"Sweet" Dreams

I have just come home after doing the grocery shopping with a slightly sick feeling in my stomach. This is not because Jerusalem is currently experiencing a dust storm and I must have inhaled at least a kilogram of dust by now nor is it due to the absolutely unfriendly, unhelpful staff synonymous with the Israeli shopping experience.

The amount of junk food on display enticing the consumer to buy truckloads of this sugared junk was simply overwhelming. It is as if the store-owner placed a highly sophisticated bomb in the store, filled it with chocolate and candy and set it off to explode at the precise moment when all the Jews are looking for food to place in their mishluach manot (Purim gifts). Most of the candies displayed were really gooey balls of preservatives coated with large amounts of sugar disguised as something you can actually eat.

Of course come Purim we will happily exchange your bag of sugared junk for our bag of sugared junk and watch our kids spike a sugar rush as the day continues. The connection between a diet rich in simple carbohydrates (candy, cakes and cookies) and bad sleep well documented.

High sugar foods lead to a rise in blood sugar levels. This in turn signals the pancreas to release the hormone insulin which results a significant drop in blood sugar levels. In order to try and re-stabilize blood sugar levels, the body will signal the adrenal glands to release the stress hormone adrenaline which counteracts sleep and feelings of fatigue.

Our nerve cells (neurons) continuously communicate with each other via chemical messengers called neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters can either excite or calm the nervous system. One of the main neurotransmitters regulating sleep is called serotonin. Serotonin is made from the amino acid tryptophan. So it would be sensible to suggest that eating foods rich in tryptophan would in turn increase the production of serotonin and ultimately calm the nervous system and ready our bodies for sleep.

Foods rich in the amino acid tryptophan include turkey, chicken, milk, egg, nuts (almonds, cashews and walnuts), bananas, beans, fish, cheese and oats. However these foods should be eaten at least two hours before bedtime to allow for the proper absorption and digestion of tryptophan. If your bedtime routine is similar to mine then dinner, bath and bedtime follow in quick succession. Try giving your child these foods to eat at lunch or as an afternoon snack (oatmeal and bananas; scrambled eggs; yogurt or cheese on crackers). This will allow enough time for the tryptophan to be absorbed. Naturally avoid afternoon snacks such as sugared candy, processed juice and caffeine (e.g. soda).

I am not saying that a healthy diet will guarantee a good night’s sleep but there is a definite, measurable connection between the two.

I am sure the store-owner is not going to lose any sleep worrying about the upcoming candy induced sugar rush he helped promote. I know that Purim is a one day deviation from our normal healthy diets (actually it’s more like a three day weekend if you live in Jerusalem) but my message is clear. What we eat during the day is going to have a significant impact on our sleep. Keep it healthy!