Sleepy Foods

The initialism S.B.T. is common among my friends. It stands for, “Sandy Bed Time," and they use it to tease me on my early-to-bed habit. If I’m invited out on a Tuesday night for 8 p.m. trivia, I decline. “How do I start trivia at 8, and get to bed by 9?" I ask. But, on the weekends, I’m more of a party animal, staying out at late as 11 p.m.

I just find my life is better with at least eight hours of sleep each night. And, I try to maximize my sleep experience by cutting caffeine-containing tea drinking at 2 p.m., and drinking herbal “bedtime" tea (from various natural tea companies) around 7:30 p.m.

An article posted last week in the Washington Post said avoidance is the better tactic when it comes to food and sleep. The post, by Jennifer LaRue Huget, said studies have not found a “magical food" that induces sleep. Rather, most sleep and food studies have found connections on what foods hinder, not help, sleep.

But, caffeine is not at the top of the list of foods to avoid, according to Huget. A study  published in February in the journal Sleep Medicine tracked the diets and sleep habits of 459 women enrolled in the federal government's 15-year Women's Health Initiative, and found fat was the main nutrient (out of dozens tracked) associated with getting less sleep. The study found the women who ate the most fat slept for shorter times and took more naps.

If all that extra fat leads to extra weight gain, sleep problems can be amplified. The article said people who are obese sleep less and report their sleep is not as good as their normal-weight counterparts.  This may be due to undiagnosed sleep apnea, wrote Huget. When sleep is disrupted, the hormones that control satiety feelings can disturbed, and thus, can lead to more eating.

Besides for fat, people should avoid caffeine and spicy foods late in the day. According to one expert she quoted, caffeine can affect sleep 12 hours after it’s consumed. Alcohol is also a sleep depriver because it delays the onset of and shortens REM sleep. And, while wine contains melatonin, its sleep-enhancing abilities are offset by sleep-disturbing nature of alcohol.  

For foods that “may" work, another expert said red grapes (for their melatonin) and warm milk might offer some help. Some foods could theoretically work by boosting gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the central nervous system, Huget wrote. And, milk contains a substance that boosts GABA, but an expert said he doesn’t know of any studies to prove this. Also, she mentioned tea that promotes sleep is most likely a placebo effect.  Turkey’s tryptophan levels also aren’t high enough to promote sleep.

Well, even if it is a placebo, I’m sticking with my hot tea ritual. And, I could always use another reason to avoid unhealthy fats.