HealthAssist.net says that one thing you should look for in an evening snack is food with tryptophan.
The site says that amino acid helps calm the brain, and high-carb foods help clear other acids that compete with tryptophan. Good foods, according to the site, include dairy products such as cottage cheese, cheese and milk.
It also suggests, among many others, almonds, bananas, whole grains, beans, otalmeal, hazel nuts, avocado and eggs.
And when you’re planning your dinner with an eye toward getting to bed on time later, AskDrSears.com says you need meals that are high in carbs and low in protein. Those help you relax through the evening and set you up for slumber.
Some balanced meals include pasta with parmesan cheese, scrambled eggs with cheese, tofu stirfy, hummus with whole-wheat pita.
But if you don’t plan ahead, another report gives you a reason to give the old standby — warm milk — a try, despite what the Mayo Clinic says.
WCCO-TV reported that since the milk is a dairy product with high tryptophan, it could encourage melatonin and serotonin in your brain, helping you travel to the land of Nod.
