— Joel Kahn, M.D., mbg class instructor and author of Your Whole Heart Solution Before I go into what I eat for a great night’s sleep, let me tell you what I don’t eat and what will surely interfere with the quality of your sleep. If you want to have sound sleep, then in the evening you have to avoid alcohol, sugar, and caffeine. You may say, “Well I get sleepy after a glass of wine,” and this may be true, but the effect is transient and only lasts for half of the night, while during the second half it interferes with REM, leading to an unsatisfactory night’s rest. In addition, the drop in your blood sugar that inevitably will happen an hour or two later after a drink will interrupt your sleep as well. So, now that you know what to avoid if you want an amazing night’s sleep, what do I eat to improve sleep quality? It starts with a well-balanced dinner more than three hours before bedtime, because you can’t sleep well on a full stomach. With my dinner, I get the right proportion of macro-nutrients (fat, protein, and carbohydrates) in order to provide steady energy throughout the night’s fast. I like to divide the plate in quarters: ¼ protein, ¼ healthy omega-3 fat, and ½ complex carbohydrates (mostly greens). One specific food on my favorites list for a great night’s sleep is a baked sweet potato. They are rich in potassium, which helps your muscles relax. They also have magnesium, which promotes GABA secretion in the brain—a relaxation-inducing neurotransmitter. As a complex carb, they digest slowly, providing the steady energy your body needs to make it through the night in a fasting state. And their vitamin B6 content becomes a co-factor for a number of important chemical reactions in the brain, including serotonin and melatonin production—the sleep-inducing hormone. —Vincent Pedre, M.D., and author of Happy Gut —Dr. Will Cole, instructor of The Elimination Diet —Tiffany Lester, M.D. and creator of The Unconscious Workout To set myself up for a great night of sleep, I eat a handful of sprouted almonds. Almonds contain fat and protein, to give us stable blood sugar throughout the night, magnesium, which promotes the relaxation response, and tryptophan, which may promote melatonin production and sleepiness. I prefer to eat almonds that have been sprouted because this deactivates something called phytic acid. This way you have a better shot at absorbing all the nutrients in the almonds. —Ellen Vora, M.D. and instructor of mbg classes on anxiety and insomnia —Terry Wahls, M.D., mbg class instructor and author of The Wahls Protocol: Cooking For Life
