Impact of Junk Food on Sleep

What is the Impact of junk food on sleep?

Impact of junk food on sleep has a large number of injurious effects on the human body. All types of junk foods, such as, burgers, pizza, cakes, and carbonated sodas also have a large number of effects as well as they, play a major part in harming the natural rhythm of the human body such as increased cravings and unhealthy sleep cycle, which means more and more damage to the human health.

Eating junk food regularly has a large number of negative effects -one of them is hampering the sleep cycle of the individual. Another impact of junk food on sleep gives rise to sleeplessness and food cravings shortly.

According to a phone-based survey in which 3105 adults participated, the question was asked if they regularly consumed a late-night snack and this led to poor digestion due to midnight craving for the snack. Around 60% of the total participants declared that they usually munch on late-night snacks, out of which two-thirds reported that they had a bad night’s sleep, due to junk food cravings.

Several co-related facts include that poor sleep quality leads to an increased urge to consume junk food, which is further related to conditions like diabetes and obesity. The impact of junk food on sleep also leads to the formation of a vicious cycle which increases junk food cravings, which causes certain serious diseases to build up in an individual due to over-consumption of unhealthy foods daily. The main question which arises here is what to do to tackle low-quality sleep? Or what are the habits which can save an individual from sleeping poorly? The answer to all of these questions is really simple.

Mindful activities like meditation, reading books, and listening to music can help you out with a bad night’s sleep and can even help you in eradicating poor sleep quality. Although this does not mean ignoring your genuine hunger. Choose a low-calorie snack such as fruits, salads, or yoghurt during such times. The other important thing that we need to talk about is the relationship between proper sleep and an individual’s health. 

If you’ve been conscious about the calories of your body lately and have also started with some workouts, but you stay up all night binge-watching Netflix and other OTT platforms, even after the glare that harms your eyes, you are certainly putting a limit to the growth of your own body. To receive the optimum amount of health for your body, you need to balance exercise, food, and sleep schedule – everything at its best. Together, they create the basic foundation for overall good health and well-being.

A healthy diet and good sleep are very interconnected realms. A healthy diet can promise you a sound sleep and can even help you in getting asleep faster, getting good quality sleep and help you in eating better. A diet specially curated for sleep promotion must include fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and dairy products. Such a diet also keeps a check on portion size and restricts high sugar consumption and heavily processed food articles. The diversity of nutrients found in the diet provides particular benefits to sleep.

As you already read that some food articles are beneficial for sleep, in the same manner, many food articles can cause trouble in sleeping. Foods that can potentially interfere with your sleep cycle include high-sugar, high-carbohydrate, and heavily processed foods. Eating high-sugar foods regularly can not only ruin your sleep cycle but also cause a change in the sugar levels of the blood, which can induce fatigue in the body.

As a result, your body is exposed to high sugar levels and fatigue which is not at all good for the human body. Having a heavy meal close to bedtime interferes with the natural sleep cycle of the body. Being too full at a time close to bedtime can distract you from falling asleep and even deteriorate sleep quality. 

Consuming caffeinated drinks can surely boost your mental clarity and alertness which can help you focus on your work, especially in the early hours of the day. But according to the reports of the national sleep foundation, if caffeine is consumed in extra amounts, that too during late hours of the day, can interfere with your sleep cycle to a great extent. Caffeine stays in the bloodstream for up to 6 hours after consumption. Therefore, it is advised not to consume caffeine during the late hours if you want to experience a sound sleep at the end of the day. 

Another question that arises here is, what are the causes of poor sleep? or what are the reasons behind poor sleep? Poor sleep can be a primary problem, or it can also be associated with other underlying medical conditions.

Common causes

• Stress.
• Travel or work schedule.
• Poor sleep habits.
• Certain medications invoke sleeplessness.
• Caffeine.
• Nicotine.
• Alcohol.

Other factors include:

• Physical factors (such as ulcers).
• Medical factors (such as asthma).
• Psychiatric factors (such as depression and anxiety disorders).
• Genetics.
• Ageing (adults over the age of 65 generally have trouble sleeping).
• Shift work.
• Meeting deadlines.
• A noisy sleeping environment.
• A sleeping environment that is not at the right temperature.
• Keeping electronics in the bedroom.
• Using gadgets for long periods close to bedtime.
• Health-related problems (such as sleep apnea).
• Caring for another person during the night.

These are some of the most common reasons that may be the cause of your poor sleep. We have also listed the methods by which you can fix your sleeping schedule. Hope this helps!

Stay healthy, stay safe!

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