What You Eat Can Be Ruining Your Sleep

This is a story about a person many of us know (maybe too well). This story could be triggering for some readers who need a coffee in the morning and can’t resist a bickie when it’s there.

Your alarm goes off, you groan as you roll onto your side to turn it off. Your eyelids feel too heavy to open and you feel like calling in sick for work so you can stay in bed. It’s warm and comfortable but you know you need to get up. You know if you just get a coffee…

And your first mistake for the day is made.

Coffee contains caffeine, which does have some health benefits and the bonus of making you feel more alert. But did you know that caffeine can keep you awake at night and that this process can be delayed for up to 10 to 12 hours for some? A morning coffee can be the first downfall of the day.

But it’s just one coffee and you need it, so it’s fine.

You then lap up a bowl of chocolate cereal, a nutritional breakfast as the box says.

But it’s not. It has minimal health benefits, no matter what it claims. It’s heavily processed and the sugar content is so high it’s no wonder your kids are so hyper (and somewhat annoying) in the morning.

Breakfast is done though. There was nothing else in the house. You’ll redeem yourself the rest of the day. You get changed into your work clothes and think ‘these feel a little tight’. You leave it at that though even though this is due to your unhealthy eating and sleeping habits. Those habits lead to weight gain and make it difficult to lose that weight later on.

You’re in the office, there are a few biscuits out on the table to share. You grab one or two (or five). A few biscuits won’t do that much harm. Little do you know you’ve just eaten away thirty minutes worth of good sleep tonight. Food with high-sugar can damage your sleep, no matter what time of day they were consumed.

Lunch comes around, you were in a rush this morning so you forgot to pack your own. You’re left to pick something up nearby. You don’t want to spend too much or take too long. You grab a meat pie and a fizzy drink.

BAM. More caffeine mixed with a buttload of unnecessary carbohydrates. Have you even eaten a vegetable today?

It’s fine. You’ll have some veggies for dinner. But wait, you’re tired. Because you got no sleep last night and the food you’ve eaten isn’t proving to be a sufficient energy source. So what’s for dinner…?

You grab Subway for the family. They’ve got salads in them. It’s fine (except you got white bread and extra cheese and nearly a few extra squirts of mayo). 

Later on, you look at the clock, it’s time for bed. You know if you don’t fall asleep now you’ll be tired tomorrow. Little do you know that you won’t fall asleep straight away, you’ll lay there tossing and turning even though you feel tired. Tomorrow won’t get any better though, lack of sleep leads to poor food choices which leads to an endless cycle.