Let’s face it. One of the best emotions in the world is to end a delicious dinner, take a blanket and turn on Netflix and cuddle up with a tall bowl of your favorite ice cream for dessert. While it is known that eating ice cream regularly can lead to weight gain, potentially lead to the risk of long-term heart disease and even adversely affect our intestinal microbiome, it is not that bad. Ice cream can also give us some essential nutrients such as calcium, as well as give us some food-related joy from time to time.
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However, there is a potential downside to eating ice cream that some may not be aware of. A great side effect of eating ice cream, especially if you enjoy it as a dessert before bed, is it it can interfere with your sleep.
How diet – especially high-sugar foods such as ice cream – plays a role in sleep quality.
Research is still being done into the relationship between what we eat and how we sleep, but many studies have found that our diets actually play a role in getting a good night’s sleep. For example, according to a study from Journal of the American Heart Association, diets that were of lower quality and contained higher amounts of calories (especially in the form of added sugar) were associated with poorer sleep quality.
Although these findings cover a broad link between sleep quality and diet, some of the recent findings have shown that added sugar is one of the main culprits in diet-related sleep problems.
In a study from 2019 that was found in American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, questionnaires and diet journals were used to find that very few students reported having “good sleep” after eating more sugar.
A separate Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine The study found a positive correlation between higher amounts of added sugar and poor sleep quality, which specifically indicated that added sugar leads to easier sleep with more interruptions throughout the night.
RELATED: A big side effect that eating sugar has on your heart
Why eating too much sugar can cause sleep problems.
So why does eating too much sugar result in exact sleep problems? One possible explanation is that eating sugar, especially before bed, can actually slow down our body’s natural rhythms.
Because of our circadian rhythm, we experience our deepest and best sleep when our body temperatures drop and our melatonin levels increase. This usually happens later in the evening, which helps us to experience deep sleep and a natural state of drowsiness.
In a study from Journal of Biological Rhythms, a group of men with regular sleeping habits at night meals with higher carbohydrates and sugar. What they found was that their heart rate and body temperature were raised for up to eight hours after their carbohydrate-heavy evening meals. This is an example of how the intake of more sugar and carbohydrates slows down our circadian rhythm, which leads to poorer sleep quality.
Exactly how much sleep-disturbing sugar is in your favorite ice creams?
In just one serving Ben and Jerry’s Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream, there are 36 grams of sugar and 32 grams of added sugar. You will also find 26 grams of sugar and 17 grams of added sugar in just one serving Blue Bell Vanilla ice cream.
With many of the unhealthy ice creams averaging around the same amount of sugar, you should really be careful about portion size when eating ice cream at night and wanting a good night’s sleep.
Sugar is not the only ingredient in ice cream that keeps you awake at night.
Another thing to keep in mind when reaching for the ice cream before bed is that if you love your ice cream with extra chocolate, you can also stay away from restful sleep.
Chocolate contains caffeine and theobromine, a natural antioxidant that is known to have stimulating effects. For those who are sensitive to caffeine, eating chocolate ice cream can increase your chances of restless sleep even more.
Take-out
When you reach a carton of ice cream in the grocery store, try reading the labels to see if you can find one with lower amounts of sugar. This way you can enjoy your favorite piece and still get a good night’s sleep.
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