Best and Worst Foods for Sleep

What to eat before bed

By Amanda Gardner
From early birds to night owls, we all can agree that when we finally lay our heads on the pillow we’d like to actually go to sleep, thank you.

Nothing is more annoying than insomnia, and the evidence is piling up that sleep is essential for good health. Although the research is a bit spotty when it comes to which foods help or harm sleep, anecdotal evidence does suggest that certain items consumed right before bedtime are more likely to be “sleep promoters” while others may be “sleep stealers,” says Russell Rosenberg, Ph.D., CEO of the National Sleep Foundation.

Here’s a list of potential good guys and bad guys when it comes to getting some shut-eye.

Cherries

Best

Cherries are one of the few natural foods to contain melatonin, the chemical that helps control our body’s internal clock, says Keri Gans, a registered dietician in New York City and author of The Small Change Diet.

One study—albeit a small one—found that drinking tart cherry juice resulted in small improvements in sleep duration and quality in adults who suffered from chronic insomnia. (And travelers often take melatonin capsules to combat jet lag).

Why not a few cherries, tart or otherwise, to promote sleep?

Bacon cheeseburger

Worst

The stratospheric fat content of this particular fast food is guaranteed to be a sleep killer.

Fat stimulates the production of acid in the stomach, which can spill up into your esophagus, causing heartburn. Fatty foods can also loosen the lower esophageal sphincter, the barrier between the stomach and the esophagus, making it even easier for acid to get in all the wrong places.

In fact, there’s almost nothing to recommend this kind of high-fat, salt-laden indulgence if you want to preserve your health, including the quality of your sleep.

more tomorrow post.