An age old fact tells us that having coffee or munching on desserts beyond 3PM will keep you up all night. But the truth is, there are more foods that can pump you up way beyond your usual sleeping hours - even the ones that are regarded as nutritious and healthy!
Huffington Post lists down the top 6 food that you should avoid before bedtime as it disrupts your sleep:
1. Cruciferous vegetables
In spite of being packed with phytochemicals and minerals that are proven to help prevent cancer, these vitamin-packed veggies also contains insoluble fiber, "If you eat a lot of insoluble fiber close to bedtime, your body will still be working on digesting it while you're trying to drift off, which can prevent you from getting optimal sleep," says Elissa Goodman, a certified holistic nutritionist in Los Angeles.
2. Tomato sauce
While tomato is rich with vitamin C, iron and lycopene and has been proven to reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer - it is also highly acidic and can lead to heartburn during the night. It can also lead to indigestion says dietitian Alissa Rumsey, RD, a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
3. Dark chocolate
Dark chocolates contains caffeine as much as a quarter of amount of caffeine found in a cup of coffee. Rumsey also mentions that the darker the chocolate, the more amount of caffeine it has."Dark chocolate also contains tyrosine, an amino acid that can be very stimulating."
4. Charcuterie
Snacking on these favorite cocktail platter at night can keep you up longer than you expect, "Aged cheeses and preserved and smoked meats contain tyramine, an amino acid that triggers the release of norepinephrine, a stimulant that makes us feel more alert," Rumsey says.
5. Red meat
Beth Warren, RD, author of Living Real Life with Real Food says that having lean meat for dinner usually takes a while to digest keeping your body awake through the body process. She also said that high-protein diets have been linked to sleep apnea, which is explained as "a health condition that prompts you to stop breathing for bouts of time throughout the night, which can reduce the quality of your sleep."
6. Spicy foods
"Spicy foods can lead to heartburn," says Natalie Stephens, RD, a dietitian at The Ohio State Wexner Medical Center. It can also raise the core body temperature making it uncomfortable to get the sleep for the night.
