Five Foods That Might Sabotage Your Sleep

Late-night snacking may be tempting, but if a rumbling stomach is keeping you awake at night, eating the wrong foods might sabotage your sleep even more!

Eating certain foods at night can not only make it harder to fall asleep, but impact the quality of your sleep too. So even if you aren’t looking for a midnight snack, what you ate before bed could be the cause of your sleepless nights!

Foods that might be sabotaging your sleep

If you're still hungry after dinner (or even after you go to bed), then try reaching for a healthy late-night snack before any of these five foods that can sabotage the quality of your sleep.

Coffee

This probably isn’t a surprise to most of you, but just in case you needed a reminder, here it is. The caffeine in coffee is a central nervous system stimulant, which blocks the chemicals that make you feel sleepy and instead encourages the production of adrenaline.

Not only will having coffee leave you feeling wide awake before bed but it may impact the quality of your sleep. This can also be said for pre-workout supplements that contain lots of caffeine. So if you like to workout late at night, try to skip these in favour of a good night's sleep.

Foods that are high in fat

I know that late night cravings (or post dinner cravings) sometimes involve eating all the leftover pizza or going for a late night drive-through run, however it isn’t just the typical culprits you should be wary of! Even things such as ice cream, crackers, potato chips and cookies can be full of fat, which results in your stomach working harder to digest all that food. You may feel sick when you are trying to get to sleep and also feel super sluggish in the morning!

Spicy food

When you sleep, digestion slows down. It usually takes your body extra effort to digest spicy food, so if you eat it right before bed you may have a hard time falling asleep. Spicy food can also stimulate your senses, so much like caffeine it can keep you awake when all you want to do is sleep!

Canned soup

This may be a popular choice for a quick, late night dinner when you are in a hurry and super hungry - but be wary! Many canned soups, even those that market themselves as healthy options tend to be full of sodium and artificial ingredients. Ingesting all that salt can make it super hard to fall asleep, and chances are you will wake up dehydrated and feeling a bit sluggish.

Chocolate - even dark chocolate

Regardless of whether you are snacking on milk or dark chocolate, you should still avoid this right before bed! Both varieties contain caffeine which acts as a stimulant for your central nervous system. It also contains other stimulants such as theobromine, which is known for making your heart race a little. On top of this milk chocolate is also loaded with sugar and fat, which again may leave you feeling sluggish in the morning.

If you are feeling peckish at night, try to stick to healthier snacks such as cut-up vegetable sticks, small pieces of fruit and even air-popped popcorn!