It is difficult for older people to get a good night's sleep, and they face endless suffering at night:
(1) Lie in bed, turn off the light, close your eyes, time passes minute by minute, the moon is asleep, you are still awake;
(2) Waking up frequently at night, dreaming one after another, and being tired like staying up late the next day;
(3) It was not yet dawn, but you opened your eyes early, waiting for the sunrise with dark circles...
Many people are deeply troubled and desperate to get rid of the pain of insomnia, so they have tried various methods for this. But the impact of diet on sleep is often overlooked.
Recently, a Harvard University study found evidence for high-protein foods to "help sleep".
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Harvard University reveals the mechanism of high-protein diets to aid sleep
Recently, Harvard Medical School neurologist Dragana Rogulja published a study in the top journal "Cell", revealing how "sleep aids" improve sleep -
A high-protein diet can promote the secretion of a neuropeptide in the intestines, which transmits signals to the brain, reduces the responsiveness to external information during sleep, regulates sleep arousal, and promotes deep sleep.
Researchers say this is a good help for people who have poor sleep quality and wake up easily at night.
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What are the "secrets" of high-protein diets to help sleep
Protein is not only one of the six essential nutrients in the human body, it is also closely related to sleep quality.
1L-tryptophan: improves mood and promotes sleep
L-tryptophan can be converted into two substances that help sleep in the body: serotonin (serotonin) and melatonin.
The former can promote sleep and shorten the time to fall asleep by regulating emotions; The latter helps regulate sleep cycles and prolong deep sleep.
Suggestion: Daily can appropriately increase the consumption of fish, eggs, dairy products, beans, seeds (pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame, etc.).
2 Calcium: Helps regulate the balance of excitation and inhibition
Calcium is not only an essential element for bone growth, but also strengthens the inhibitory process in the cerebral cortex and helps regulate the balance of excitation and inhibition.
Calcium deficiency in the human body will affect the normal metabolism of brain neurons, which can easily lead to the continuous excitation of the cerebral cortex, and there may be insufficient or missing deep sleep.
Suggestion: Daily can appropriately increase the consumption of soy products, milk and its products, green leafy vegetables.
3B 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.
Suggestion:
(1) Vitamin B6 supplementation can properly eat yeast, animal liver, beans, peanuts, etc.;
(2) Supplementation of folic acid can properly eat fresh green leafy vegetables, bananas, oranges, etc.;
(3) Vitamin B12 supplementation can properly eat animal foods and fermented soy products.
Since a high-protein diet can help sleep, what are the bad eating habits in daily life that are easy to "steal" our sleep?
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5 types of habits that are easy to "steal" sleep
1. Coffee, strong tea do not leave your hand
Coffee and strong tea contain a lot of caffeine, which inhibits the adenosine neurotransmitter in the brain, one of the homeostasis factors that regulate sleep.
That is to say, excessive caffeine intake will make the nervous system excited, and the brain will be more likely to be awake, making it difficult to sleep.
Note: In addition to tea, coffee, such as chocolate, refreshing drinks, milk tea, hot cocoa, etc. may contain a lot of caffeine, it is recommended not to consume too much after 2 pm, especially for people who are sensitive to caffeine.
2. Drink too much water before going to bed
Busy with work during the day, they often neglect to drink water, so many people will drink a little more at night to meet the water intake throughout the day. But this tends to increase the number of nights at night and affect sleep.
If the heart and kidney function is not good, drinking a lot of water at night will also cause water accumulation in the body, further affecting the heart and kidney function.
Suggestion: Daily hydration should be a small number of times, you can drink about 100ml before going to bed, which can not only reduce oral and respiratory dryness, reduce blood viscosity, but also not easy to affect sleep.
3. Eat too late or too full for dinner
On the one hand, dinner is too late or too full, especially when more greasy, high-protein food is ingested, the food will stay in the stomach for a long time, at this time, gastrointestinal digestion will stimulate the brain to excited, 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 easy to sleep poorly.
4. I like to have a drink before going to bed
Many people like to have a drink before going to bed, and feel that after drinking, the brain is groggy and can sleep better. Not really.
Alcohol can help you fall asleep, but at the cost of not lasting well — alcohol keeps the brain in an abnormally active state, easily leading to waking up several times a night with short or almost no deep sleep.
Moreover, alcohol will relax the muscles supporting the jaw, which may lead to obstruction of the respiratory tract, poor breathing, snoring, etc., but reduce the quality of sleep. Even though I slept for a long time, when I woke up the next day, my mental condition was terrible.
5. Too many high-fat, high-sugar foods
Eating too much at night, or eating a lot of high-fat, high-sugar foods, will increase the work burden of the gastrointestinal, liver, gallbladder and pancreas, stimulate the nerve center, so that the intestines are always in a working state, and then affect the quality of sleep.
According to an observational study by the University of Adelaide, excluding acquired factors such as chronic diseases, it was found that 41% of people who were accustomed to a high-fat diet had daytime sleepiness, 47% had low sleep quality at night, and 54% had mild to moderate sleep apnea.
Recommendation: Schedule the most hearty meal for breakfast or lunch, eat less and lighter dinner, and preferably choose low-fat, high-protein foods such as fish, chicken or lean meat.
(I'm a big doctor)