Experts reveal the festive foods to improve your sleep this Christmas

With the festivities and Christmas parties fast approaching, sleep experts have shared what foods you should eat before bed to ensure you get a good night's sleep and are well-rested this Christmas. 

Anush Pervez, a sleep expert at SleepSeeker has commented: 

“We recommend aiming for between 7 and 9 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night to help boost your immune system and keep your brain healthy. This sleep is often reduced or heavily disrupted by all of December's festive activities, however, to keep up your energy and health levels during the festive period, it’s important to ensure that you are getting enough sleep. One factor that is often overlooked, especially during the holidays, is how your diet can affect your sleep quality. 

“The foods you eat and the timings of your meals can influence how easily you fall asleep and how restful the night is. A light snack before bed is recommended, especially for insomniacs as having a small amount of food in your system can help you to sleep and will prevent any hunger-related disturbances. Similarly, any heavy meals should be eaten within 2-3 hours of going to bed, to prevent indigestion and discomfort. Christmas meals and party food tend to be quite heavy, so this is worth noting if you’re festivities go on into the evening.

“Everyone reacts differently to food, however, as a general rule some items, such as coffee and other caffeine drinks, should be limited to earlier hours of the day to prevent any disruptions to your sleep. Similarly, there are certain foods that we encourage you to incorporate into your meals and snacks in the later hours of the day and luckily many of them are often associated with the Christmas season”

6 foods and drinks that can help you sleep better:

Turkey 

While eating a large amount of protein right before going to sleep is not recommended, in moderation foods such as turkey can help to improve sleep quality and reduce disturbances. Turkey contains tryptophan, an amino acid that increases the body's melatonin levels and helps with sleep. With turkey being a festive favourite, it's an easy food to incorporate into your diet to help you sleep better this December. 

Fatty Fish

Incorporating fish such as salmon or tuna into your dinners is an easy way to increase your vitamin D intake. A lack of vitamin D can increase the risk of sleep disorders and difficulties sleeping so alongside making an effort to spend some time outside, increasing the quantity of vitamin D-rich foods in your diet can help to improve sleep. 

Herbal Teas

Switching out one of your daily coffees for a herbal tea like Chamomile can also help improve your sleep quality. Chamomile tea helps to reduce anxiety which in turn can lead to more restful sleep. Similarly, it contains antioxidants which have been said to reduce insomnia. Having a nice hot mug of herbal tea in front of a Christmas movie is the perfect way to unwind and prepare yourself for bed this festive season. 

Honey 

Adding a small amount of honey to an afternoon snack or evening meal can also have sleep benefits. Honey contains the sugar glucose which can lower the brain's orexin levels, a neuropeptide which regulates wakefulness. Adding a drop of honey to your tea is a great way to combine these two sleep-inducing ingredients. 

Nuts

We recommend eating nuts such as walnuts and pistachios which, alongside being high in vitamins and minerals, are some of the most melatonin-rich foods. Due to their high levels of melatonin, eating a handful of these nuts before bed may help improve your sleep quality. Roasted nuts are another great festive favourite so if you’re struggling to sleep but still want some festivity in your life, try snacking on these an hour or so before bedtime. 

Cranberries

Cranberries are an incredibly popular festive food. Be it a side of cranberry sauce or brie and cranberry canape the berries are a December staple. The fruit is high in vitamin C and melatonin which help to improve your sleep and sleep cycle making it the perfect food to incorporate into your diet this Christmas.