Sleep plays an important role in optimizing your health. While factors like screen time, stress, and sleep hygiene often take center stage in sleep discussions, good nutrition is a powerful tool in promoting healthy, restful sleep. Nutrition plays a role in both sides of sleep: getting enough sleep impacts our eating patterns and our eating patterns impact our sleep. When we do not get enough sleep, the hormones that affect appetite and fullness are disrupted. Poor sleep quality is also correlated with a greater intake of food and lower diet quality. A balanced diet not only supports your health but it can also enhance the quality, duration, and consistency of your sleep. Here are some key nutritional components and eating habits that can promote better sleep.

Tryptophan-Rich Foods

Tryptophan is an essential amino acid, which means it must be obtained through your diet. The body uses tryptophan to help make melatonin and serotonin - both neurochemicals that help with your sleep-wake cycle. Ensuring your diet contains tryptophan-rich foods can help improve your sleep quality by making it easier to fall asleep and stay asleep along with regulating appetite, mood and pain.

Tryptophan-rich food sources include:

• Turkey
• Chicken
• Eggs
• Fish
• Cheese
• Milk
• Nuts & Seeds
• Soy products

Complex Carbohydrates

Unlike refined sugars that may lead to energy spikes and crashes, complex carbohydrates can positively impact sleep by helping stabilize blood sugar levels and promoting deeper sleep. Complex carbohydrates are also rich in fiber and consuming enough fiber daily is associated with normal sleep patterns. 

Complex carbohydration food sources include:

• Starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes, potatoes, squash, and carrots
• Fruit
• Whole grains such as oats, quinoa, brown rice, whole-wheat pasta & breads
• Legumes such as beans, lentils, chickpeas

Electrolytes like Potassium & Magnesium

Electrolytes help to maintain your hydration and being dehydrated can negatively impact your sleep.  Ensure you are not only drinking enough fluid daily but also including rich food sources of electrolytes to include potassium and magnesium. Potassium supports nerve function and may reduce nighttime muscle cramps, which can disrupt sleep and magnesium helps the body relax and aids in sleep regulation.

Where to find them:

• Potassium: dried fruits (like apricots, prunes, raisins), potatoes, bananas, oranges/OJ, sweet potatoes, spinach, coconut water, milk
• Magnesium: pumpkin seeds, almonds, cashews, dark leafy greens, chia seeds, black beans, peanuts, soymilk

B Vitamins

B vitamins can impact your sleep hormones.  Vitamin B6 helps to improve sleep quality and can aid against restless legs syndrome. Adequate vitamin B12 can help reduce sleep troubles and excessive daytime sleepiness.

Where to find them:

• Vitamin B6: chickpeas, beef liver, bananas, tuna, salmon, potatoes, breakfast cereals
• Vitamin B12: nutritional yeast, salmon, tuna, beef liver, eggs, milk, yogurt
  

Melatonin

When you think about sleep, you hear a lot about melatonin which is a hormone that regulates your sleep-wake cycle and responds to light and darkness.  Adding in melatonin-rich foods to your balanced diet can help you get more restful sleep each night.

Melatonin-rich food sources include:

• Pistachios
• Milk
• Tart Cherries (including 100% tart cherry juice)
• Salmon and Tuna
• Rice
• Oats
• Eggs
• Mushrooms
• Bananas

Meal Timing and Habits

Aim for consistent mealtimes to reinforce your body's natural rhythms.  Limit late-night snacking, especially foods high in sugar or fat.  Pairing tryptophan-rich foods with complex carbohydrates can enhance the brain's uptake of tryptophan, making this combination especially effective in promoting sleep. Try a light snack 30–60 minutes before bed using some of the sleep-promoting foods listed above.  Here are some ideas:

• Banana with peanut or nut butter
• Small bowl of whole grain cereal with low-fat milk
• Cottage cheese with peaches & cinnamon
• Toast with peanut or nut butter and berries
• Handful of trail mix with a glass of milk
• Hummus with bell peppers and whole grain crackers
• Tart cherry juice mixed with chocolate milk (hello chocolate covered cherry!)

What to Avoid for Better Sleep

Including the nutrient-dense foods listed above to help improve sleep isn’t necessarily enough to keep you asleep.  It’s also important to minimize certain foods that do not help to promote restful sleep.

• Caffeine. No one is telling you to skip your morning coffee! Caffeine is a stimulant and may make it more difficult to fall asleep and remain asleep if consumed close to your bedtime.  It’s best to avoid caffeine at least 6 hours before bedtime
• Alcohol. Although alcohol can make it easier to fall asleep, the sleep quality is lacking as it disrupts REM sleep.
• Saturated Fats & Large Meals. These foods can reduce the type of sleep that is considered the most restorative. These types of meals can also lead to indigestion and cause restlessness throughout the night.
• Excessive Calories. Consuming excess calories on a daily basis can lead to weight gain which is a strong predictor of obstructive sleep apnea.  
  

Takeaway for Bedtime:

Nutrition alone won't solve chronic sleep issues, but it’s a vital part of the puzzle. We identified many nutrients that can help improve your sleep quality and it’s the goal to include more of these food sources in your eating patterns. Coupled with healthy sleep hygiene, mindful eating can significantly improve sleep quality. If you're struggling with sleep despite lifestyle changes, consider consulting a Registered Dietitian or a sleep specialist to explore any underlying health concerns.

Sleep better - one bite at a time.

This article was written by Katie Frushour, MS, RD, CSSD, a dietitian at Mend.

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