As the saying goes, "medicine is not as good as food supplements, food supplements are not as good as sleep supplements", good sleep can relieve fatigue, enhance brain power, enhance resistance... But many people face endless suffering at night:
◎ Lying on the bed, turning off the lights, closing your eyes, time passes minute by minute, the moon is asleep, you are still awake;
◎ Wake up frequently at night, dream one after another, and the next day as tired as staying up late;
◎ It's not yet light, but you open your eyes early and wait for the sunrise with black circles...
If you also have the above conditions, it is likely that it is a sleep disorder. Statistics from the Chinese Sleep Research Society show that more than 300 million Chinese have sleep disorders in 2021. In addition to age, sleep environment, mental stress, etc., poor sleep may be closely related to diet.
First, these eating habits
You are being deprived of sleep
People often say "eat well, sleep well", but eating incorrectly will also affect sleep! Let's see if you have any of the following eating habits that affect your sleep?
1, coffee, strong tea do not leave the hand
Coffee and tea are both health drinks, and reasonable drinking has certain benefits for preventing cardiovascular disease and prolonging life.
But if you drink too much coffee or brew too much tea, you will consume too much caffeine, and caffeine takes 8 hours to be completely excreted from the body, and when it continues to stimulate the nervous system, it can easily lead to insomnia at night.
It is recommended that healthy adults consume no more than 210 to 400 mg of caffeine per day (about 1 to 2 cups of 355ml American coffee), especially for people who are sensitive to caffeine, and it is not recommended to drink coffee and strong tea in the afternoon or evening.
In addition, the milk tea that many people love to drink also contains a certain amount of caffeine, and it is recommended to control the intake.
2, dinner is too late or too full
On the one hand, eating dinner too late or too full, especially when more greasy, high-protein foods are ingested, the food will stay in the stomach for a long time, at this time, gastrointestinal digestion will stimulate the brain excitement, resulting in difficulty sleeping.
On the other hand, the gastrointestinal burden is large, and it is easy to cause gastroesophageal reflux, causing heartburn, cough, etc., and it is also easy to sleep well.
3, like to have a drink before going to bed
Many people think that drinking before going to bed can help sleep, but although alcohol can help fall asleep, it will make the brain in an abnormally active state, resulting in frequent awakenings; Moreover, alcohol will relax the muscles supporting the jaw, which may cause the respiratory tract to be obstructed, and there will be phenomena such as poor breathing and snoring, which will reduce the quality of sleep.
4. Drink too much water before going to bed
Busy with work during the day, often neglect to drink water, so many people will drink a little more at night to meet the amount of water they drink throughout the day. But this is easy to increase the number of nights up at night, affecting sleep.
If the heart and kidney function is not good, drinking a lot of water at night will also cause water to accumulate in the body, further affecting the heart and kidney function.
Daily hydration is appropriate to a small number of times, you can drink about 100ml before going to bed, which can reduce the dryness of the mouth and respiratory tract, reduce the viscosity of the blood, and is not easy to affect sleep.
Melatonin is known as a "sleeping artifact"
But these nutrients may be more useful than melatonin
When sleeping well, many people hope for melatonin, which can shorten the time to fall asleep, reduce the chance of waking up at night, and deepen sleep. However, long-term intake of exogenous melatonin or excessive intake will inhibit the normal secretion function of the human body. Therefore, long-term use of melatonin is not recommended.
A healthy diet may be more effective than eating melatonin, which has been shown to shorten sleep time by an average of 4 minutes[1]; A healthy diet can be shortened by 12 minutes and the overall quality of sleep is better [2].
Specifically, it is necessary to balance nutrition, especially the following nutrients should not be missed
1. L-Tryptophan: improve mood and promote sleep
L-Tryptophan can be converted into two substances in the body that aid sleep: serotonin (serotonin) and melatonin. The former can promote sleep by regulating emotions and shorten the time to fall asleep; The latter helps regulate sleep cycles and prolong deep sleep duration.
L-Tryptophan is an essential amino acid that can only be obtained from food, meat, fish, eggs, dairy products, legumes, seeds (pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, etc.) are rich sources of tryptophan, which can be appropriately increased daily.
2, B vitamins: promote tryptophan conversion
Vitamin B6, folic acid (vitamin B9), vitamin B12 and other B vitamins can promote the conversion of tryptophan to serotonin, thereby improving sleep.
In one study, participants were given 2 kiwis an hour before bedtime for 4 weeks, and their sleep quality improved [3]. Researchers analyzed that the improvement in folic acid nutrition may be one of the reasons.
Yeast, animal liver, beans, peanuts, etc. are rich in vitamin B6; Fresh leafy green vegetables, bananas, oranges, etc. are rich in folic acid; Animal foods and fermented soy products are rich in vitamin B12, and daily consumption can be appropriately increased.
3, omega-3 fatty acids: increase melatonin synthesis
Melatonin-secreting pineal glands contain more DHA (an omega-3 fatty acid), and the nutritional status of omega-3 fatty acids affects the synthesis of melatonin.
In a study that lasted 6 months, people who ate salmon 3 times a week had better overall sleep quality than people who ate meat 3 times a week. The researchers analyzed that this may be related to the salmon's abundance of omega-3 fatty acids, which may improve sleep quality by reducing inflammation.
4, zinc, magnesium: relax nerves to help sleep
◎Zinc can improve the metabolism of brain nerve cells and help promote sleep.
It is recommended to consume 12 to 15 mg of zinc per day, shellfish (especially oysters), red meat, mushrooms are rich in zinc, eight or nine mushrooms can meet the daily needs.
◎ Magnesium can relieve muscle tension, and increase the body's γ-aminobutyric acid, relieve nerve tension, let people in a more relaxed state, more conducive to falling asleep.
It is recommended to consume 330mg of magnesium per day, and coarse grains, seaweed, shrimp skin, almonds, etc. are rich in magnesium.
Third, a tea and a porridge to help you sleep well
Chinese medicine believes that insomnia may also be a problem inside the body, of which 2 types are particularly common.
◎Spleen and stomach stagnation: manifested as sticky mouth, lack of food, abdominal distention and abdominal pain, vomiting and belching, stool deformation, etc.;
◎Heart and kidney incompatibility: manifested as five upset fever, hot flashes and cheek redness, dry night sweats, upset, restless heart palpitations, dizziness and tinnitus, etc.
In this regard, Coco recommends a tea and a porridge to help you sleep until dawn
1, a tea: sour jujube kernel tea
Insomnia people who do not have heart and kidneys can use sour jujube kernels to regulate. It is known as the "Oriental Sleeping Fruit", Chinese medicine believes that it tastes sweet and flat, into the heart, liver meridian, has the effect of nourishing the heart and calming the nerves, nourishing the heart and liver, sweating and so on, and has a certain alleviating effect on insomnia and dreams, upset and irritability, difficulty falling asleep, and easy to wake up.
It can be used daily with guiyuan, red dates and lilies to calm the spirit and help sleep better.
【Sour jujube kernel sleep tea】
【Directions】 Take 5 cinnamon balls, 5 red dates, 10g lilies, 6g sour jujube kernels and add water to boil, let cool slightly and add honey to taste.
【Effect】Guiyuan into the heart, spleen, stomach three meridians, can benefit qi and blood, tonify the heart and spleen, healthy spleen and stomach; Red jujube can nourish blood and calm the spirit, replenish the spleen and vitality; Lily can calm the mind and calm the mind and help sleep.
【Note】 It is recommended to drink two cups daily for long-term drinking. Not a substitute for medication, consult a physician before consuming.
2. A porridge: Divine Comedy porridge to help sleep
"Stomach disharmony, then lying uneasy", for the spleen and stomach stagnation of insomnia people, Shi Xiaomo, the son of Shi Jinmo, the son of the four famous doctors in Beijing, recommends using the Divine Comedy to make a bowl of delicious porridge to help sleep.
【Divine Comedy Porridge】
【Ingredients】Divine Comedy 5 to 10g, millet to taste.
【Method】 Put the Divine Comedy into water and soak it at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes, then heat and cook for 15 minutes, fish out the residue, and cook the porridge with medicinal juice.
【Efficacy】The Divine Comedy has the effect of strengthening the spleen and stomach and strengthening the motility of the stomach; Millet is rich in tryptophan, which helps with sleep. The two are combined with food consumption to help sleep, but people with too weak spleen and stomach are not suitable.