Changes To Make In the Evening
We have now reached the evening and there are plenty of things we can do to help us sleep better. This won’t include behaviors immediately before bed as that will be covered in a later vide
What Should You Eat In the Evening ?
The first thing we will discuss is how you can eat in the evening to help improve your sleep. We can choose foods that can help wind us down and influence our brain chemistry to make it easier to fall asleep. In the morning we choose foods that boost neurotransmitters that wake us up, give us focus and drive. In the evening we want foods that will help us calm down and feel relaxed. Changing the type of protein you are eating can have a big impact on this. Choosing white proteins like poultry or turkey can help boost serotonin which is a calming neurotransmitter that helps you feel happy and safe. White fish and shellfish like scallops contain high amounts of the amino acid taurine which helps boost the neurotransmitter GABA, which also helps you relax and wind down, and is very helpful for anxiety.
4 Evening Meal Tips for Quality Sleep
Carbohydrates Boosts Serotonin
Eating carbohydrates with dinner is also a great way to boost serotonin. For most people I typically recommend carbs with dinner regardless of their body composition. Their effect on sleep is too beneficial to pass up and if you are eating properly throughout the day, your body composition will improve as well.
The Size Of Your Last Meal Matters
The size of your last meal of the day is also important. I want you to avoid eating a very large meal at dinner because it can negatively affect your sleep. It can overwhelm your digestion and cause you to wake up. This will be made worse if you typically eat very late. You want to find a time where you eat late enough so you are not hungry before bed but not too late where you are going to sleep on a full stomach.
How Does Alcohol Affect Your Sleep?
Now we can’t talk about the evening without talking about alcohol. This is something many people enjoy after a long day and feel that it helps them relax and fall asleep better. The unfortunate truth is drinking alcohol will have a profoundly negative effect on your sleep. Alcohol makes you drowsy, but does not improve sleep. It has a sedative effect on your body which doesn’t allow you to enter the deeper, more restorative stages of sleep. You could compare it with waking up after a general anesthesia. It fragments your sleep as well, causing small, short wake ups that you don’t even notice.
Different Alcohol Have Different Sugar Levels.
Different alcoholic drinks have varying amounts of sugar which can cause blood sugar fluctuations when you sleep, further disturbing you. The best option to maximize your sleep is to not drink. The second-best option is having a drink at about 6pm. Typically this is far enough away from when you go to sleep and right around when you eat dinner so the food will help lessen the effect of the alcohol.
When it comes to other fluids we drink, we want to be careful that they don’t have a negative effect on our sleep. You want to hit your hydration goal about 2 hours before you go to bed. This way the water you drink won’t cause any disturbances when you are sleeping. The amount of time it takes water to get through average water cycle for most people is about 90 minutes so 2 hours is keeping things safe.
Being properly hydrated will help you sleep better by helping control your stress hormones while sleeping. A big cause of nightmares, especially in children, is going to bed dehydrated. For more information on staying properly hydrated, please watch my series on hydration.
This covers behaviours up to the end of your day. In our next video we’re going to talk about things to do immediately before bed.
Chris Munro
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In this 10-part sleep series, personal trainer Chris Munro emphasizes the importance of getting enough nightly zzz's and regulating your sleep cycle. Explore how to improve your quality of sleep from the moment you wake up until your head hits the pillow.