Sleep is something that loads of us struggle to get enough of. Either we’re rolling into bed in the middle of the night after an evening of post-work drinks (read: Netflix binging), or we wake up at 2am in a cold sweat thinking about all the emails we’ve ignored for the past week.

A 2022 survey by Chemist4U found that women tend to get less sleep than men, clocking in an eye-watering average of six hours and four minutes. Across the year, that means men sleep over 47 hours more than women. And by the time we’re in the 35-44 bracket, that average sinks even lower.

Clearly, we need help. While we can’t promise that splurging on sleep hypnosis or pure grade CBD will solve the problem, we do know that small lifestyle tweaks can go a long way to a blissful kip. The best place to start? Your diet. 

Studies, including a 2016 paper from Columbia University, have found that our dietary patterns and consumption of specific foods can have a significant impact on our sleep quality, with some foods having the potential to really disrupt our time snoozing.

Certified health education specialist Brielle Merchant and Dr Aishah Iqbal both know just how important sleep is, and how much our eating habits can affect it. So we asked them for their expert insights into the link between diet and sleep, what you can eat to ensure you sleep well – and what foods are most likely to disrupt your rest. 

Merchant explains that “eating well balanced meals supports your body’s pathways when regulating your hormones”, some of which “impact how much sleep you get and how well you sleep”. This means that eating foods containing nutrients that support sleep – and in the right amounts – is crucial to ensuring you are able to drift off when your head hits the pillow.

It works the other way too, with your sleep impacting your food choices. Both of these factors can influence your energy levels throughout the day. So, Merchant recommends “trying to keep a consistent sleeping and eating pattern, so that they are able to work together to supply your body with energy”. 

Dr Iqbal explains that there’s “growing evidence to suggest that the time you eat can impact your circadian rhythm”, also known as your sleep-wake cycle. As a result, eating too close to when you go to bed can potentially impact your sleep routine, and so “it’s best to eat earlier in the evening, allowing yourself a couple of hours to digest your meal before going to sleep”.

However, there is no hard and fast rule for when you should be eating.  “It’s important to listen to your body and how you feel, so aim to feel satisfied when you eat in the evening, but not stuffed or hungry,” Merchant says. “It all depends on what works well for you”. 

While no foods are ‘good’ or ‘bad’, it’s a fact that some contain energising properties that won’t be best suited to evening consumption. Both Merchant and Dr Iqbal particularly warn against the consumption of caffeine too late in the day, and sugary foods that can be stimulating. 

According to Merchant, some foods cause disrupted sleep simply because they take longer for the body to digest. If you’re struggling with your sleep, try to stay away from heavy proteins in your evening meals, and minimise the high-fat foods which require longer to be broken down. 

Food to avoid if you’re struggling to sleep

• Coffee
• Tea (caffeinated)
• High protein foods (red meats, whey shakes)
• High sugar snacks (sweets, fizzy drinks)

We’re not saying avoid these foods entirely – coffee and tea are great for us – but it’s about working out a cut-off point. If you struggle to drift off, experiment with not having coffee post-12pm, and make lunch your protein-heavy meal rather than dinner. Satisfy your sweet tooth at 3pm, but think about less sugary alternatives to sweets if you enjoy a post-dinner dessert. 

Merchant explains that kiwis are excellent sleep aids: “In a study, participants who started consuming kiwis regularly before bed were able to fall asleep 42% faster than they did before.” Foods high in melatonin are great as well, because melatonin is the hormone that helps to regulate your circadian rhythm. Dr Iqbal recommends cherries and nuts such as walnuts and almonds as good sources of this crucial hormone. 

Fatty fish such as salmon and tuna are a good option for your evening meal. They are a great source of vitamin D and omega 3 fatty acids, “which help to regulate serotonin, the hormone that is responsible for maintaining sleep”, explains Merchant. Milk contains vitamin D, too, as well as tryptophan, “both of which have been linked to supporting sleep”. If you’re looking for something sweet post-dinner, try making a glass of chocolate milk which is rich in protein, vitamin D and magnesium.

Magnesium has become one of the go-to minerals for sleep support, and for good reason. There’s a growing body of evidence to suggest that it can increase quality of sleep, shorted the time it takes for us to drift off and increase our production of melatonin. You don’t have to pop a supplement to reap the benefits either; foods such as spinach, nuts, salmon and banana are high in the mineral. Of course, no one’s suggesting that you should stick to a dinner of salmon and spinach but by eating a banana with breakfast, a handful of nuts as a snack and loading up on oily fish twice a week, you’ll keep your magnesium reserves topped up – ready to be used come the evening.

Food to eat more of

• Kiwi fruit
• Cherries and tart cherry juice
• Nuts (try to go for unsalted varieties)
• Salmon, tuna and other oily fish
• Milk
• Spinach
• Bananas

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Images: Getty