Five (5) Foods That Sabotage Your Sleep

If you’re having trouble sleeping, what about a midnight snack? Think twice—here are five foods that can prevent you from getting a good night’s rest:

Preserved and Smoked Meats
Slap your hand away when it reaches to make a ham sandwich as an evening snack. Ham, bacon, sausages, and smoked meats contain high levels of the amino acid tyramine, which triggers the brain to release norepinephrine, a brain stimulant that makes us feel alert and wired.

Chocolate
Love an evening cup of cocoa? That sundae in front of the TV? Be careful of chocolate in all its disguises. Many people are increasingly sensitive to caffeine as they get older, and even the little chocolate chunks in chocolate chip ice cream could zap you just enough to prevent ZZZZs. Chocolate also contains tyrosine, a stimulating amino acid.

Energy Drinks
Red Bull and other energy drinks are high in caffeine as well as the amino acid taurine, which boosts alertness and adrenaline. Recent studies have shown that even if you drink energy drinks early in the day, the combined high dosage of taurine and caffeine can make it hard to sleep, or to sleep well, later on.

Tomato Sauce, Chili, Pizza, and Spicy Foods
Digestive disturbances are a common source of sleep problems, but many people fail to make the connection. Acidic and spicy foods can cause reflux, heartburn, and other symptoms that interrupt sleep.

The Nightcap
A drink or two may make you feel more relaxed after dinner, but it comes back to haunt you—literally—a few hours later, by preventing you from achieving deep sleep. And because alcohol both dehydrates you and makes you have to pee, it wakes you up, too. Wine is high in the stimulant tyrosine as well.

Cheers!

Very interesting tidbits, Stayhealthy.

I really enjoy your informative posts. I of course knew about caffeine’s link to poor sleep but didn’t realize amino acids found in the other foods you listed could actually rob people of a good night’s sleep, too. I wonder if people who eat a low carb diet that encourages eating sausage and such experience more energy because of this. More energy is good. Not enough sleep is bad!

Thanks again for sharing.

Donna

Great post! I know that for me—in addition to anything with caffeine—I’ll have trouble sleeping if I eat pizza close to bedtime. For some reason, pizza before bed just gives me horrible heartburn that I can’t sleep through. I’ll often sometimes even get nauseous as a result and end up vomiting in the middle of the night. Definately not a good idea on those nights I need sleep!

Hi Tanya, welcome to the diet forum.  It is nice to have you here.  My niece must have the same stomach that you do.  She gets sick off of foods like pizza and real greasy foods.  I feel so bad for her.  She is 12 and has such a sensitive stomach.

I actually did too, but in my case it is because I am lactose intollerant.  It took me forever to realize why my stomach was so sensitive.  Finally, I am living without stomach problems.  I hope that pizza is the only food that upsets your stomach.  At least you know what to avoid.  I look forward to reading your other posts.