5 Food Habits That Impair Sleep Quality

Every habit, whether exercising, eating or sleeping, is correlated to each other and forms a life pattern that can either be beneficial or harmful for us.

Therefore it’s not surprising that you have disrupted sleep because you exercised out of habit even if you’re not feeling well or because you feel refreshed every morning owing to a regular early sleeping regimen.

Our irregular or regular sleep is a by-product of our habits. A good habit helps us get a night of better and quality sleep, while bad habits hamper our sleep quality and further our health.

Food habits

The food habits that hamper our sleep and the solution for it.

Not eating on time

Eating on time is vital to maintaining digestion, energy, and sleep quality. However, many people fall into the habit of eating late due to various reasons like hectic work schedules, modern lifestyle, and eating junk food creates a ruffle between meal timings.

People tend to work hard to earn money; however, it makes them forget to have their meal on time and thus, breakfast becomes lunch and lunch becomes an evening snack, further delaying dinner time to late at night or around midnight. After eating dinner late at night, most people have a habit of directly hitting the mattress rather than giving enough time to the digestion system to complete their tasks. It escalates many gastronomical issues in one’s body that hamper a good night’s sleep.

Solution:

Create a habit of eating meals on time every day and avoid munching snacks in-between two meals and after dinner. Set up alarms to make sure that you don’t forget the meal times while working, traveling or even on holidays.

Excessive eating

Many people have a habit of overeating when it comes to their favourite food, and sometimes there are other reasons for excessive food consumption such as hormonal imbalance, wrong eating schedule, or being hungry for a long time. Excessive eating at any time is unhealthy, and if it becomes a habit, it hinders one’s sleep quality and physical, emotional and social life.

Solution:

Despite your undying love for your food, do not eat a lot at one time. Try to indulge your food in smaller and adequate amounts throughout the day at proper intervals.

Wrong nutrients intake

People love to stick to their menu regularly without considering whether the nutritions they consume are good for them or not. It’s a human tendency to eat what they get quickly and is traditional.

However, every person is different and needs diverse amounts and types of nutrients to keep themselves healthy, energetic and away from diseases for a long time.

Solution:

Though you love your daily meal menu, ensure that it provides enough nutrients. Don’t just go with everyone to eat the same or because of childhood habits. Having proper nutrient intake and making necessary changes to your menu are crucial.

Wrong diet

Many people have a habit of following the newest trends, and while doing that, they fail to consider whether that trend is good for them or not. Also, when it comes to weight loss, many try to follow new trends related to food diets such as keto, vegan, low-carb, Atkins, HCG or the Dukan. Unfortunately, this habit of constantly changing food diets or using the wrong diet sometimes leaves people hungry or on empty stomachs. And everyone knows that sleeping with an empty stomach is not possible or healthy as it has gastronomical issues like acidity or a weakened digestive system.

Solution:

Following trends or having a different food diet is not wrong. However, it is crucial to check whether that food diet is suitable for your health or not. Try to stick to one diet and make sure that you consider a certified dietician before that diet becomes your habit.

Excessive consumption of energy drinks or alcohol

One of the bad habits that impact our life is the consumption of alcohol. Though many people drink alcohol occasionally, many become addicted. Many consider that alcohol helps to improve sleep quality. However, that’s not true. Drinking alcohol before going to sleep may help a person fall asleep quickly, but it hampers rapid eye movement or REM sleep. Also, it makes people tired and lethargic in the morning.

Many people drink excessive caffeine or other energy drinks while working to remain awake and energetic. However, excessive consumption of these drinks significantly impacts sleep-inducing hormones, further reducing sleep quality.

Solution:

Avoiding alcohol, caffeine or energy drinks is the best solution to improve sleep quality. However, if getting out of habit immediately is not possible, then start reducing drink intake slowly and with proper planning, eventually stopping overall consumption.

Sleeping habits

Other habits that can influence your sleep quality apart from bad food habits are sleeping habits. The sleep habits that can develop poor sleep are sleeping late, watching tv or mobile before going to bed, and eating food on the mattress.

Therefore some solutions or habits to implement in day-to-day life to improve sleep quality such as,

• Have a proper sleep-wake routine and follow it every day, even on holidays or weekends
• Use a mattress that is suitable for your body type rather than the one you love. Make sure that you buy a mattress that provides comfort and support from top mattress brands according to your need, such as the Sleep Company’s SmartGRID mattresses.
• Avoid using mobiles and other blue light emitting objects before hitting the mattress.
• Do not use a mattress for any other purpose than sleep.

Bottom Line:

Indulging in the things that we love or find comfortable on a daily basis is not necessarily good and healthy for your sleep and overall health, and It is difficult to change habits. Therefore, ensuring that your habit is good enough to continue before it’s too late becomes vital.

Also, it’s challenging to change habits, but it’s not impossible. All you need is to have determination, patience and proper planning.