Anyone who is into holistic wellness and mindful dietary practices knows who Luke Coutinho is. The Integrative Lifestyle expert is renowned for helping many people follow a healthy lifestyle and even fight chronic diseases. I have always followed his diet tips and recipes to incorporate healthier eating habits into my daily routine. Just recently, I found relief in one of his anti-bloating solutions so it was extremely exciting for me to get this opportunity to interview him on an issue I, and several others, resonate with - better sleep. Being a busy working mom, a good night's sleep eludes me. Time has, and always will be a constraint but it's a relief to know that what I eat during the day can help me get much-needed rest during the night.
Also Read: How I Found Relief From Gas And Bloating With Luke Coutinho's Anti-Bloat Tea
Eating Habits and Sleep Quality: A Mindful Approach
According to Luke Coutinho, the relationship between eating habits and sleep patterns plays a crucial role in achieving holistic well-being. Understanding how our dietary choices influence our sleep quality is essential for promoting optimal health. By adopting mindfulness practices and aligning eating schedules with circadian rhythms, individuals can optimize their sleep quality. Mindful eating promotes awareness of food choices and reduces digestive discomfort while syncing meals with the body's natural rhythms enhances relaxation and fosters deep sleep. This holistic approach promotes overall well-being by recognizing the interconnectedness of dietary habits and sleep quality.
Delving further into the concept, Luke Coutinho answered some poignant queries I had in my mind to practice the concept most practically and effectively.
A good night's sleep is important for overall health.
Photo Credit: iStock
Q&A With Luke Coutinho:
Neha Grover Kapoor: How do you define mindful eating, and what role does it play in promoting optimal sleep quality?
Luke Coutinho: Mindful eating involves being fully present and attentive while consuming food, focusing on the sensory experience, and paying attention to hunger and fullness cues.
It plays a crucial role in promoting optimal sleep quality by preventing overeating, reducing discomfort, and avoiding stimulants close to bedtime.
Mindful eating encourages a healthy relationship with food, contributing to better digestion and overall well-being, which positively impacts sleep patterns.
Neha Grover Kapoor: Can you elaborate on the connection between circadian rhythms and meal timings, and how they influence sleep patterns?
Luke Coutinho: Circadian rhythms serve as the body's internal clock, regulating physiological processes such as digestion and sleep-wake cycles. Disrupting this natural cycle with late-night meals can impact health. Unfortunately, our eating habits often revolve around work schedules and social calendars, disregarding our body's design.
Through years of coaching, we've found adjusting meal timings according to circadian rhythms can yield notable improvements-enhanced energy, alertness, better sleep, improved digestion, and more. Late-night meals contradict our physiological design, as digestion slows at sunset and peaks at noon.
Meal timings directly influence circadian rhythms, impacting sleep patterns. Eating during the body's wakeful period aligns with optimal digestion, promoting better sleep. Late-night meals may disrupt circadian rhythms, delaying melatonin release and hindering sleep onset.
Studies reveal melatonin receptors in the pancreas, indicating melatonin release at night suppresses pancreatic function. Late-night meals can disrupt digestion and sugar levels, causing acidity and heaviness upon waking.
Aligning food habits with circadian rhythms for better sleep involves:
- Eating the last meal close to sunset (7 pm) and practising a circadian fast until sunrise.
- Maintaining a 2-3-hour gap between dinner and bedtime.
- Consuming coffee early in the day, and avoiding it in the afternoon as it disrupts the sleep routine.
- Maximizing calorie intake between breakfast and lunch, with lighter dinners.
- Listening to your body's hunger cues, avoiding starvation or overeating.
- Eating at the same time daily, recognizing timing's crucial role in circadian rhythm syncing.
Neha Grover Kapoor: What are some common dietary habits or foods that may negatively impact sleep quality, and how can individuals mitigate their effects?
Luke Coutinho: Foods and habits that disrupt sleep patterns include:
- Caffeine
- Alcohol
- Late-night meals
- Carb-heavy evening/night meals
- Blue light exposure
- Overthinking before bedtime
- Brightly lit living spaces
- Stimulating content or conversations
- Prolonged afternoon naps
- Skipping meals or having skimpy meals
- Overthinking events from the day
Individuals can mitigate their effects by avoiding them altogether. We all have the power to choose what is right for us. It is important to be mindful of these factors and make informed choices for better sleep quality.
Neha Grover Kapoor: How do stress and emotional eating affect sleep quality, and what strategies do you recommend for managing stress-related eating habits?
Luke Coutinho: Stress and emotional eating can significantly impact sleep quality, often masking underlying emotional issues. Using food to manage mechanisms for emotional distress may offer short-term comfort but won't be able to address the root cause of emotional problems. No amount of food can truly address matters of the heart.
Furthermore, emotional eating often induces feelings of guilt. Guilt, a negative emotion, activates the sympathetic nervous system, keeping the body in a heightened state of arousal. This stress response inhibits the body's ability to relax and fall asleep. To break this cycle, it's essential to acknowledge and address the guilt associated with emotional eating.
Managing stress-related eating habits involves key strategies:
- Improve your relationship with food by recognizing and addressing emotional triggers. Instead of relying solely on food, explore alternative ways to cope with stress, such as engaging in hobbies, practising mindfulness, or seeking emotional support from friends and family.
- Address emotions at their roots by identifying underlying causes of stress and emotional eating. Consider seeking professional help if needed, as therapists or counsellors can offer valuable insights and coping strategies.
- Create an environment conducive to mindful eating by minimising the presence of unhealthy or tempting foods at home. Maintain a well-stocked kitchen with nutritious options to facilitate positive food choices. Additionally, practice mindful eating by paying attention to hunger and fullness cues, savouring each bite, and being present during meals.
Neha Grover Kapoor: Can you discuss the importance of maintaining a balanced diet for improving overall sleep quality?
Luke Coutinho: Foods that promote better sleep:
- Herbal tea - chamomile, lavender, lemongrass, are known for their calming and relaxing properties.
- Spices like nutmeg and saffron. A pinch of nutmeg with water + a tablespoon of fennel + a pinch of cinnamon - boil in water and consume 30 minutes before bedtime. Avoid excessive nutmeg consumption, as it could act as a hallucinogen.
- L-tryptophan-rich foods: eggs, salmon, spinach, banana, seeds, milk, and nuts. L-tryptophan is a precursor to generating melatonin in the body.
- Magnesium-rich foods, as they also help in relieving stress - cacao, nuts, seeds, and green leafy vegetables.
- Vitamin B6-rich foods - Vitamin B6 aids in the production of serotonin and melatonin, crucial for restful sleep and a good mood.
- A small amount of complex carbs for dinner can also help, as carbohydrates stimulate the production of serotonin, a feel-good hormone.
Neha Grover Kapoor: Are there specific diet practices that you incorporate into your daily routines to enhance your sleep quality?
Luke Coutinho: I prefer early dinners and am not the salad and soup type. For dinner, I opt for a properly balanced meal, finishing by 7-7.30 pm at the latest. If I feel like it later, I might have chamomile tea. Generally, I enjoy sound sleep, and I'm conscious of factors that can disrupt it, so I don't usually need specific foods to enhance sleep quality. However, when travelling across time zones and experiencing jet lag, I prefer taking melatonin supplements to aid in better sleep.
Neha Grover Kapoor: Is there any effective bedtime routine you would suggest for those who find it difficult to fall asleep?
Luke Coutinho: Some effective rituals are -
- Deep breathing, such as yogic pranayama practices like Left Nostril Breathing, Alternate Nostril Breathing, and Bhramari, induce a restful state or parasympathetic mode.
- Incorporate gratitude and prayer practices into your bedtime routine to disconnect from the day, ending it on a positive and grateful note instead of a stressful one.
- Develop a habit of writing down your thoughts and worries, as a restless mind is a key factor contributing to poor sleep.
The key here is to be in the right mode, i.e. parasympathetic nervous system to be able to fall asleep. No matter how difficult your day has been, create an environment and routine that allows the parasympathetic nervous system to activate.
