One-third of a person's life is spent in sleep, and sleep is also an important way for us to maintain good health.
Some people say, "Sleeping well will prolong life, but sleeping poorly will reduce life." "Is that really the case?
01
Poor sleep will "break life"?
Yes!
Recently, a team of researchers from the University of Sydney published new findings in the journal BMC Medicine, and they found:
Women and men who do not sleep well have reduced life expectancy without cardiovascular disease (CVD) by 1.80 and 2.31 years, respectively;
The most influential type of poor sleep was sleep-related breathing disorders, which reduced CDV-free life expectancy by 6.73 years for men and 7.32 years for women!
Image credit: BMC Medicine
In a word: poor sleep can really "break life"!
In our lives, many factors affect sleep, such as stress levels, bedtime behavior, diet, etc.
Studies have shown that a healthy diet can reduce the time to fall asleep by an average of 12 minutes and improve overall sleep quality.
So eat enough nutrition to get a good night's sleep!
02
These 5 can help you fall asleep
Be sure to eat plenty of nutrients
1. L-tryptophan
Tryptophan is an essential amino acid that needs to be obtained from food. Once in the body, it is converted into two chemicals associated with sleep:
- Serotonin (also known as serotonin), also known as the "happy hormone", is a neurotransmitter in the brain that plays an important role in appetite, sleep, and emotional control.
- Melatonin, which helps regulate sleep cycles.
Foods that contain a lot of tryptophan include: meat and fish, eggs (protein), dairy products, legumes, seeds, etc.
2. Natural melatonin
That is, we can get melatonin directly from food.
Many foods — staple foods, vegetables, fruits, and various meats contain melatonin, such as tart cherries.
Several studies have found that drinking tart cherry juice or tart cherry supplements is good for sleep.
In one study, participants who drank two glasses of 240ml of tart cherry juice a day for 13 days experienced significant improvements in sleep quality: falling asleep faster and sleeping for an average of 84 minutes longer.
In addition to tart cherries (melatonin content 13.46ng/g), strawberries also contain more melatonin, with an average content of 11.26ng/g; Among vegetables, peppers and tomatoes have relatively high melatonin content; colored rice, barley, oat cereals; nuts such as pistachios; Foods such as legumes (especially after germination) contain more melatonin.
3. B vitamins
Various nutrients in the body need a lot of helpers in the process of converting them into melatonin.
Vitamin B6, folic acid (vitamin B9), vitamin B12 and other B vitamins are such a group of capable generals, which can promote the synthesis of more melatonin to improve sleep quality.
Foods rich in B vitamins include protein foods such as meat and eggs and whole grain products.
4. Magnesium
Magnesium not only helps the brain relieve stress and is also involved in maintaining circadian rhythms.
Studies have shown that magnesium supplementation can improve sleep quality, although the effect is not as obvious as melatonin, but for people with magnesium deficiency, it still has a very good effect.
Dark green leafy vegetables, pumpkin seeds, sesame, beans, lentils, and certain fish are rich in magnesium.
5. Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids
Melatonin-secreting organs need a high proportion of polyunsaturated fatty acids, especially DHA, as an omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid, directly affect the synthesis of melatonin, if the nutrition is enough, sleep is good, nutrition is not enough, the overall sleep quality plummets.
Fish contains more unsaturated fatty acids, especially omega-3 series of polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are very beneficial to human health.
So, if you have trouble sleeping, you may wish to try these 5 nutrients.
In 2023
China Women's Daily
Source/Huaxi Doctor Photo/Editor-in-Charge/Su Lin/Yifan Producer/Zhifei