Do “sleep-aiding foods” really help you sleep?

This is the 4373rd article of Da Yi Xiao Hu

Sleep, like eating and breathing, is a part of our lives. About one-third of a person's life is spent sleeping. Long-term insomnia not only affects the individual's normal life and work, but also increases the risk of various health problems. "Healthy China Action (2019-2030)" "Long-term lack of sleep will increase the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, depression, diabetes and obesity, and damage cognitive function, memory and immune system."

What is worrying is not only insomnia, but also the ineffective or even aggravating methods adopted because of the concern about insomnia, such as eating so-called "sleep-aiding" foods and drinking before going to bed, searching for various sleep-aiding methods on Baidu, buying sleep-aiding tools, and looking for so-called "family secret recipes". As a result, you are going further and further on the road of insomnia. Diet conditioning is indeed a good method. But how to "eat" is very important.

So, why can food help you sleep? To determine whether a "food" can help you sleep, you can first look at its nutritional content. Among the relevant nutrients, L-tryptophan is the most studied. After entering the body, this amino acid will be converted into two chemicals related to sleep (melatonin helps regulate the sleep cycle, and serotonin has a relaxing effect), which can help us fall asleep faster. So, does eating more of this kind of food really help you sleep? Looking back at 20 years of domestic and foreign literature on "tryptophan treatment for insomnia", the conclusions are not unified. Some people take it effectively, while others take it ineffectively. Who will take it effectively and how much should be taken to be effective? "Experts" have no definite answer.

So, what are the common “sleep-aiding foods”?

01

Walnut

Walnuts contain melatonin, and studies have found that melatonin helps regulate the body's "sleep-wake" cycle rhythm, allowing us to fall asleep more quickly. It can also reduce the number of times we wake up during sleep, shorten our light sleep time, and extend our deep sleep time, thereby improving our sleep quality while ensuring sleep time.

When we work during the day, the secretion of melatonin in the brain will decrease. When the bedroom becomes dark at night, the secretion will increase. However, as we age, the secretion of melatonin will become less and less. Supplementing it with food can also help you sleep.

However, walnuts contain a lot of fat, so you can't eat too much before going to bed. Excessive consumption will not only affect digestion and cause insomnia, but also increase weight and increase the risk of other diseases.

02

milk

Milk contains L-tryptophan, which is an essential amino acid for the human body. It is an amino acid that we synthesize slowly or cannot synthesize. It can be converted into the neurotransmitter 5-hydroxytryptamine in the body to regulate mental rhythm and improve sleep. L-tryptophan is derived from tryptophan, and it can indeed be used to produce sleep-inducing hormones 5-hydroxytryptamine and melatonin. But if it is used to improve sleep, a larger amount is needed. A 200g cup of milk contains 78mg of tryptophan, which is difficult to change the hormone level in our body. If you want to achieve the effect of "milk helps sleep", you need to drink a few buckets of milk to get enough tryptophan. Drinking so much milk before going to bed will probably make you go to the toilet constantly, and the high protein content in milk is not easy to digest, which can easily lead to bloating and insomnia.

03

cherry

Cherries not only contain natural melatonin, but also proanthocyanidins in sour cherry juice. This phenolic substance helps to increase the level of tryptophan, an essential amino acid in the human body, thereby improving sleep quality. The American media "Rodale News" reported that in a small study, subjects drank a glass of about 226 grams of cherry juice in the morning and afternoon, and found that sleep quality improved after two weeks. A study in the European Journal of Nutrition found that subjects who drank cherry juice in the morning and before bed slept 40 minutes longer than those who did not drink it.

04

cashew

The fat component in cashew nuts is mainly unsaturated fatty acids, which can lower blood cholesterol, triglycerides and low-density lipoprotein levels, increase high-density lipoprotein levels, and are beneficial to the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular systems. It can also help regulate insomnia caused by high blood pressure.

It also contains magnesium, which is essential for the normal life activities and metabolism of living organisms. It can also help you sleep by regulating the excitability of nerves and muscles. Liver cells that are tired and crying after insomnia can also be re-care by magnesium. When the human body lacks it, it will cause sleep disorders and restless leg syndrome, making it difficult to fall asleep at night. This is a mineral that many people cannot get. A quarter cup of cashews can provide 20% of the daily magnesium required by the human body, which can relax the brain and muscles and make it easier to sleep. Other important sources of magnesium include Swiss chard, almonds, spinach and sesame.

05

Eggs

Eggs are one of the few foods that naturally contain vitamin D, and studies have shown that natural vitamin D can target neurons in the brain that control sleep and help you fall asleep. Compared with those who consume enough vitamin D, men who are deficient in vitamin D have more sleep interruptions and less overall sleep time. If you don't like eggs, other foods that contain vitamin D include beef or calf liver, mushrooms, and yogurt.

06

vegetable

The main nutrients that help you sleep in vegetables are B vitamins. B vitamins include B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B9, and B12. They are very powerful and can help us regulate our metabolism and the normal functioning of our nervous system. They also have a certain effect on sleep. It is generally recommended to eat 6 taels to 1 jin of vegetables a day, and dark vegetables need to reach 2 taels to 3 taels. Among all vegetables, lettuce and spinach have the best sleep-inducing effect. Our body needs very little B vitamins, but just these few tenths can help us regulate our nervous system and soothe our nerves.

In addition, the roots and leaves of lettuce also contain a kind of lactucin, which also helps sleep. The calcium content in lettuce is also high. Two taels of lettuce contains 70 mg of calcium. Drinking a large bowl of bone soup is not as good as eating a head of lettuce to supplement calcium! Spinach can supplement folic acid in the human body, so many pregnant women need to eat spinach during pregnancy preparation. Generally, there are 350 micrograms of folic acid in two taels of spinach, and a few spinach is equivalent to a folic acid tablet supplemented by pregnant women. Folic acid has an auxiliary effect on the formation of melatonin in the human body and also has a sleep-inducing effect.

07

salmon

Salmon is rich in tryptophan, magnesium and B6 vitamins, which are all good helpers in helping us overcome sleep disorders. Its meat is tender and smooth, and it is good for your health while enjoying its delicious taste. It has many benefits.

Vitamin B6 can help fight 30 diseases such as hypoglycemia and arteriosclerosis, and has the effect of helping people sleep. After entering the human body, it can regulate the human sympathetic nerves and assist in the treatment of insomnia. Generally speaking, the intestinal microorganisms of the human body can synthesize vitamin B6, but the amount is very small and must be supplemented from food. Salmon contains an appropriate amount of vitamin B6, which can supplement the needs of the human body.

08

Sunflower seeds

Sunflower seeds are rich in protein, carbohydrates, multiple vitamins, multiple amino acids and unsaturated fatty acids, which can regulate metabolism, improve the inhibitory function of brain cells, and play a calming and tranquilizing role. Eating some sunflower seeds after dinner can also promote the secretion of digestive juices, help digestion and stagnation, and help sleep.

But everything has two sides. Eating excessive amounts of so-called "sleep-aiding" foods in order to get a better sleep will not only affect digestion, but also affect sleep quality and increase the risk of other diseases.

Author: Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Shi YangDeputy Chief Physician