Sleep is a very important function in our lives: suffice it to say that man spends about 1/3 of his existence sleeping. It is not only a time when we rest, but also a phase in which many important functions take place, including physiological and brain functions.
For this reason, respecting the right amount of sleeping hours and ensuring that this sleep is of good quality is extremely important to preserve one's health, both physical and mental.
A healthy adult should sleep no less than 6 continuous hours per night, while for children the hours can be as much as 12-14, depending on age. The important thing is that sleep is of good quality and contributes significantly to the physical and psychological well-being needed to cope with everyday life. But not everyone succeeds in this: there are individuals who may have difficulty falling asleep or individuals who have frequent awakenings; individuals who wake up very early and then are unable to fall asleep again or with sleep quality disorders such as snoring. Whatever the characteristic of poor quality sleep, it has now been very clearly demonstrated how it can be correlated with very significant chronic degenerative diseases.
There is indeed a relationship between poor sleep quality, sleep duration and obesity and metabolic diseases (not only in adults, but also in children and adolescents), just as there is a relationship between sleep quality, cardiovascular diseases and high blood pressure.
Therefore, it is very important that an individual who wants to maintain a good state of health observes as much as possible a healthy lifestyle that includes:
- a healthy, balanced diet;
- adequate hydration;
- good physical exercise;
- a good quality (and quantity) of sleeping hours.
Nutrition has a clear effect on sleep. But it is also true that those who sleep well more easily maintain a healthy weight.
The more balanced your diet, the better you rest during the night. A good night's sleep promotes the release of leptin, a hormone that puts a brake on hunger pangs and consequently allows you to manage your body weight, whereas people who get little sleep have higher levels of ghrelin, which has the opposite effect. These people eat more and are unable to curb their hunger.
The consumption of mainly sugary and nervine foods, on the other hand, has been correlated with poor sleep, interspersed with an excessive number of awakenings.
Let us look in detail at the role of certain foods:
Both coffee and alcohol are enemies of rest: on the one hand, it reduces the time it takes to fall asleep, but on the other hand, it worsens the quality of rest, reducing the deep phase that most affects physical recovery and memorisation.
Chocolate, cocoa, and tea should also be avoided in the evening: they stimulate the wakefulness centres and prevent easy falling asleep. Other renunciations to be practised at dinner concern ‘sodium-rich ingredients: curry, pepper, paprika, canned foods, crisps, saltines and all those dishes in which sodium glutamate (E620) has been used.
On the other hand, there are several foods that help relax the body's various functions: pasta, rice, bread, barley, lettuce, red radicchio, onion, garlic, pumpkin, turnips, cabbage, fresh cheese, yoghurt, boiled eggs.
Specifically, pasta, rice, barley and bread contain an amino acid, tryptophan, which promotes the synthesis of serotonin: a fundamental neuromediator for well-being, relaxation and deep sleep.
(Article by Dr. Cristina Giusto)
