Many people know which foods can help promote sleep, but few know that some foods not only do not benefit sleep, but can also cause insomnia.
News Background: A random survey conducted by the internationally renowned TNS market research company on 2,657 citizens aged 15-69 in six cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Tianjin, Hangzhou, and Guangzhou, showed that Guangzhou has the highest adult insomnia rate, reaching 68%. Experts believe that unreasonable dietary structure, high psychological stress, and poor sleep habits are the main reasons for the high incidence of insomnia.
"The reason why an unreasonable dietary structure is one of the main reasons is not only due to the unreasonable nutritional combination of foods, but also because many people eat some foods at dinner that can easily affect sleep quality, such as sweet potatoes, peas, corn, and chili," said Xiong Xinying, chief physician of the Department of Neurology at China-Japan Friendship Hospital.
Many people know which foods can help promote sleep, but few know that some foods not only do not benefit sleep, but can also cause insomnia. It is now the season for roasted sweet potatoes, and their sweet and fragrant taste is a delight. However, eating too much of these foods for dinner may cause insomnia. Because foods like sweet potatoes, corn, and peas produce a lot of gas during digestion, by bedtime, undigested gas will cause a feeling of bloating, hindering normal sleep.
In addition to foods with a satiating effect and foods like coffee and tea that stimulate the central nervous system, some spicy and salty foods, such as spicy snacks and garlic bread, can also affect sleep quality. Spicy foods not only easily cause a burning sensation in the stomach and indigestion, but they also consume the body's sleep-promoting substances during digestion, thereby affecting sleep.
Greasy foods can also cause insomnia because the digestion of greasy foods increases the workload on the intestines, stomach, liver, gallbladder, and pancreas, stimulating the central nervous system to remain in a working state, thus delaying sleep time.
Dinner should be as light as possible, and it is more appropriate to finish dinner before 8 PM.
Related Links: Foods that promote sleep include bananas, milk, oatmeal, whole wheat bread, daylilies, celery, longan, sunflower seeds, vinegar, etc.