Seoul, Korea — As the beginning of a new year, many adults’ resolutions are drinking in moderation and quitting smoking.

Normally, when asked about the food that stops sleep, most people will answer coffee. Caffeine inhibits sleep but there are other substances that people don’t know about, and those are alcohol and nicotine.

The alcohol in alcoholic drinks lessens uneasiness and induces sleep by calming down people. However that is only for the first and second drink. The amount of alcohol in one or two glasses of drinks is small but if you take in more than that, then the balance of sleep and awakening in broken.

One should avoid excessive drinking because large amount of alcohol intake is not only bad for the body but is also bad for one’s sleep pattern.

Also, not only alcohol but nicotine in the smoke of cigarettes has awakening properties so if you have a hard time sleeping, you have to be careful.

Contrary to this, there are substances that induce deep and calm sleep. Most of them have serotonin or melatonin.

If our bodies produce little serotonin, it could lead to depression and increase impulsiveness, even to the point of suicidal thoughts. If a person can’t sleep because of stress, depression, or anxiety, he or she should eat or drink foods that speed up serotonin secretion and lessen anxiety and help one sleep, such as warm milk, bananas, potatoes, almonds, etc.

Also melatonin, which controls sleep and biological rhythm, secretion increases at night and induces sleep, and during the daytime, decreases, sustaining the state of awakening. Oats, rice, ginger, tomato, etc that contain high concentrations of melatonin and beans, nuts, milk, bean curd, etc which speed up melatonin secretion are helpful when one can’t sleep.


By Yoo Jin Hee (star@jtn.co.kr)

Source: JTN (Original article in Korean)
Photo from JTN DB
Translated by Sung Kyu Chang / Korea.com


[원문= JTN NEWS / 번역= 코리아닷컴 ]