Your diet can actually do a lot of things to your health so it’s important to know what kind of food will make you tired and what will make you energetic. Don’t worry, I know just the right food that you’re looking for!
The Californian Poppy is known for its ability to make anyone who consumes it feel tired and sluggish, so it’s the exact one that you are looking for. It’s commonly used for drinking as tea before bed time.
Foods that are rich in Magnesium, Tryptophan, Vitamin B6, Calcium and Melatonin can also make you feel “tired” and sluggish or in other words, sleepy.
Which food contains those vitamins? Here’s a list with 10 categories to help you out.
- Fruits / Berries
- Bananas, apples, avocados, peaches, cherries, dried prunes, pomegranate, grapes, olives
- Poultry
- Chicken, turkey
- Dairy
- Low fat yogurt, cheese, milk
- Nuts and seeds
- Almonds, pine nuts, flax seed, pecans, sunflower seeds, Brazilian nuts, pumpkin, cashews, peanuts, walnuts, pistachio nuts,
- Vegetables / dark leafy greens
- Collard greens, baby spinach, kale, broccoli, spinach, turnip greens, onions, seaweed, asparagus, lettuce,
- Seafood / Fish
- halibut, mackerel, tuna, salmon, shrimp, sardines, cod
- Legumes
- Soybeans, black beans, split peas, chickpeas, Lima beans, kidney beans
- Grains
- Wheat germ, wheat rice, barley, corn, oats, rice, barley, rolled oats,
- Tea / Beverages
- Chamomile tea, lavender tea, California poppy, Kava tea, warm milk, almond milk, Valerian tea, tart cherry juice, passion fruit tea, peppermint tea, St. John’s wort tea
- Others
- Pasta, red meat
Please keep in mind that these food and drinks can be mixed with other ingredients that may counter its effect that can help you fall asleep, so make sure to pick your food carefully and check the details first.
The food in this list will not only make you feel sleepy or “tired and sluggish” but it will make sleeping easier and prevent disrupted sleep. It can also help your overall health, keeping you away from other illnesses.
Eating the right food is also a good natural remedy so you don’t have to rely on medicine or health equipment that may cost a lot more than simply affording your food.
It’s important to maintain a healthy, balanced diet to make sure you can get proper sleep at night.
Now that you know the right food that you can include to your diet, what else is there to know about sleeping? What can interrupt your sleeping or what makes it hard? Read on to find out so you can also avoid it.
Foods that make you energetic
After learning about food that can help you relax, why not learn about food that can make you hyper too? You should also know about the food that does the opposite effect of what you are after so you can avoid it!
Just as there are food that can make you tired and sluggish, there are also food that can make you energetic. Here’s a list of food (and drinks) that you might want to know about.
- Caffeine
- Spicy food
- Alcohol
- Chocolate
- Green tea
- Whole grains
- Pineapple
- Oranges
- Watermelon
- Celery
- Beef and other meat
Food and drinks that may contain caffeine are well known to keep your
mind awake. You may try to sleep, but your overactive mind will keep
you away from sleeping or entering deep sleep which your body needs.
Spicy
foods, on the other hand, may have a lot of health benefits but eating
too much of its portion at least 2 hours before bed might make it harder
for you to sleep.
As for liquor, it does not actually promote better sleep.
In
fact, excessive liquor can be bad for your health and sleeping time
since it can possibly disrupt your breathing which will also stop you
from getting the right rest that you can get with deep sleep.
When
you go to sleep after drinking too much liquor, your body cannot enter
into a deep sleep and may experience small interruptions during sleep
that you may or may not notice at all.
Foods that are high in fat and protein will hinder your digestive system and make it harder for you to sleep.
One
note to remember is that some foods that contain water like watermelon
and celery are natural diuretics and it helps push water through your
system.
It’s good for those who need to regulate their bladder
and urinate frequently, but consuming diuretics close to bedtime can
cause “nocturia”.
It is when a person frequently gets up late at
night to urinate. This can be avoided if you limit your water intake
or diuretics before bed.
Why you can’t sleep easily
Are you looking for food that can make you feel sleepy because you’re having a hard time sleeping? Or are you trying to find out the reason why you need to eat foods that can make you sleepy?
The best way to apply the most effective remedy and start eating the right diet is knowing the cause behind the problem as a first step.
There are plenty of reasons why we may have a hard time sleeping which is why fixing it can also involve different methods.
Difficulty going to sleep is not good for our health especially for our heart.
- 17 Reasons why sleeping can be difficult:
- Depression
- As long as a person is undergoing depression, sleeping may be a difficult task. It can trigger mild to severe insomnia.
- Insomnia
- Insomnia may also have different causes. If the person is struggling with insomnia, sleeping pills is recommended but consult a health expert first for more detailed diagnosis.
- Headaches
- Going to sleep with a headache doesn’t always make the pain go away, it can continue even during sleep which can wake us up all of a sudden.
It’s also not a good idea to sleep with a headache as there are reported cases of people showing signs of an illness that headache is a symptom of that caused sudden death in sleep.
- Going to sleep with a headache doesn’t always make the pain go away, it can continue even during sleep which can wake us up all of a sudden.
- Sleep apnea
- Sleep apnea is when a person is experiencing difficulty in breathing regardless and the heart actually stops beating or we stop breathing for a second or longer.
- Noises
- Simple causes such as noise and movements can definitely wake us up during sleep. Make sure your sleeping environment is sleep-friendly.
- Heart problems
- Heart problems will cause breathing problems as well. Being unable to breathe well can cause interrupted sleep.
- Musculoskeletal disorders
- Arthritis or other body pain can make sleeping difficult. People with such disorders may feel pain when shifting sleep positions and wake up from the pain.
- Kidney problems
- Kidney disease can cause waste products to build up in the blood and can result in insomnia or symptoms of restless legs syndrome.
- Nocturia
- Nocturia is when a person frequently gets up late at night to urinate. This can be avoided if you limit your water intake before bed.
- Phobias
- When a person’s phobia has been triggered, it may cause them to struggle sleeping.
- Stress
- Too much stress can lead to other mental health issues and make sleeping difficult.
- Anxiety
- People with anxiety disorders are prone to insomnia regardless of the severity.
- Panic attacks
- Panic attacks can happen to anyone at anytime, but usually people with anxiety disorders experience this and have a hard time sleeping.
- Bipolar disorder
- Irregular mood patterns can also disrupt the mind’s decision making.
People with bipolar disorder may suddenly decide they don’t feel like sleeping yet and disrupt the entire sleeping pattern.
- Irregular mood patterns can also disrupt the mind’s decision making.
- Schizophrenia
- According to studies, schizophrenic people tend to experience hallucinations or hear voices inside their head that may interrupt their sleeping.
- Epilepsy
- Epilepsy attacks can happen during sleep and it apparently happens more at night than during the day and causes disrupted sleep.
- Dementia
- Neurological disorders that affect the brain like dementia and other disorders can cause wandering, disorientation, and agitation during the evening and night.
This phenomenon is referred to as “sundowning,” and causes interrupted sleeping.
- Neurological disorders that affect the brain like dementia and other disorders can cause wandering, disorientation, and agitation during the evening and night.
- Depression
It is also possible that interrupted sleeping can be a sign of other illnesses that may continue to worsen each other as long as both the illnesses exists.
No matter how normal it may seem, if it happens too frequently, curing the problem comes first before anything dangerous happens to your health.
For some cases, interrupted sleeping may be a sign of a sleeping condition called “sleep apnea” and it’s another sleep problem that one must be wary of since it can potentially cause death during sleep.
Related Questions
Foods to fight fatigue
Some foods that can help you sleep can actually help you fight fatigue as well, it all depends on how your diet is built. Here’s a list of foods that can help fight fatigue.
- Avocados
- Almonds
- Watermelons
- Kale
- Bee pollen
- Banana
- Spinach
- Chia seeds
- Eggs
- Green tea
(Read: “Foods to Fight Fatigue” for more)
What causes extreme fatigue after eating?
Foods rich in protein and carbohydrates can cause extreme fatigue or make people feel sleepy compared to other foods.
It’s also possible that eating those type of food can cause the body to produce more serotonin, a hormone that helps regulate your sleep cycle.
The more serotonin in your body, the more you may feel tired after eating.
What deficiencies cause fatigue?
Iron, magnesium, potassium, vitamin B12 and folic acid deficiency can cause fatigue which can also cause you to fall asleep easily due to lack of energy.
