Sandrine from Savoir Fayre is a returning guest from Season 1. We chatted about how food can impact your quality of sleep. I love food and I love a good night’s sleep. Doesn’t everyone? Sometimes a good night’s sleep can feel elusive, but as well as creating a bedtime routine, see part 1 of the blog, we can also supplement a good night’s sleep with the food we eat.
During the podcast Sandrine gave great advice on how nutrition can affect your sleep. She also put one of my food myths to bed (Pardon the pun!). I always thought that Bananas were good for sleep, but actually they are probably much better in the morning for a boost of energy, as they contain sugar. If you like a banana, have half with a little nut butter for protein. Great idea for a snack.
Speaking of snacks, this week 11th January 2021 I am taking part in Savoir Fayre’s Snack Attack challenge. I’ve had some bad habits creep in over Christmas and they are lingering, so what better way to shake up and change some habits by joining this free 5 day challenge. Don’t worry if you missed it this time. I’m sure they’ll be another one in the future.
Sandine’s Top tips for a bedtime routine
Low level lighting before bed.
Reduce screen time ideally switch off an hour before bedtime.
Buy an alarm clock and charge your phone up in another room.
Keep your phone in another room at nighttime to remove the temptation.
Eat your main meal in the middle of the day – enjoy a lighter tea for easy digestion.
Alcohol can disrupt your quality of sleep. Avoid if you can, or limit your intake.
Reduce caffeine.
Balancing food intake throughout the day can help improve sleep.
Spray a lavender mist before bed.
Keep moving, exercise reduces stress and it helps you sleep.
Sandrine’s Lifestyle tips
Young children don’t catch up on sleep in the morning so they need to go to sleep at the same. Children often enjoy a routine.
Take a Vitamin D test to see if your deficient as this can impact mood, sleep and hormones and bone health.
Do things that make you smile.
Anyone can learn to cook.
Cook with the seasons.
Food to avoid before bed
Sugary foods
Alcohol
Fruit
Chocolate
Foods to promote sleep
Tryptophan amino acid is found in protein and is a precursor to serotonin the feel good hormone found in things such as turkey, chicken, dairy products, pumpkin seeds
My highlights from the podcast were
Becoming aware of how nutrients change and affect us differently as we get older.
Sandrine share’s her ideal sleep routine vs the reality of the sleep routine with a 3 year old who doesn’t want to go to sleep at the moment
Sandrine’s 3 year old daughter likes a little sing a long at 3am
Lack of sleep can encourage eating sugary foods – lack of sleep effects the leptin hormone (This helps us to feel full) and ghrelin (feel hunger) hormone.org will give you more details on the hormones if you’d like to dig further.
There is no one size fits all when it comes to nutrition you need to look at the whole person.
We discuss how sleep has change through the ages a little – modern day life has altered the way we work, the way we’re entertained with box sets, screens in general, and in our grandparent’s day they’d often use to go to bed when it got dark.
How lack of sleep can affect us, we can become scatty, forgetful and clumsy. Sleep is so important for repairing the body and helps us keep on top of things.
How food can change your life for the better.
We discussed how we can pretend we’re travelling by cooking a meal based on a country we’ve been too. Great for a Friday night especially in lock down to mark the end of the week.
Sandrine’s challenges – Snack attack, Fire up your immunity
*First published January 2021
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