How To Beat Insomnia: 3 Food Tips to Help You Sleep Better

Relaxation techniques, like deep breathing, getting into a “bedtime routine” of winding down, even journaling those stressful thoughts that keep your mind jumping. Here’s what some  of EatingWell’s nutrition advisors what food they use (or avoid) to help them get a good night’s sleep.

Tip 1. Limit Alcohol. Even though alcohol can make you drowsy and help you fall asleep, too much of it can make you wake up at night. Rachel Johnson, Ph.D., M.P.H, R.D., EatingWell advisor and professor of nutrition and food sciences at the University of Vermont, reported that alcohol may suppress the REM (rapid eye movement), a sleep state that’s critical to a good night’s sleep.

Tip 2. Curb Caffeine. Limit it to the morning only (and if you still are having trouble sleeping, try cutting it out altogether). Caffeine may also impair sleep more as you get older, according to research in Sleep Medicine. Remember that while coffee, tea and soda are big sources of caffeine, chocolate also delivers caffeine.

Tip 3. Eat a Bedtime Snack. A light bedtime snack can help make you sleepy, primarily because hunger is a known sleep robber. As Krieger suggests, carbohydrates make a good bedtime snack, because they may promote serotonin production, which can make you drowsy.

Source:  www.eatingwell.com