7 Foods that may affect your Sleep

 Introduction:  

Sleep is so important because, it is during sleep we are healed and renewed.  All parts of our body feels better after a good night sleep, it is therefore important to protect this aspect of our health by deliberately avoiding foods, drinks and habits that interferes with our sleep. For a good nights sleep, avoid these 7 foods, listed below:

 Here are 7 foods that may interfere with sleep:

1.  Coffee:

As much as you may love coffee fod its taste, aroma and health benefits, better to avoid it towards bedtime, as it is intended to keep you active and you do not want to engage in any activity at night.  It is also not advised to take coffee to help you stay awake because you want to pray or engage in other activities.  Night time is for sleep and rest and if sleep is not coming, just rest.

2.  Energy Drinks: 

If you are having sleep problems already or you want to avoid keeping awake at night, better avoid all energy drinks whethet sugar free or not.

3.  Spicy hot soups:

Spices are good only in moderation, but the worst time to take spicy food is at night. They are stressors and wont keep you relaxed.  They do not contain vitamin B vitamin which supports relaxation.

4.  Teas

Most leafy teas come with caffein but even when the caffeines are not present. They are mostly deficient in important minerals like potassium, calcium, magnesium that may support relaxation.  Though, it is better to take something light and not sticky, I prefer to take teas made from seeds like avocado seeds tea, date seeds tea, cumin seeds, these seeds carries more nutrients that supports heart health health.

5.  Chocolates

Mostly made from cocoa, whether it is sweetened chocolate or not, the main culprit is the caffeine and sometimes comes with added sugars and flavours which all tend to act as stressors during the night time.  Better taken in the morning or mid day, it contains magnesium which will ultimately help the body relax faster at night.

6.  Heavy and fatty meals

Better to drink only way or an orange and go to better till next day than to have heavy meal high in oils and carbohydrates, it will surely spoil your entire night as the body instead of resting will be struggling to digest the food.  Digestion is a big tast for our body, though we are not even aware.

7.  Foods high in Sugar

Too much sugar at bed time will intferfere with sleep. I am particularly conscious of this aspect  as a little elevation in my blood sugar usually spoil my night or somtimes keep me awake till early hours of the morning. However each time I suspect sugar keeping me awake, I go get something to lower it, although carefully as the body is always very sensitive during these hours. Cloves, lowers sugar, so is ginger and cumin.

Summary:

Other foods like alcohol at bed time is bad too. Too much exercise is bad or no exercise at all is bad too. There will be poor blood circulation will  also interfere with sleep.

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Here are 7 ways Coffee benefits diabetics and other seniors

 Introduction

Coffee is a drink made by roasting coffee beans and ground to make the aromatic coffee we are all familiar with.  The ground coffee are brewed in hot water to make a refreshing tea with almost an irrestible aroma.  The tea carries naturally occurring substance called caff0eine which has many benefits when used in moderation.  As a result of the caffein in it, a lot of people who should benefit from it are avoiding it.  I was a victim of this ignorance for many years.

Today, coffee, not decaf or 3 in 1 coffee is part of things I eat occasionally to improve health.

Here are 7 reasons, it is part of my diet and how I take it:

1.  Reduce risk of type 2 diabetes. 

If you have a family history of diabetes, it is important to be careful with what you eat and better still to. include occasional bitter foods like coffee which is naturally bitter and high in antioxixants. Bitter foods in the diet also helps support liver health.

2. Helps Improve Insulin resistance

Insulin is a messenger or hormone that helps our body manage sugar naturally, if you continously consume offensive foods that keeps it too busy, itcould stop working and in that case we depend on external insulin to do its job.  Including occasional bitter foods like coffee can help improve its function reduce type 2 diabetes risk which is insulin dependent.

3.  Improve Energy and Alertness

Most seniors particularly diabetics and prediabetics have moments when there is no alertness,  energy or urge to work.  Coffee is very helpful in this regard.  This reason is even the more reason I take  coffee sometimes more times in a week than I would.

4.  High Antioxidants

High antioxidants in our diet helps reduce oxidative stress. Coffee is naturally high in antioxidants and helps reduce inflammations when taken in moderation.  It will be okay to take coffee on a journey in case there are no antioxidants rich foods in your location, it can help.

5.  Aids Diggestions

As we get older, our digestive health tends to slow down and if you have reasons to avoid coffee, including occasionally for this one reason we resolve a lot of health issues arising from poor or slowed digestion.  We are aware that the longer a food stays in the stomach, the more likely, it will be converted to fat.

6.  Supports Colon Health

Supporting colon to move when it is not ready to,  is one reason this drink is alway around my cupboard, it is and will continue to be part of my diet. A healthy body begins with a healthy colon. 

7.  Reduce weight gain

One thing seniors must avoid is weight gain and the tendency is higher as we age mostly due to sidentary life and  slowed digestiion.  However, if we take exercise serious, weight gain may not be something to worry about.

How and when I take coffee:

Being a source of caffein which can interfere with sleep. I avoid it towards bedtime

I take coffee when experiencing some kind of constipation and in this case, immediately after water therapy in the morning, I take it on empty stomach, sometimes with a little date powder.

If I feel non alert or low energy to work or make videos, as soon as I take coffee, sometimes with a little milk, all the alertness and energy becomes available.

I also take coffee when, I find myself munching on food here and there, when my appetite is not controlled, I make a cup of hot coffee, with a little milk and before finish sipping on it, all the hunger is gone and no urge to have anything until when I am ready. I love coffee in this aspect.

Summary

Like all foods, regular coffee intake is not healthy for seniors and diabetics, it can leach magnesium and make your skin extra dry unless you take 2 times the fluid you ordinarily would need in a day.  Moderation should be the rule, just like all other foods.

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