Sleep Awareness Week begins on March 14. According to the National Sleep Foundation, adults should be getting between seven and nine hours of sleep per night.
However, 68% of adults say they struggle with sleep at least once a week.
“You have a risk of heart disease, cancers and stroke because sleep is like a medicine. That’s your time when you rejuvenate,” Jagdish Khubchadani, PhD, said.
But the key to getting a good night’s rest might be in what you do and don’t eat.
An apple a day may keep the doctor away, but it can also keep you awake. Apples are filled with natural sugar, which are slowly released in the body, keeping you alert and awake.
So can adding hot sauce to your meal before bed. Hot sauce raises your body temperature at bedtime making it harder to fall asleep.
But Asian foods containing soy, such as edamame or miso soup, are rich in magnesium, a mineral that can relax muscles and make it easier to fall asleep.
Some other foods to help you get some ZZZ’s include avocados, hummus, dark chocolate, bananas, cherries, fish and nuts.
And for wine lovers, go ahead and have that glass of red wine before bed. The skin on grapes used to make red wine contains melatonin, the sleep-producing hormone we naturally produce.