Food & Diet Strategies to Promote Sleep

Limit your consumption of caffeine, including coffee, cola, tea, chocolate milk. Consume no caffeine at least 4 hours before sleeping.

Limit the intake of liquids for the last 2 hours before the end of the night shift so that you have less need for elimination when you are wanting to sleep during the day.

Eat adequately so that hunger does not prevent you from sleeping.

Because proteins tend to promote alertness, you will want to avoid protein foods before sleep and have complex carbohydrate-type foods (whole wheat toast, oatmeal, etc.) to promote sleep.

Limit alcohol, especially before sleep. Alcohol usually induces sleep, but it reduces the quality of sleep.

Some specialists advocate a "fasting and feasting" strategy for readjusting sleeping and eating schedules. It works well for some people, but requires diligence and a good deal of attention to not only the food you eat, but what time it is consumed. If you want to know more about this strategy, you can review some of the literature about jet lag.

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