Hack your sleep by Karl Mentol - HTML preview

Chapter 5: Sleep-Friendly Food Hacks

We all love food, and luckily, this food hack includes foods that everybody enjoys. This hack allows you to get creative and prepare dishes that are not only delicious but will also help you sleep like a baby!

The following is a list of sleep-friendly foods that have been proven to be highly beneficial for sleep. Incorporate them into your diet, especially at dinnertime and be amazed at how the quality of your sleep improves.

• Kiwi
• Fatty fish (salmon, tuna, halibut, mackerel)
• Cherries
• Poultry
• Avocadoes
• Leafy greens, especially spinach
• Nuts, especially pistachios, almonds, and walnuts
• Cheese
• Chamomile tea
• Starchy foods (potatoes, yams, plantains)
• Peanut butter
• Bananas
• Oatmeal and cereal

These foods contain tryptophan, an amino acid that produces serotonin (a hormone the relieves stress, promotes calmness and uplifts the mood). They also contain the all-important melatonin. Eating these foods regularly promotes what scientists call "sleep hygiene". Sleep hygiene means the food habits that we develop, especially before bedtime, to promote sleep.

Best of all, the foods above are not only well-liked by most people but can be combined in salads, desserts, casseroles or eaten on their own on a daily basis. Make it a habit to eat at least one or two of them at every meal, but especially dinnertime. A handful of nuts, a small bowl of oatmeal or a banana make great before-bedtime snacks too.

I think you would agree that practicing food hygiene is one hack that is easy and enjoyable. So, get creative! Play around with sleep-friendly foods and see which ones make the best sleep hacks for your body.

Don't sabotage your sleep by indulging in the following foods:

• Coffee, soda and energy drinks, which are all high in caffeine (even non-cola soda contains caffeine)
• Chocolate
• Spicy foods and chili
• Peppermint
• Alcohol (alcohol may make you drowsy for a while but in fact, it is a big sleep disrupter. Alcoholic beverages will make it difficult for your brain to enter into the deep sleep cycle necessary for quality sleep)
• High-fat foods
• Salty foods.
• Foods high in water content such as watermelon and cantaloupe. You want to avoid disrupting your sleep with frequent trips to the bathroom!

This is not to say that you must cut these foods out of your diet permanently. Personally, I wouldn't be able to function without my morning cup of coffee. Just try to limit them to daytime hours in order to prep your body for a good night's sleep.

If you must have that hamburger or bag of chips, have it for lunch. Make it a rule to abstain from sleep-disrupting foods from noon onwards.