Eating well and sleeping well are the basic criteria for most people to measure happiness and health, and the foremost prerequisite for maintaining personal health. However, for modern people with a fast work pace and high life stress, it is not easy to balance the two. In addition to the common practice of being so absorbed in work that one forgets to eat and sleep, seemingly ordinary daily habits can also lead to neglecting one aspect for another. For example, a spicy dinner can easily rob you of a good night's sleep.
"The effect of spicy food on sleep" is not an exaggeration. Recently, an Australian research team monitored a group of young, healthy men and found that after a large, spicy dinner mainly seasoned with Mexican chili sauce and mustard, their sleep patterns changed significantly. Electroencephalogram (EEG) monitoring showed that the duration of both their rapid-wave sleep and slow-wave sleep was shortened, meaning less deep sleep and more time tossing and turning.
The researchers also found that after consuming very spicy food, body temperature rises during the first sleep cycle, which also leads to a decrease in sleep quality. The researchers stated that several reasons can explain the impact of a spicy dinner on sleep, with the most obvious one being the irritant effect of spicy food on the gastrointestinal tract.
In fact, spicy food does have a certain impact on a person's sleep. According to nutrition experts, this is mainly related to three factors. First, the capsaicin and other irritating substances in chili stimulate the tip of the tongue, which in turn stimulates the central nervous system and nerve endings throughout the body, leading to an increased heart rate, a rise in body temperature, and a prolonged state of excitement. At the same time, foods like chili, Sichuan peppercorns, black pepper, garlic, and ginger are also very irritating to the stomach and can easily cause a burning sensation. Furthermore, the digestion of spicy food consumes sleep-promoting substances in the body, all of which are important reasons that affect sleep. Therefore, if you want a peaceful night's sleep, it is best to eat less spicy dishes like Malatang (spicy hot pot), boiled fish, and spicy crab for dinner.