Your World Cup snacks may be wrecking your sleep
With World Cup games often kicking off at unusual hours and fans staying awake late or waking up early to watch, food choices before bed can make a bigger difference than many realise. Tarun Kumar, Co-Founder and Superintendent Pharmacist of Cured Pharmacy, revealed the foods you should avoid if you want to enjoy a good night’s sleep.
Pizza could be RUINING your sleep because of one ingredient
A World Cup late-night staple for many fans, pizza might be making it harder to fall asleep after the final whistle because of the tomato sauce. Despite having numerous health benefits, tomatoes could be the cause of your bad night’s sleep. If eaten throughout the day for breakfast, lunch or dinner, tomatoes are a great source of vitamin C and potassium, but if consumed too close to bedtime they can cause havoc on your sleeping schedule. Due to their high acidity, tomatoes can trigger indigestion, heartburn, and acid reflux, wrecking your sleep and keeping you awake for hours. If you’re settling in for a late kick-off, opting for lighter snacks later in the evening may help you wind down more easily afterwards.
Crisps are dehydrating your body overnight
It may be easy to quickly grab a packet of crisps for a late-night snack, but their salt volume could be dehydrating your body. Foods high in salt like crisps and salted nuts are some of the worst things to eat for a good night’s sleep. It is recommended to avoid salty foods for at least two to three hours before bed to ensure you don’t experience disrupted sleep.
Your ultimate convenience food is damaging your sleep quality
An ultimate convenience food for many people across the UK, instant noodles might just be the reason you aren’t getting a healthy night’s rest. Like all ultra-processed food, instant noodles are linked to poorer sleep quality, more sleep disturbances, shorter sleep duration, and increased time taken to fall asleep. While instant noodles can provide iron, B vitamins and manganese, they lack key nutrients, and when consumed more often, can have a damaging effect on your sleep schedule.
Chicken might be slowing your body’s sleep schedule
Despite containing tryptophan, an essential amino acid which promotes a healthier sleep schedule, chicken may not be the best choice too close to your bedtime. In fact, experts say that high-protein foods like chicken and meat may be keeping you awake at night, as our bodies use more energy and take longer to break them down. Also high in protein, salami and pepperoni could be keeping your brain stimulated when you want to wind down, due to tyramine, which triggers the release of norepinephrine.
Your evening toast is keeping you wide awake
As tempting as a slice of toast can be to unwind in the evening, experts have revealed this may be keeping your body more alert and hindering your sleep. Rife with refined carbohydrates, white bread is known as a high glycemic index food, meaning your blood sugar levels spike right after consuming it. As well as giving you a rush of energy, it also disrupts your sleep pattern as your blood sugar crashes during the night. If you don’t want to get rid of your evening toast altogether, wheat bread is an excellent substitution due to its high levels of fibre and complex carbohydrates.
