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Are your foods causing you to snooze?

I have been blessed with an uncanny ability to fall asleep in 3.2 seconds flat without light, noise, TV, radio, washing machine, cat, or husband sounds causing me not to be able to do so! I know, however, that this is not necessarily the case for everyone else. I personally feel it is because I have such a clear conscience, but that’s another story! HA HA.

What you eat may affect how you sleep. One of the keys to a restful night's sleep is to get your brain calmed rather than revved up. Each person responds differently to these foods based on their individual Diet Types. This article will provide you with some general tendencies, but please note that each person is different.

Some foods will typically contribute to restful sleep, while other foods may keep you awake. Sleeping ability in people like me are not as affected by the foods that I eat, compared to others who have a more difficult time sleeping.

Foods that may help you sleep are typically tryptophan-containing foods. Tryptophan is the amino acid that the body uses to make serotonin, the neurotransmitter that slows down nerve traffic so your brain isn't so busy working. Foods that keep you awake are foods that typically stimulate neurochemicals that stimulate the brain.
Tryptophan is a precursor of the sleep-inducing substances serotonin and melatonin. This means tryptophan is the raw material that the brain uses to build these relaxing neurotransmitters. Making more tryptophan available, either by eating foods that contain this substance or by seeing to it that more tryptophan gets to the brain, will help to make you sleepy. On the other hand, nutrients that make tryptophan less available can disturb sleep.

Eating carbohydrates with tryptophan-containing foods makes this calming amino acid more available to the brain. A high carbohydrate meal stimulates the release of insulin, which helps clear from the bloodstream those amino acids that compete with tryptophan, allowing more of this natural sleep-inducing amino acid to enter the brain and manufacture sleep- inducing substances, such as serotonin and melatonin. Eating a high-protein meal without accompanying carbohydrates may keep you awake, since protein-rich foods also contain the amino acid, tyrosine, which perks up the brain. For those of you who follow a Hauser Diet #1 or Hauser Diet #2, this may be a bit more difficult. It does, however, explain why many of our patients who type out to Hauser Diets 1 and 2 (Lion and Otter) have trouble staying awake if they consume high carbohydrate-containing meals. These types of people are much more sensitive to the sleep-producing effects of these foods.

When tryptophan and tyrosine arrive at the brain cells, if more tyrosine amino acids enter the brain cells, neuroactivity will rev up. If more tryptophan amino acids get in the brain, then brain activity will calm down. Along comes some insulin which has been searching for carbohydrates in the bloodstream. Insulin keeps the tyrosine amino acids in the blood stream, allowing the brain-calming tryptophan effect to be higher than the effect of the brain-stimulating tyrosine.

In theory, it would make sense that you could take advantage of this biochemical anomaly by choosing protein or carbohydrate-rich meals, depending on whether you want to perk up or slow down your brain. For people who need to be alert during the day, higher protein, medium-carbohydrate meals are best eaten for breakfast and lunch. For dinner and bedtime snacks, meals or snacks that are higher in complex carbohydrates, with a smaller amounts of protein that contain just enough tryptophan to relax the brain may prove beneficial for those who have trouble sleeping.

You might be thinking, “Oh, I could just have that ice cream Sara told me to stop eating? Or maybe a bag of chips?” An all-carbohydrate snack, especially one high in junk sugars, is less likely to help you sleep. You'll miss out on the sleep-inducing effects of tryptophan, and you may set off the roller-coaster effect of plummeting blood sugar followed by the release of stress hormones (like Cortisol) that will actually keep you awake.
The best bedtime snack seems to be those with both complex carbohydrates and protein, and perhaps some calcium. Calcium helps the brain use the tryptophan to manufacture melatonin. This explains why dairy products, which contain both tryptophan and calcium, are one of the top sleep-inducing foods. See, there was some merit to your grandmother telling you to drink some warm milk.

But please remember, your diet type, may actually take precedence to the above facts. For example, we find that patients who type out as those who needing to follow a higher protein, lower carbohydrate diet (Hauser Diets 1 and 2 or Lion/Otter types), do well with protein, particularly in the AM and PM as described above. If they consume carbohydrates during the day, they typically get tired. So it would make more sense for these types of people to follow the above recommendations. However, those who type out as requiring more carbohydrates and less protein such as Hauser Diets 4 and 5 (Monkey and Giraffe Types) may not need to follow these principles as closely, as they may not be as easily affected by these foods.

Foods that may make you snooze!
These are foods high in the sleep-inducing amino acid tryptophan:
• Dairy products: cottage cheese, cheese, milk
• Soy products: soy milk, tofu, soybean nuts
• Seafood
• Meats
• Poultry
• Whole grains
• Beans
• Rice
• Hummus
• Lentils
• Hazelnuts, Peanuts
• Eggs
• Sesame seeds, sunflower seeds

Foods that are high in carbohydrates and calcium, and medium-to-low in protein also make ideal sleep-inducing bedtime snacks. Some examples:
• whole-grain cereal with milk or soy milk
• hazelnuts and tofu
• oatmeal with milk and raisins
• peanut butter sandwich on whole grain bread
• ground sesame seeds
• cheese and crackers

**NOTE: (It takes hour for the tryptophan in the foods to reach the brain, so don't wait until right before bedtime to have your snack.) We also find that herbal teas are very helpful in facilitating sleep – particularly those containing herbs such as chamomile.

Relaxation Dinners
Meals that are higher in carbohydrates and lower in protein will typically help you relax in the evening and help set you up for a good night's sleep. Try the following "dinners for sleep":
• whole grain pasta with fresh parmesan cheese and veggies
• scrambled eggs and cheese
• tofu stir-fry
• hummus with whole wheat pita bread and veggies
• seafood, pasta, and ricotta cheese
• meats and poultry with veggies
• tuna salad sandwich
• chili with beans, not spicy
• sesame seeds (rich in tryptophan) sprinkled on salad with tuna chunks and whole wheat crackers or bread

Most of us tend to eat our largest meals in the evening. Lighter meals are typically more likely to provide a restful night's sleep. Interestingly enough, high-fat meals and large servings can prolong the work your digestive system needs to do, and all the gas production and rumblings may keep you awake. We’ve all probably experienced that to some degree! Some people find that highly-seasoned foods (e.g., hot peppers and garlic) interfere with sleep, especially if you suffer from heartburn, although others find that these things do not bother them in the slightest! Going to bed with a full stomach does not, for most people, promote a restful night's sleep. While you may fall asleep faster, all the intestinal work required to digest a big meal is likely to cause frequent waking and a poorer quality of sleep. Try eating your evening meal early enough so that your body has time to digest it. For most people, we’d be best off if we Heed the sleep wisdom: "Don't dine after nine."

Foods that tend to wake you up!
Just like the above foods do not cause everyone to become sleepy, so-called stimulating foods do not necessarily affect everyone in the same way. Caffeine-containing foods top the list of foods that can wake you up.
As a stimulant, caffeine may speed up the action of not only the nervous system, but of other major body systems, too. Most people feel the stimulating effects of caffeine within 15 minutes of drinking a cup of coffee. Studies show that the level of adrenaline in your blood rises, which triggers an increase in heart rate, breathing rate, urinary output, and production of stomach acids. Caffeine's effects on the body are typically the reverse of what you want to happen as you go to sleep.

However, we all know people who can drink a cup of coffee or a shot of espresso two hours before bed time and have no problem going to sleep. I am one of those people. Most people who are less affected by caffeine interestingly type out to be Hauser Diet #4 and Hauser Diet #5 (Monkey or Giraffe type). Hauser Diet #1 and Hauser Diet #2 (Otter/Monkey Types) are usually more stimulated by the effect of caffeine and find that they cannot drink it after 1 or 2pm.

Caffeine also prompts adrenal hormones to release from the liver, which stimulates sugar cravings to replenish the sugar stored in the storage form. Caffeine may heighten the roller coaster effect of blood sugar swings, producing a quick high after a morning cup of coffee, followed by a downturn in the afternoon. Again, we find that the Hauser Diet’s 1 and 2 are those who are primarily affected by this phenomenon. For these people, caffeine's effects in the body feel sort of like the saying “what goes up must come down.” The morning pick-me-up is often followed by the law of gravity – a big drop! These people typically feel the afternoon “head hit the desk syndrome.” For these people, caffeine makes it difficult to sleep well. The people who type out to Hauser Diets 1 and 2 are typically those who are fast oxidizers – in other words, their bodies process their food too quickly. They are the ones who are prone to hypoglycemia and swings in blood sugar levels, with the accompanying highs and lows in energy. Those who are pretty steady energy levels throughout the day are the more balanced oxidizers who do not necessarily feel the effects of caffeine so much.

You may need to curb your caffeine consumption. As stated above, we find that some people are more caffeine-sensitive than others. Some consume 250 milligrams plus of caffeine per day (minimum 2 cups of coffee) and experience no sleep problems, while others get jitters after one caffeine-containing soda. We feel that oxidative rate and blood pH (IE Diet Type) play a huge role in how you respond to caffeine.

Timing is everything. For most people, the effects of caffeine wear off within six hours, so coffee in the morning will usually not interfere with sleep in the evening. Caffeine-containing beverages at lunch may not affect your sleep, but coffee, tea, or cola in the evening is likely to keep you awake, especially if you type out to an Otter or a Lion.

Are your kids stopping at Starbucks?
Many school-age kids go absolutely bonkers following a jolt of caffeine-containing soda or other caffeinated drinks. Kids who are already hyperactive may be bouncing off walls following a caffeine jolt. As you know, we recommend good old water as the drink of choice for everyone, especially kids. Caffeine consumption really should be limited in children. Certainly we don’t recommend some of these new-fangled energy drinks that are designed to give you (much less your kids) a “JOLT of energy.” These are being grossly misused by teens these days who are taking them in combination with alcohol. Watch out for these! And certainly, if your kids are already visiting coffee houses and ordering triple shots of espresso, you should watch them closely – most likely they are getting into some bad habits drinking high calorie coffee drinks that may shock their adrenal systems into overload at a very young age!

If you are sensitive to caffeine, know what foods contain the highest quantities. As you can see from this chart, coffee, colas, and tea rank highest in caffeine content.

FOOD                              CAFFEINE (mg.)
------------------------------------------------- 
coffee, brewed, 6 ounces          105 
coffee, instant, 6 ounces         55 
Mountain Dew, 12 ounces           55 
Colas, 12 ounces                  35-45 
Tea, 6 ounces                     35