AGING & CARING: 5 foods that sabotage your sleep
BY MELANIE HAIKEN OF CARING.COM
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:
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
5 strategies that help solve sleep problems
10 biggest sleep problems: How to fix them
No. 1 reason you’re so tired: Not what you think
- Atlanta, you’re not alone.
- Atlanta, feel better. Visit ajc.com/health
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
22 comments Add your comment
dawgdan
September 16th, 2009
2:50 pm
I’m gonna throw the BS flag on #1. After a pile of pulled pork, ribs, or brisket, or any other smoked meat, I am totally done for the day. I sleep like a baby with a tummy full of Similac. I try not to do it regularly for the heart attack factor, but a large quantity of smoked meat is a fantastic sleep aid for me.
lottiegottie
September 16th, 2009
3:02 pm
Yeah, #4, what tha spank are they talking about? If I eat a nice juicy pepperoni pie for dinner Im sleeping like a corpse!
Independent Thinker
September 16th, 2009
3:11 pm
I believe it must depend on the individual. I can eat/drink all of the above except energy drinks, and sleep for hours without waking. Usually, I have both feet off the floor before I fall asleep and don’t wake up until the morning. And I am a 58 year old male!
reservoirDAWG
September 16th, 2009
3:33 pm
I’ve never seen a “journalist” use the word pee before.
Ryan
September 16th, 2009
4:00 pm
I find it hard to believe Energy Drinks would make it hard to sleep. I always put down a couple Red Bulls before gong to bed.
Bobby
September 16th, 2009
4:09 pm
After a couple of six packs I don’t seem to have any trouble sleeping!!
BJ
September 16th, 2009
8:11 pm
I inject all of the above using an IV and I have no trouble sleeping, and I’m a 78 year old Male!!
Geez
chelle
September 17th, 2009
8:53 am
“I’ve never seen a “journalist” use the word pee before.”
lolol, what is this world coming too?!
chelle
September 17th, 2009
8:55 am
I agree about the wine cause it sure kept me up long enough to finish homework for my son who was just to tired to finish it!
BiteMe
September 17th, 2009
10:48 am
Ryan – Good one!
Cedric
September 17th, 2009
11:39 am
typing the word urinate would have been better than typing pee. why use the word pee?
Jim
September 17th, 2009
12:32 pm
DAWG-look at the link by the name-not a staff writer. In fact, I’m wondering if Caring.com paid to get this on the site. If so, the AJC should mark it as such. Content like this (from a provider with a service to offer) should always raise a red flag.
NNC
September 17th, 2009
1:20 pm
This would explain why I can’t sleep well after the chocolate pudding and then have a pounding headache in the morning!!!
Shaun
September 17th, 2009
1:52 pm
Nice tips again, but most of this is common sense. Energy drinks = more energy!! There should be a part 2 to this. My eyes will be peeled.
Shaun
http://www.stayfitbug.com
Jst_Sayin
September 17th, 2009
2:01 pm
Chelle, you finished your son’s homework? Is something wrong with this picture?
Dr. Warren
September 17th, 2009
2:19 pm
Since when is the word “pee” used in a major newspaper? The AJC lost its class and professional standards long ago.
mitzymy
September 17th, 2009
5:25 pm
All of this is true with me. If I drink coffee, it has to be early in the morning, before 9am. If I drink a diet soda with lunch at noon, I am sure to be up until after midnight, before sleep comes. I used to drink beer after 11pm, and it put me to sleep right away, but I had to keep getting up to go to the bathroom, and feeling like heck the next morning. But it did relax me after a long hard day in the factory. I can’t sleep if I am hungry, so I get up and eat anything that is available, and sleep like a baby.
kim
September 20th, 2009
1:28 pm
Did,t we learn about this in High School. And, the word “pee” sounds like the verb it is,Has in I need to pee!
Dave
September 20th, 2009
2:13 pm
Peanuts also make it hard to sleep.
Insomnia Guru
September 20th, 2009
4:53 pm
I wake up if I hear my dog snoring in another room. I usually wake up every two or three hours, depending on how long my dreams last. The one thing that actually puts me out for the night is fish. If I have broiled fish with a little lemon and seasoning on it, doesn’t matter what side dish I have, I can truly sleep soundly!
Wine seems to promote sleep deprivation for me. It helps me fall asleep fast, but a couple of hours later I can count on restless sleeping pattern the rest of the night. It’s not just the alcohol that gives you the hangover.. Lack of sleep gives you almost the same affect.
Paul
September 20th, 2009
9:08 pm
The one about energy drinks is probably the most valid to me. But I always eat food like pizza, or ham sandwiches near to me bed time. I just ate a curry. I still sleep ok. Bad things to eat at night that I’ve been told about are peanuts or apples, they are hard to digest and its disturbing at night if you find it hard to sleep already. I usually smoke a fat spliff anyway so that helps too.
Bob Dole
October 16th, 2009
4:04 pm
All these people talking about smoked meats and pep pizza putting the sleep are obviously fat. I am totally healthy and tyramine can really disturb my sleep. You full dude thats what happens.