You don’t have to know all about the REM cycle to know that sleep is really important. Beauty sleep, afternoon naps, power naps, they’re all kinds of good!

So, we’d written about foods to help you sleep better, hoping you’d make a mental note to go get them on your next trip to the grocery store. However if you haven’t found the time or the thought of actually going and buying special foods has you feeling lazy, then let’s talk about foods to avoid before going to bed. All you have to do is not eat them—so easy!
 

Pizza

Pizza

You know how they say pizza is always a good idea? Well, not always. Certainly not before bedtime. It contains way too many calories for you to intake right before dozing off. Not just that, it also accelerates the production of acid in your stomach, which causes heartburn—not the metaphorical one.

 

Sugary Foods

Sugary Foods

Sugar rush is a real thing amongst adults too. After all, you don’t just experience that ‘happy high’ without reason, without even alcohol, when you gorge down those red velvets…Get it? Those sugars will only amp up your blood sugar levels, giving you the very unrequired surge of energy right before bedtime.

 

Orange Juice

Orange Juice

You’d think it was common to keep orange juice reserved for breakfast—but not those who opened the refrigerator door late at night and fetched the first carton that came to hand. Word of advice—fetch the milk carton instead. It doesn’t cause sleep-disrupting heartburn like OJ does.

 

Alcohol

Alcohol

Ironic, right, considering how one more ‘bottoms-up’ could have you passing out flat on the carpet? But passing out isn’t sleeping. What alcohol (even wine) does is, disrupt your quality of sleep, causing you to wake up multiple times during the night, whether you realize it or not. So forget about sound sleep!

 

Dark Chocolate

Dark Chocolate

You know how you knew all too well to not drink coffee before sleeping, because duh, it contains caffeine? Well, so does chocolate—with dark chocolate containing the highest percentage of it. So sorry, but those chocolate bars have to go right back into the fridge!

 

Meat

Meat

There’s a reason why dieticians insist on having early/light dinners—so your body has finished digesting the meal before it’s time to sleep. Now consuming heavy meats at midnight is only going to spoil the whole ratio, because your body is now concentrating on digesting the meat as opposed to letting you sleep.