Do Carbs Impact Sleep?

Raphael Vallat, Ph.D. is a sleep researcher at the University of California, Berkeley who studies the science of sleep.

He pointed out that there is a lack of studies that directly address the directionality of the relationship between food intake and sleep.

Although it has been shown that sleep deprivation makes us more likely to crave snacks, there is less evidence to support the idea that carbohydrates have a direct effect on sleep.

Here, we’ll look at the evidence so far. We provide you with foods that help you sleep or keep you awake.

Not all carbohydrates are equal

We should mention that carbohydrates come in many forms. Fiber is healthy for you.

Fiber, which is found in fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds, is essential for gut health. This spice also helps with digestion and is linked to improved gut health. Whole grains are a complex carb and a good source of energy.

We have refined sugars at the less healthy end of the carb spectrum. These are the type of sugars you find in sugary sodas and processed foods.

The sugars in this food lead to sudden increases in blood sugar levels, which are linked to an increased chance of obesity, heart disease, and tooth decay.

Here’s a quick guide to some of the common terms for carbs:

• Fiber: A type of carb your body can’t digest. Found in fruit and veg, fiber is important for health.
• Complex carbs: Long strings of sugar molecules that are found in vegetables and whole grains. They’re a good source of energy.
• Simple carbs: Sugars like glucose, fructose, and sucrose that your cells can absorb quickly. You can find these in fruit and milk, for example.
• Refined or processed carbs: These are sugars or grains that have been refined, removing most nutrients. These are found in white pasta, white rice, white bread, and table sugar.
• Added sugars: Manufacturers add these to foods during processing. They tend to be simple carbs and don’t add any nutritional value.

We’ll examine both extremes, but we’ll mostly focus on added sugars.

Carbs and disrupted sleep

One of the challenging aspects of studying nutrition is that everyone has different dietary habits, and those habits can change over time.

It can be difficult to tell if someone is eating more sugar because they are tired, or if they are tired because they are eating more sugar.

To try to solve this problem, scientists have run small studies where they carefully monitor and control participants’ food intake.

For example, one group of researchers gave 26 participants the same food while they stayed in a sleep research facility for 6 days.

The scientists found that when participants ate higher levels of saturated fat and lower levels of fiber, they slept less soundly than when they ate their standard diet.

The researchers found that when participants ate more sugar or other non-fiber carbohydrates, they woke up more regularly throughout the night. Overall, the authors conclude:

A diet with lots of fiber and less sugar and other carbs might help people with bad sleep get better sleep.

Other scientists have also shown that consuming foods that are high in carbohydrates (but low in fiber) can cause a person to wake up more during the night.

A study looked at this question from the opposite direction. The researchers were interested to see if there would be any change in sleep patterns after following a strict low-carb diet for two days. To investigate, they recruited 14 healthy men aged 18–35.

The study found that consuming a low-carbohydrate diet reduced the amount of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, and increased the amount of deeper slow-wave sleep.

This texts suggest that different types of diets can have an effect on sleep. The keto diet, which is a low carbohydrate diet, might cause changes in sleep. Although it is not known whether this change in sleeping habits would have a lasting impact on health or not, it is still something to be considered.

Carbs and insomnia

One group of researchers investigated insomnia in postmenopausal women. Could carbohydrates be involved?

The authors of the study , who had access to data from tens of thousands people, concluded:

Consumption of large quantities of dietary refined sugars, starches, and grains was linked with a greater likelihood of developing insomnia.

They found that eating more fruit, vegetables, and fiber was associated with having less insomnia.

Different types of carbs have different effects on insomnia: Fiber is associated with reduced insomnia, and quick-release sugars are associated with increased insomnia.

This study, however, can’t prove cause and effect. People who are sleep deprived and have insomnia are more likely to choose foods that are high in energy.

Do carbs make you sleepy?

Although there is evidence to suggest that carbohydrates may have an impact on sleep, it is not clear whether or not this impact is negative or positive. Carbs may make one more tired and affect their sleep patterns.

A study from the 1980s shows this effect. The scientists gave the participants either a large dose of carbohydrates in supplement form or a placebo.

The participants who took the carb supplement woke up less during the night, had more REM sleep, and had less light sleep compared to the placebo group.

A different small trial that looked at 12 healthy men showed what happened to sleep when they ate a meal with a high-glycemic index versus a meal with a low-glycemic index.

The glycemic index is sometimes used by scientists to help determine how a food will affect blood sugar levels.

White rice is an example of something that is broken down quickly in your gut. For some people, this can cause blood sugar levels to rise rapidly. So, white rice has a high glycemic index.

At the other end of the scale, foods like vegetables and nuts tend to take much longer to digest and the sugar is released into the bloodstream slowly. Therefore, veggies and nuts have a low glycemic index.

It’s important to remember that everyone’s body responds differently to carbs. Two people who are identical twins could have different blood sugar responses to the same high-glycemic index meal.

The researchers also compared the results of the study when participants ate the meal either 1 or 4 hours before bed.

Eating a high-glycemic-index meal closer to bedtime made it easier for participants to fall asleep, but not when eaten further in advance.

The researchers found that the participants’ sleep patterns were not significantly affected by the change in daylight savings time.

Why might carbs influence sleep?

The scientists have some theories about why carbs might influence sleep, but they don’t know for sure.

The theory is that carbohydrates could disrupt your body’s natural sleep cycle.

A study has shown that a high carbohydrate meal in the evening will delay your circadian rhythm and suppress the release of melatonin.

The authors of the insomnia study think that the spikes in the blood sugar might be the reason why some carbs are harmful to sleep. The release of insulin is increased when blood sugar is high.

If insulin moves sugar too quickly away from the blood and into cells, it can cause a blood sugar crash. If the brain’s glucose levels get too low, it releases hormones like adrenaline to try to raise them back up to a safe level.

The countermeasures can have such strong effects that they can wake someone up from sleep.

Does Food Affect Your Sleep?

The timing, quantity, and quality of the foods you eat can all influence your sleep patterns. Would you be willing to change your diet if you knew it would help you sleep through the night? Here is your chance to do just that. Your food choices may be influencing how rested you feel each morning. Make a list of foods that will help you sleep better.

Eat Some Tryptophan Before Bed

Tryptophan is an amino acid that is often associated with drowsiness and sleepiness. It is commonly found in Thanksgiving meals, as it is said to have sleep-inducing powers. While it’s not exactly true that turkey makes you sleepy all by itself, it is true that turkey is a good source of tryptophan, an amino acid that helps produce serotonin, which is involved in sleep. But it’s hardly the only source of tryptophan. Zinc can also be found in chicken, ground beef, milk, nuts and seeds, honey, and bananas.

Tryptophan is an essential amino acid. To get this nutrient, your body needs to find it in the food you eat since it cannot produce it on its own. The amino acid tryptophan can be converted into the neurotransmitter serotonin, which can in turn be made into the hormone melatonin. Melatonin regulates your sleep-wake cycle. Your body produces melatonin mostly between the hours of 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. Most importantly for this article, melatonin triggers sleepiness. To produce melatonin from tryptophan, your body needs some extra help.

Try a Light, Carb-Filled Snack

Is there a link between carbs and sleep issues? If you’re searching for sleep, tryptophan has an ally in melatonin that needs special attention. Carbohydrates eaten with tryptophan can help serotonin levels to increase, which can cause sleepiness.

Tryptophan, an amino acid found in protein, must compete with other amino acids to cross the blood-brain barrier. This makes it more difficult for the tryptophan you eat to be converted into serotonin. However, eating carbs triggers insulin. Insulin lowers the amino acids in blood, with the exception of tryptophan. In other words, carbs facilitate the entry of tryptophan into the brain.

While it may help you to sleep to consume carbs with protein, it is more important to choose healthy carbs for your overall health. Some healthy bedtime snacks that contain complex carbs are whole-grain crackers with milk or a few lean bites of chicken with an orange or banana.

Should You Snack Before Bedtime?

Some people say that it is a good idea to go to bed hungry because it can help you lose weight. Even if 1700 calories a day sounds relaxing, you may fear gaining weight from midnight snacking.

You will want to handle this situation carefully. If you eat a lot of high-calorie foods late at night, you’re more likely to gain weight. It can also make it tougher to sleep, which is ironic because you would think that being tired would make it easier to sleep. However, insomnia can be worse on an empty stomach. If you don’t eat before bed, it will be harder to fall asleep and you will be more likely to wake up in the middle of the night from hunger. If you are worried about your weight, studies show that not getting enough sleep can make you hungrier. This means that if you don’t sleep well when you’re hungry, you may make up for it the next day by eating more than you normally would.

The best way to fall asleep quickly is to go to bed with a light snack in your stomach. Eating a light snack instead of a large meal will be less likely to make you feel tired. If you find that your light snack isn’t satisfying, try switching to a high-fiber light snack. Fiber makes you feel full longer, so you end up eating fewer calories.

Fatty Foods Can Harm Your Sleep

This tip doesn’t rely on when you eat. If you are mostly eating foods that are high in fat, especially saturated fat, you may not be getting good quality sleep. If you eat a lot of saturated fat, you won’t spend as much time in slow wave sleep.

This is the non-REM sleep that you get earlier in your sleep cycle and it is important. Your brain reinforces things you learned during the day while you sleep. If you don’t get enough slow wave sleep, it will be hard to learn new things.

Avoid Sneaky Caffeine Sources

It is not a good idea to drink coffee before bed if you want to sleep. Caffeine may be found in other foods that you would not expect. A cup of hot cocoa made from chocolate before bedtime may not be as soothing as one would think because chocolate contains caffeine. Some brands of root beer contain caffeine. Therefore, it is important to check the label to ensure that you are not accidentally stimulating your brain when you would rather be calming it.

Eat Better Throughout the Day

So far we have mostly looked at food that you eat right before bed. But that doesn’t tell the whole story. The nutritional quality of your food during the day has an effect on how you sleep at night. If you consume more calories from sugar and saturated fat, you are more likely to experience sleep issues. In contrast, diets rich in fiber and protein are associated with better sleep patterns.

The Good and Bad of Sleeping Pills

Sleeping pills may seem like an easy way to fix sleeping problems, but they can be dangerous. This means that about 1 in 12 adults in the US regularly use sleep aids to help them fall asleep. Sleeping pills can help you sleep better if used correctly and can help you develop a more regular sleep pattern. Sleeping pills can cause problems if they are not used carefully.

Before taking any sort of sleep medication, it is best to discuss it with your doctor. Your doctor will be able to help you find a medication that is right for you based on your sleep symptoms, medical history and age. Be cautious when taking these drugs as many of them can be addictive. Most people use them for a short time because of this.