You tried everything to help yourself drift off, but it is only getting harder to fall or stay asleep? You don’t have the energy that you need to go about your day-to-day life. 

Today, we will discuss how to establish a healthy evening routine. Finding ways to promote peaceful and restful sleep is something very important. There is a lot out there on morning routines and there are comments on evening routines but it’s an area where a lot more people seem to struggle with. There could be many reasons for that, whether it’s related to having a hard time falling asleep or having a hard time staying asleep.  

We’re all in agreement that sleep is important, there is a lot of data that shows inadequate sleep can lead to poor health outcomes, whether that be things like depression, heart disease, or weight issues. Maybe you’ve heard as well about how when we’re sleep deprived our hunger hormone makes us feel more in touch with feelings of hunger. Overall being short on sleep makes it just hard for us to function at our best. Cognitively speaking and emotionally speaking so there is no debate over the fact that sleep is important. This blog aims to give you the most useful practices promoting restful sleep encouraged by registered nutritionists and dietitians.

Research findings

Most research at this point anyway showed that the optimal amount of sleep is about 7 to 8 hours per night for healthy adults and of course there is always going to be different views from doctors that it is less hours or more but nearly and closely like the accepted average. But usually if we are talking about getting adequate sleep, we’re looking to aim for that 7-to-8-hour amount.

Finding your structure 

  

Let’s get started, first off just establishing a healthy sleep routine. So, that really begins before you go to bed. Registered nutritionists and dietitians have found that one thing that’s useful  for getting into a good routine is to provide some structure for yourself. It doesn’t have to be something super complicated or super restrictive but some guide and framework that you can work within. One way that you can translate it to a healthy evening routine is having your ideal bedtime and then working backwards to figure out what time you need to start winding down for the day. It is understandable, there is always going to be those things that are out of our control, meaning if we have a job where we have to show up physically or virtually at a certain time or of course if we have children or pets, these might play a huge role in what time we wake up and go to bed. 

How to work backwards

As best you can tune into what feels like your ideal bedtime, whether that’s based on what feels best for your body or whether what is ideal for your schedule and responsibilities.  Follow these steps to transition into a healthier evening routine. 

Find your ideal wake up time 

Work backwards, so if you want to wake up (x) time, you can count what time you should sleep to have 8 hours of sleep to wake up at (x) time. From there give yourself 30 to 60 minutes, ideally 60 minutes every evening before bed. I know it can be a struggle sometimes, but it is crucial to just give yourself that little leisure time to wind down at the end of the day slowly. This helps your body and mind mentally prepare for rest. 

Set an alarm

 

There’s a good chance to stay consistent when you practice following a schedule, hence it is encouraged to set an alert on your phone or whatever works best for you as a reminder to start getting ready for bed.  For a lot of us, we fall down that rabbit hole of checking one more email, one more social media post or doing one more task. If you are also like this and feel like you cannot go to sleep quickly, 60 minutes is a good time for you to take those things into account, you can also identify the things that make you more likely to stay up.

Food for restful sleep 

You do want to aim to have a little bit of time to digest before bed, that could be just an hour during the same 60 minutes we discussed in (Set an alarm). 

It doesn’t have to be as strict as closing the kitchen at 6pm and then going to bed at 10pm, for a lot of people that doesn’t work and that’s okay cause honestly for a lot of folks going to bed on empty stomach can make it even harder to go to sleep. On the flip side of that, having a heavy meal at the end of the day right before you lay down can lead to discomfort and heartburn as your body is working hard to digest that meal. 

Here’s a few different compounds that play a role in our sleep. Nutritionist and dieticians target food which increases. 

Melatonin

Melatonin is a hormone that regulates sleep-wake cycles. It signals to your body that it is time to sleep, helping you fall asleep faster and enjoy more restful sleep.

Certain foods naturally contain melatonin for example tart cherries, particularly Montmorency cherries, are among the best sources of natural melatonin.  Grapes, Tomatoes and walnuts are also high in melatonin.

Serotonin 

This helps regulate sleep by contributing to the production of melatonin, the hormone that controls sleep-wake cycles. Adequate serotonin levels can lead to better sleep quality and more consistent sleep patterns.

Tryptophan

Tryptophan is an amino acid that helps produce serotonin, which is then converted into melatonin. Consuming tryptophan-rich foods can support the production of melatonin and improve sleep quality.

This is usually found pretty much in all animal proteins, so that could be meat, fish, eggs, dairy products but you can also find it in some plant foods like bananas, chickpeas, oats and honey. 

Calcium

Calcium helps the brain use tryptophan to produce melatonin. Adequate calcium levels can support the synthesis of melatonin, contributing to better sleep.

You don’t necessarily have to take a supplement, however dairy products are going to be your most well-known source, but you are also going to get some calcium in leafy green, salmon and tofu. 

Vitamin B6

Vitamin B6 is essential for the conversion of tryptophan into serotonin and then into melatonin. It helps regulate the sleep cycle and can improve sleep quality.

Its be found in many different foods but to highlight some known sources, you can find it in beans, wholegrains, fish, chicken, potatoes and bananas 

Potassium

Potassium helps with muscle relaxation and nerve function. Adequate potassium levels can prevent muscle cramps and promote deeper, more restorative sleep.

Spinach, avocados, white beans and yogurt are good examples of rich potassium food. 

Magnesium

Magnesium supports relaxation by regulating neurotransmitters that calm the nervous system. It also helps with muscle relaxation and can improve sleep quality and duration. It also plays a role in blood pressure and blood sugar. 

Why is this important for sleep? Well, if your blood sugar is spiking or dipping and all over the place, it is going to be hard for you to stay in a restful state of sleep. 

Carbohydrates 

Lastly, carbs get such a bad reputation in the media, but the truth is, we do need carbohydrates for certain things in our body. In respect to sleep, eating carbohydrates can increase the uptake of tryptophan by the brain. When we consume carbs, it causes an insulin release which promotes amino acid absorbent.  This doesn’t mean that we should be eating sugary unhealthy things but focus on the more complex carbs, that could be whole grains, beans, sweet potatoes, fruits.