The foods that are ruining your sleep revealed (and cheese DOESN’T make the list)
Do you have trouble sleeping?
Your daily diet might be the problem — even if it includes healthy items.
From your afternoon green tea pick-me-up to your sushi dinner, you could be unwittingly consuming foods that are ruining your night’s rest.
‘Diet can have an influence on how well you sleep,’ says registered nutritionist and author Rob Hobson.
‘While you may be aware of the foods that help to make you drowsy, eating them is not going to make a difference if you are fighting against their benefits with other foods that are going to keep you awake.’
For fans of Chinese and Japanese cooking, soy sauce is a must-have condiment that adds a satisfying umami note to anything from sushi to stir fries. However, it could be the reason you’re finding it hard to sleep after eating a takeaway, thanks to an amino acid called tyramine
So a cup of hot milk is all very well, but it won’t have the same soporific effect if it’s followed by a bar of chocolate.
Here, Mr Hobson, who is also an advisor for supplement brand Healthspan, points out the sleep-sabotaging foods that could be impacting your slumber.
SOY SAUCE
For fans of Chinese and Japanese cooking, soy sauce is a must-have condiment that adds a satisfying umami note to anything from sushi to stir fries.
However, it could be the reason you’re finding it hard to sleep after eating a takeaway, thanks to an amino acid called tyramine.
‘Tyramine is a common trigger for people who suffer with migraines and may also inhibit sleep as it causes the release of a hormone called norepinephrine which can stimulate the brain and delay sleep,’ says Mr Hobson.
He explains foods that have more than 6mg of tyramine per serving are considered to be high in this amino acid — soy sauce contains 9.41mg per 10ml serving. Other foods high in tyramine include processed meats, pickled vegetables, citrus fruits, red wine, Marmite and Teriyaki sauce.
What’s the alternative?
‘All fermented foods are generally high in tyramine,’ says Mr Hobson,…
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