Stop Stress (and Sleep Better) With This Eating Trick

By Natalie Moore Posted March 2, 2017

Dear Living Well Daily Reader,

Nothing’s worse than the morning after a stressful, sleepless night.

You’re groggy, irritable and walking around like a zombie.

But the truth is you may find yourself in this situation more often than not. Lots of us have a hard time turning off our stress — or those racing, anxious thoughts — when it’s time to sleep.

And lack of sleep and high stress are a dangerous combination. They can lead to serious health dangers like weight gain, diabetes, heart disease and stroke when left unchecked.

Fortunately, scientists from the University of Colorado Boulder have found a tasty way to help you fight stress and get the sound sleep you deserve.

And believe it or not — it includes some your favorite foods.

To fight stress and sleep better, all you have to do is load up on prebiotics, types of dietary fiber.

These special fibers are found in certain foods (I’ll list some in a moment) and have been shown to help promote the growth of good bacteria in your gut.

But now we’re learning that prebiotics play a key role in busting stress and making sure you get enough sleep, too.

For this recent study, the researchers split rats into two groups. Half got a standard diet, and the other half got a standard diet supplemented with prebiotics.

Next, they recorded the rats’ gut bacteria and sleep cycles over time.

And what the found was nothing short of amazing…

The rats eating the prebiotic diet spent more time in deep, restorative sleep than the standard diet group.

Even better, the prebiotic group spent more time in rapid eye movement sleep, which is vital for stress recovery and well-being.

This means by simply adding prebiotic-rich foods to your diet, you can shield your body from stress, get more rejuvenating sleep and maintain healthy gut bacteria!

Prebiotic-rich foods include artichokes, onions, raw garlic, leeks and chicory root.

If these foods don’t do it for you, you can always take a prebiotic supplement called inulin. You can get inulin through online retailers like vitacost.com or at natural health stores.

Live well,

Natalie Moore
Managing editor, Living Well Daily

Ed. Note: Please send your feedback: feedback@livingwelldaily.com – and click here to like us on Facebook.

Sources

^[1] THE EFFECTS OF SLEEP DEPRIVATION ON THE BODY

^[1] Dietary prebiotics improve sleep, buffer impacts of stress, says study

Written By Natalie Moore

Natalie Moore is a dedicated health researcher with a passion for finding healthy, natural, and science-based solutions. After a decade of direct healthcare experience in western and natural medicine, she was involved in public health research before joining Living Well Daily.

View More By Natalie Moore