Foods to avoid if you have trouble sleeping

For me, the food I need to avoid if I want to sleep is sugar. Also caffeine near bedtime.

But in her article, “More Foods Hinder Than Help Sleep,” Washington Post reporter Jennifer LaRue Huget found that fat was the main nutrient associated with getting less sleep.

Other culprits inhibiting sleep are caffeine, spicy food, and alcohol.

Huget, who set out to find foods that help people sleep, didn’t find much definitive information.

The benefits of milk, herbal tea, and other comforting remedies help by aiding relaxation not by making you sleepy.

Eating or drinking tryptophan – an amino acid found in meat, poultry, dairy foods, bananas, and chocolate – also doesn’t help you sleep, a researcher told Huget. Certain old-fashioned cures for sleeplessness were based on the consumption of foods with tryptophan.

See Huget’s article for details.

Copyright 2010, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Comments

[Dana @ Rodale.com]

I like this list... foods to avoid. Have you contemplated foods to go to?

Check our article on sleep inducing foods & drinks here: http://www.rodale.com/natural-sleep-aids

[Jeffrey Hollister]

Milk is definitely a great remedy for sleeplessness. At least, for me. I've been having troubles with my sleep before and read different articles about it. It's best mixed with tea. I stick to it for a year and half while staying in a dorm with a friend in Greenville, SC. Even my dentist noticed the benefit.