Friday, May 27, 2011

Foods to eat in the evenings to sleep better at night

I searched far and wide for a reasonable list of foods to eat in the evenings up to an hour before going to bed. Some recommendations struck me as downright crazy - a slice of angel food cake - ple-e-ase! No, no, no. Here is the list compiled from the medical sites:
  • Foods rich in Tryptophan:
    dairy (milk, yogurt, cheese), soy milk, oats, tofu, hazel nuts, bananas, honey. The turkey and chicken are no longer recommended due to the fact they are hard to digest and will keep you awake.
  • Complex carbohydrates -
    apparently in combination with Tryptophan rich foods they help raise the level of Tryptophan in the blood - for example: crackers and cheese or cereal with milk, half a bagel with cream cheese, or some oatmeal with honey, but make sure that those carbs are healthy - whole grain, no preservatives. All those sites recommending cookies and milk or a slice of pie with ice cream are way off - sugar is not healthy or sleep inducing.
  • Absolutely nothing greasy or fat or fried!
  • If you eat dinners relatively late, like 7pm, stick to those okay to eat in the evening foods, make sure your dinners aren't greasy, fat or spicy, and don't contain any MSG (they shouldn't anyway) or sugar, and don't pig out!

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