Superfoods to Boost Your Mood by Alexandra Massey

Author:Alexandra Massey
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780753547694
Publisher: Ebury Publishing

4. INSOMNIA

Sleep deprivation is a major cause of depression. An estimated 25 per cent of adults suffer from insomnia and approximately 18 million prescriptions are written every year for sleeping pills. Sleep loss can result in high blood levels of glucose, which can be the source of memory loss, irritability and depression. For some people, their whole life is ruled by how much sleep they get or don’t get and this can play a critical part in their whole wellbeing. Diet can play a large part in helping us to get a good night’s sleep. Again, we need to take the two-pronged attack: what to ditch and what to eat.

What to ditch to prevent insomnia

Coffee and tea. Don’t drink within four hours of going to bed. Caffeine is a great stimulant for the nervous system because it enters the bloodstream fifteen minutes after it has been consumed and it takes the body six hours to eliminate half of it.

Alcohol. Although alcohol helps you to initially feel sleepy, it can keep you from getting deep sleep, which may mean a less restful night’s sleep. Alcohol causes the release of adrenaline so, when the drink wears off, you may wake up feeling tired. We’ve all had those mornings after the night before!

Fizzy drinks. These may contain caffeine, but also the sugar content will make your digestion work overtime and therefore disturb your sleep. Plus, a full bladder will wake you up.

Chocolate. Because of the high sugar and fat content in most chocolate that we buy, the digestive system will be busy trying to digest it and this will keep you up. Added to this, chocolate is a stimulant which will keep your heart rate up and you want your heart rate to be as low as possible for a good night’s sleep.

Spicy foods. Sleeplessness has also been associated with spicy foods. Excess intake of spices can result in heartburn that gets aggravated once you lie down. As a result you may find sleeping a problem. Moreover, heartburn can also awaken you in the middle of the night.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.