Quality sleep is one of the key pillars of good health that is often ignored by most people. After a sleepless and restless night, most of us feel lethargic the whole of the next day. An improvement in diet can have positive repercussions on our sleep leading to better overall health. India’s eminent dietician and nutritionist Avni Kaul shares some key foods that may help us sleep better.
1. Add a banana to your diet
Bananas are rich in potassium and vitamin B6. They help the body to make melatonin (a sleep-inducing hormone triggered by darkness). Unless you are diabetic, you may add one banana to your evening snack to improve your sleep quality.
2. Nuts for bedtime snacks
Nuts are great bedtime snacks as they are packed with magnesium and tryptophan that boosts serotonin levels in the brain. Serotonin is the key hormone that stabilizes our mood, feelings of well-being, and happiness and improves our sleep quality. Hence keep a small bowl of walnuts, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, or sunflower seeds in your snacks jar.
3. Cup of Dahi
Sometimes poor sleep is an outcome of calcium deficiency, especially in women and in senior citizens. Hence adding a cup of Dahi (Curd) to your daily diet will not only boost your gut health but also balance the calcium level in the body. Since calcium is needed for processing the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin, dahi can also improve your sleep quality.
4. Dark leafy vegetables – Spinach, broccoli and Kale
Dark leafy vegetables like spinach, broccoli and kale (in case if you don’t find Kale with your regular vegetable vendor you can order it from online vege-stores, or get it from premium vegetable shops like Khan Market, Greater Kailash, etc) contains a high dose of Vitamin B that helps treat insomnia condition.
