Dr. Berg’s Healthy Keto and Intermittent Fasting Podcast

5 Foods That Improve Sleep Quality

Jul 29, 2024

07:53

Snipd AI

Discover how to enhance your sleep quality by optimizing melatonin levels. Learn about five foods that can boost melatonin, including tart cherries and kiwis, which have shown significant benefits for sleep duration and quality. Explore the importance of room temperature, ideally between 60 and 69 degrees, and the negative impact of blue light in the evening. Additionally, find out what substances and habits to avoid before bedtime to achieve restful sleep.

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Quick takeaways

Maintaining a room temperature between 60 and 69 degrees Fahrenheit is essential to optimize melatonin levels for better sleep quality.

Incorporating melatonin-boosting foods like tart cherries and kiwis can significantly improve sleep duration and overall quality.

Deep dives

Optimizing Sleep Temperature and Meal Timing

Maintaining an ideal room temperature is crucial for optimizing melatonin levels, which directly impacts sleep quality. The best temperature range for sleep is between 60 and 69 degrees Fahrenheit, with 65 degrees as the optimal setting. Higher temperatures, such as 75 degrees and above, significantly lower melatonin production and disrupt REM sleep. Additionally, altering meal timing can benefit sleep, as consuming large meals close to bedtime can negatively affect the ability to fall asleep; it is recommended to have most meals earlier in the day for better energy and sleep outcomes.

Harnessing Nature for Restful Sleep

01:20

Enhancing Sleep Quality Through Diet and Environmental Awareness

8min

In this podcast, I’m going to tell you how to improve your sleep quality for your best, restful sleep. To do this, you need to optimize the hormone melatonin. Boosting melatonin is great for better sleep, but you also want to avoid the things that inhibit melatonin.

If the temperature is 75 or warmer in your room when you sleep, you will have significantly lower melatonin. Keep the temperature between 60 and 69 to optimize melatonin for your best sleep.

Sleeping after consuming a large meal can interfere with your sleep. If you’re doing intermittent fasting, try having your first meal at breakfast and your last meal at lunchtime.

Avoid blue light in the evening because it suppresses melatonin. Try increasing sun exposure during the day, which provides vitamin D and also helps build up melatonin.

EMF waves, caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, medications, high-carb diets, and exercise before bed inhibit melatonin. Avoid these things for better sleep.

Try these 5 foods to boost melatonin and improve sleep quality:

1. Tart cherries contain melatonin and tryptophan, which turns into serotonin and then melatonin. Research has shown that tart cherry consumption increases sleep for some people by 84 minutes!

2. Kiwis contain serotonin, a precursor to melatonin. One study found that people who consumed 2 kiwis per day for 4 weeks had a significant improvement in quality of sleep, length of sleep, the time it takes to fall asleep, and the feeling of being refreshed upon waking.

3. Fatty fish like salmon, tuna, and trout boost melatonin.

4. Kefir is similar to yogurt but has even more microbes. Try blending it with berries, which are rich in polyphenols for better sleep.

5. Sauerkraut contains microbes and tryptophan to help improve your sleep. Cabbage also increases the neurotransmitter GABA, which helps calm you down.

Focusing on slow breathing through your nose can also improve sleep.

DATA:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21669...

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...