Poor sleep can affect your thinking skills: Avoid these foods before bed for a peaceful night

A good night’s sleep will make you feel better the next morning. Sleep not only allows your body to rest and recharge, it also increases your brain’s ability to learn and remember. Conversely, poor sleep can increase risk of several health problems such as cardiovascular disease, depression, and diabetes. Some researchers have also warned that sleep loss can affect your thinking skills the next day.

One study from the Michigan State University showed that sleep deprivation doubles the odds of making placekeeping errors and triples the number of lapses in attention. Another study from the Boston University linked sleep deprivation to risk for more serious problems, like cognitive decline and dementia.

If you have trouble sleeping at night, one of the possible reasons could be your eating habit. What you eat before bed can drastically affect how well you sleep at night. While some foods may help you ease into dreamland, others can wreak havoc on your rest. If you want to improve your sleep quality, do not eat these foods right before bed.

Coffee & soda

Caffeine can stimulate the central nervous system and this effect can last anywhere from 8 to 14 hours. So, if you want to have a good night sleep, take your coffee or diet soda 8 hours before bed.

Chocolate

A chocolate treat after dinner isn’t a good idea either. Dark chocolate also contains caffeine, which can increase arousal, keep your body awake, and decrease your ability to develop and sustain deeper stages of sleep.

Ice Cream

A bowl of ice cream after a nice meal may make you feel happy, but it won’t let you sleep too. Ice cream is loaded with fat as well as sugar which won’t get digested properly. It can result in belly fat deposition and increase your blood sugar. Some studies also suggest that eating high-sugar foods before bed causes nightmares.

Celery

Celery is a natural diuretic that promotes diuresis, the increased production of urine. This means if you’re eating too much celery right before bed it’s going to make you pee a bit more than usual.

Pasta

It may be an easy and quick night-time snack, but it can keep you awake at night. Pastas are straight carbohydrates. But you won’t stop there, you will add things like — oils, cheeses and heavy cream or tomato sauces on top of that. All these will turn into fat. In addition, pasta has a high glycemic index, as a result it may affect your blood-sugar levels.

Pizza

The greasy and salty pizza will keep your stomach busy even at night. High-fat meats, cheeses and tomato sauce are all catalysts for acid reflux, which will stir up heartburn. This can wake you out of your slumber.

Alcohol

Having a glass of wine before bed may help your body relax and fall asleep faster, but not for long. Studies reveal that drinking alcohol before bed can actually make you more likely to wake up throughout the night and diminish your sleep quality. Since it is a potent muscle relaxer, alcohol can also lead to snoring.