Don’t Let What You Eat Keep You Awake

Some food-related sleeping tips from “67 Ways to Good Sleep” by Charles B. Inlander and Cynthia K. Moran (Walker and Co.), a project of the People’s Medical Society, a nonprofit health advocacy organization:

Revisit the meals you ate on nights when you lay awake in the dark. Something you ate may be consistently disrupting your sleep.

Foods found to trigger sleep-disrupting heart palpitations in some people are aged cheeses (Stilton, blue, Parmesan), soft cheeses (mozzarella, Swiss, Gruyere, feta), red wine, yogurt, sour cream, cured and processed meats and fish.

While milk can bring mixed results before bedtime, research shows people who don’t get enough calcium in the diet will sleep fewer uninterrupted hours. If milk keeps you up, try a supplement before bedtime, preferably with magnesium to help absorption.