Foods and diet changes that may help your child snooze.

I ran a sleep workshop this weekend at Rocking Horse Nursery in Newbury; the parents asked about diet. Even though research shows that a consistent bedtime routine is effective for promoting sleep, ensuring the proper diet and eating the foods that may help your child’s sleep right now, here are my top nine ideas and if you don’t want to read it a video too:

1. Eat Foods that contain the amino acid Tryptophan.

Foods containing the amino acid tryptophan are thought to induce sleep. Tryptophan is an amino acid that has long been blamed for the post-Christmas dinner slump. While it promotes drowsiness, foods containing tryptophan need to be eaten at least an hour before bedtime to be absorbed. It can be found in many foods besides turkey. Other foods that contain tryptophan are bananas, peanut butter, potatoes, and oats.

2. Remember foods containing Tryptophan must be eaten with a carbohydrate.

To absorb tryptophan, the food should be mixed with a carbohydrate. Try food combinations such as peanut butter on toast, oat cereal, warm milk, etc.

3. Ensure snacks are at least an hour before bedtime

If you want to offer your child something, try not to wake them up by giving them a snack just as you put them to bed. It can take several hours to digest food so ensure it is a couple of hours before the bedtime routine.

4.  Eat kiwi fruit before to help you sleep

A study has shown that eating two kiwi fruit 1 hour before bedtime may help with sleep quality. Kiwi fruits are high in Serotonin. Serotonin is our happy neurotransmitter. Some serotonin gets converted to melatonin ( this regulates our 24-cycle circadian rhythm ) which is why eating foods like kiwi will help. Yum yum!

5. Don’t eat foods that raise Cortisol levels

Cortisol is often seen as the ” stress hormone”, but it has many other uses. Cortisol can help control blood sugar levels; Cortisol is naturally high in the morning, giving us the energy to get up. It naturally dips in the afternoon, ready for us to sleep. When you offer your child foods high in sugar and high on the GI index, they raise cortisol, preventing your child from being drowsy.

6. Reduce foods that are high in Caffeine

Caffeine is not just in tea and coffee but is in other foods you may not think of, such as milky Way, M and M’s, diet coke, chocolate, and chocolate ice cream. Caffeine suppresses adenosine. Harvard Division of Sleep Medicine notes that Adenosine also makes us tired ( melatonin does, too). It gradually builds up in our bodies when awake and makes us sleepy by the end of the day. Lots of chocolate ice cream and cocoa just before your child goes to sleep may make them more alert.

8. Don’t encourage high-fat foods

Skip fatty foods such as crisps and biscuits can affect sleep quality; have fruit instead.

9. Eat lots of walnuts 

Some studies show walnuts promote sleep due to the highest levels of antioxidants, melatonin and Serotonin.

I believe that small things can create change, so review your diet and see if you can make some minor changes. If you are struggling with sleep at home and and would like to ask me to give a talk, contact me. You are wishing you all a good night’s sleep. If you want to see my weekly blogs, then like and follow me on Facebook. With Love Catherine

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