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A DIETICIAN has revealed how takeaways and junk food could be preventing you from getting a good night’s sleep.

Registered dietician Carrie Gabriel highlighted several foods – including Brits’ favourite pizza – that could be keeping you up.

AlamyA dietician has revealed how takeaways and junk food could be preventing you from getting a good night’s sleep[/caption]

GettyRegistered dietician Carrie Gabriel highlighted several foods – including Brits’ favourite pizza – that could be keeping you up[/caption]

She also pointed out a mistake people often make before bed which could have a detrimental effect.

Eating a big meal just before taking to your pillow can be difficult to digest and lead to heartburn and acid reflux.

She told Everyday Health: “People with a more chronic form of acid reflux known as gastrointestinal reflux disorder, or GERD, can have more issues with sleeping.”

Acid reflux is when the muscle at the bottom of the esophagus malfunctions – allowing food in the stomach to flow back up.

Lying down after a big meal -as well as certain types of foods – can make the condition worse.

On average, adults need between seven and nine hours of sleep a night, the NHS says.

It might be worth seeing if your diet could be interfering with the amount of sleep you getting.

It’s worth noting though that everyone’s bodies’ differ and foods that affect you might not impact someone else.

Gabriel, along with other dietitians say the following foods are the most common culprits that can effect your sleep.

PIZZA

Overly processed junk food certainly won’t do your sleep any favours.

Pizza though is particularly bad as it is a double whammy – it is high in saturated fat and sodium.

Gabriel said: “Foods that are higher in saturated fat should be avoided at night – for example, butter, ice cream, and fried foods like French fries.”

A small study published in January 2016 in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine found that 26 normal-weight adults who usually slept between seven and nine hours a night who ate saturated fat throughout the day led to lighter and “less restorative” sleep.

Fellow dietician Bonnie Taub-Dix said: “Many highly processed foods are also salty, which could cause you to wake up during the night to reach for something to drink.”

SMOOTHIES

Excessive amounts of sugar has been linked to a number of health problems – including diabetes, weight gain, high blood pressure and fatty liver disease, and it can also make sleep more difficult.

While avoiding culprits such as chocolate, doughnuts, pies, desserts and soda before bed may be well known, smoothies may seem like a healthy snack to have.

The BMJ Open published research in March 2016 which examined beverages marketed to kids in the UK and discovered that packaged smoothie products averaged even more sugar per serving (around two and a half teaspoons) than juice.

Around 40 per cent of the products tested were found to contain nearly four teaspoons of sugar.

Taub-Dix said: “Sugar plays a role in many of our health woes, so it’s probably not surprising to see it come up on a list of foods to avoid at bedtime.”

She added that refined sugars can induce rapid fluctuations in your blood-glucose levels, which can spike adrenaline and make it difficult to fall asleep.

Gabriel added: “If you are hungry before bed, a complex carbohydrate or protein is a better choice, like whole-wheat toast or a banana with Greek yogurt.

“Try eating an open-faced peanut butter or almond butter sandwich on whole-grain bread.

“Almond or peanut butter are both high in protein and healthy, unsaturated fat, while whole-wheat bread offers fibre and more complex carbohydrates than white bread, keeping your blood-sugar levels stable while you sleep.”

Bananas are a good choice before bedtime as they have high levels of potassium, magnesium and fibre, all of which were found to help sound sleep, according to a study published in February 2019 in the journal Cureus.

CHEESE

While the protein in cheese provides tryptophan -an amino acid that may aid in relaxation and sleep – Gabriel said not all cheeses have that effect.

Strong or aged cheeses such as cheddar, Gruyère, and Parmesan contain high amounts of the amino acid tyramine, which increases heart rate, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Gabriel said: “If you are looking for something creamy before bedtime, try some almond butter on a few crackers instead.”

Those foods contain magnesium, which research indicates may help ease insomnia.

HOT SAUCE

Hot, spicy foods can cause acid reflux.

Taub-Dix said:  “Acid reflux is more likely to occur during sleep when we’re lying down, at which time a mix of stomach acid and foods being digested can flow back up through the esophagus.

“Many people find that eating spicy foods can cause this effect during the day, let alone at bedtime, when the negative impact can be compounded.”

Anyone having spicy foods for dinner should wait three hours before going to bed to avoid worsening any potential acid reflux that might result from lying down.

Gabriel said: “This allows digestion to occur and the contents of your stomach to move into your small intestine.

“This may prevent problems like heartburn at night and even insomnia. The same goes for spicy food.”

Some research shows that foods containing capsaicin, which is responsible for spice’s heat, may interfere with sleep by raising body temperature.