Digestion and Sleep, Two Peas in a Pod
In general, you should try to stay away from saturated fats and simple carbohydrates. These foods, for the most part, lead to heavy digestion. Sleep requires the opposite. When discussing the day’s final digestion, sleep quality must fall closely behind. Today we will discuss a few of those things that carry the greatest impact on digestion.
Sleep is paramount to growth. Too much meat protein and/or complex carbohydrates (whole grains) can make it difficult for your body to process the food it’s been given. The same can be said for foods high in fat. Anything that takes longer than necessary to digest can have serious consequences to finding better sleep.
For healthy sleep to occur, your body must be able to rest without any heavy digestion.
Have you ever eaten a heavy dinner late in the evening, then found yourself waking in the middle of the night, perhaps in a hot sweat following an intense nightmare?.
These sleeping problems have occurred mainly for two reasons. For one, your body is working overtime in the department of digestion. Sleep isn’t easy when your body is managing piles of heavy food. For easy digestion to take place, much of your blood descend down to your stomach. This circulation robs the rest of your body from the necessary oxygen and needed nutrients. These bodily recourses are needed to aid in your ability to achieve deep sleep and thereby rendering you unable to do so.
Another negative is that your blood sugar drops drastically due to the enormous strain of digesting an overly large quantity of heavy food during sleep. The combination of digestion and the normal functions of sleep make for a strain on the body and a terrible night’s sleep.
Let’s say you eat a smaller meal, but it’s still loaded with sugar. This will cause your blood sugar to drop while you rest, which will then pull you out of any deep sleep you might have otherwise achieved.
Too much heavy food and too much sugar before bed is a definite NO NO.
What about during the day? I’m sure you’d like me to say it’s fine, and that it won’t have any effect on your sleeping.
Sorry, I can’t.
It is true you will be less affected by these things when done during the day, but they will still carry a negative effect. As I discuss in an upcoming post, your blood sugar levels will remain on a constant roller coaster ride as long as you continue to eat such foods.
Day or night, no difference. Digestion and sleep are absolutely inner twined.
When it comes to what NOT to eat, it is important to stay away from too many gaseous foods. I don’t need to specify the diet, your body makes it crystal clear. When you find that eating a certain type of food gives you gas, stay away, or moderate at the very least. Otherwise you will have an upset stomach while trying to sleep, and will likely be unable to achieve the deep, rejuvenating sleep your body needs.
Make sure you provide your body with smooth digestion, sleep will naturally follow.
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