A reasonable diet at night can help with sleep, but eating the wrong things can affect it. For good sleep, it's best to eat less of these foods at night.
1. Red Meat
Red meat is a nutritional term referring to meat that is red before cooking. Specifically, it includes all meat from mammals, such as pork, beef, lamb, venison, and rabbit. From a nutritional perspective, red meat is high in fat, especially pork, which contains up to 30.3 grams of fat per 100 grams. Moreover, the fat in red meat is mostly saturated fatty acids, which are the primary component of fat. While generally suitable for the body to use as an energy source, its high fat content can lead to significant fat accumulation if consumed before bed, causing obesity and posing significant health risks to women.
2. Chicken
If you consume a large amount of chicken or other protein at night, your sleep quality may decrease. When you fall asleep, your digestive system's activity slows down by 50%, and protein can slow it down even further. This causes your body's organs to focus more on digestion rather than sleep. Therefore, dinner should be balanced with both protein and carbohydrates to maintain good sleep quality.
3. Celery
Celery contains various nutrients such as protein, fat, carbohydrates, fiber, vitamins, and minerals. It is particularly rich in vitamins B and P, and its mineral content of calcium, phosphorus, and iron is higher than that of many other green vegetables. Celery is not only nutritious but also has medicinal value. However, it is also a natural diuretic. It contains active ingredients that eliminate water and sodium retention in the body, promoting urination and swelling reduction. This can constantly wake you up to urinate, preventing you from sleeping soundly.
4. Chocolate
Scientists have pointed out that chocolate contains over 300 known chemical substances, one of the most well-known being caffeine. This substance has a stimulating effect. If you eat chocolate before bed, it can activate your body's organs and increase mental alertness, making it difficult for the body to calm down. This can disrupt breathing patterns and prevent you from entering the optimal state for sleep, thereby eliminating sleepiness and potentially causing insomnia.
5. Ice Cream
Many people may only know that ice cream is delicious, without understanding its nutritional value or the health risks of eating it before bed. That's right, ice cream is indeed a food rich in high-quality protein, sugar, and fat. However, because of these nutrients, eating it before bed gives your body no extra time to burn fat. At the same time, it sends the wrong signals to your body about energy, causing unburned fat to be automatically stored, which affects your body shape and increases blood lipids. Furthermore, research has found that eating high-sugar foods before bed is most likely to cause nightmares.
6. Carbonated Drinks
Carbonated drinks contain sodium benzoate, which can irritate the gastrointestinal tract, leading to acid reflux and thus affecting sleep. Additionally, some carbonated drinks also contain caffeine, which can also impact sleep.