Easter is here and chocolate is everywhere. But if you've been having trouble sleeping lately, chocolate eggs eaten late could be part of the problem because some ingredients in chocolate, including caffeine and sugar, can affect your sleep, writes The Conversation.
The problem is even greater for parents with children, because a messed up sleep schedule sometimes takes a lot of effort to get it right again.
The good news is that if we like chocolate, we don't have to give it up completely during this time full of temptations.
Instead, science offers us some tips to be able to enjoy it without sacrificing sleep.
The science behind chocolate
Most people agree that chocolate is delicious. This is because it is made from tasty ingredients like cocoa, cocoa butter and sugar.
But chocolate is more than just a sweet dessert. It contains hundreds of natural compounds, including mild stimulants – substances that make the mind or body more active. These stimulants can affect how well you sleep.
Sugar is one of the main ingredients of chocolate. When you eat foods high in sugar, such as chocolate eggs, your blood sugar levels tend to rise quickly. In response, the body releases insulin to bring these levels back to normal.
So if you eat chocolate in the evening, you will probably have a sudden spike in blood sugar. This will temporarily boost your energy levels, along with reducing your normal sleepiness. All these fluctuations can disrupt the quality of sleep even after we go to bed, making it more difficult to maintain it throughout the night.
Chocolate also has caffeine
Another ingredient in chocolate is caffeine. It works by blocking a sleep-promoting brain chemical called adenosine. When the adenosine signal is blocked, we feel more alert. While this is helpful during the day, consuming caffeine in the evening can make it more difficult to fall asleep.
A chocolate egg contains a small amount of caffeine, usually only a few milligrams. If you compare this to an espresso, which contains between 50 and 70 milligrams of caffeine, it doesn't seem like much. But several chocolate eggs eaten at once, as is often the case at Easter, can affect sleep due to the caffeine content. Even small amounts of caffeine can delay falling asleep and affect sleep quality. And combining caffeine with sugar, in foods like Easter eggs, can amplify these effects.
Theobromine in sweet Easter eggs
Chocolate also contains theobromine, a stimulant commonly found in cocoa beans. Theobromine is similar to caffeine in that it blocks adenosine signaling. It can also increase your heart rate.
Thus, although not as strong as caffeine, theobromine can affect the ability to fall asleep and stay asleep.
Fortunately, we don't have to give up chocolate to sleep well.
When do we eat chocolate at Easter (and in general)?
Eating any food close to bedtime can make it harder to fall asleep and reduce sleep quality. It can also increase the likelihood of having vivid dreams.
Eating late can also lead to digestive problems. Research suggests that the human body has a harder time digesting food at night.
If we eat right before bed, various symptoms can appear, including gastric reflux. This is a common digestive condition in which stomach acid rises into the esophagus, causing an unpleasant burning sensation. Eating chocolate in the evening can promote acid reflux because ingredients like caffeine and theobromine relax the muscles that keep stomach acid in place.
Chocolate is also high in fat, which can slow digestion and contribute to acid reflux. These digestive problems can make it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep.
Therefore, it is recommended to avoid eating any food, including chocolate, at least three hours before going to bed.
What type of chocolate should we avoid?
Dark chocolate usually contains more cocoa than other types of chocolate. That means it has even higher levels of caffeine and theobromine. Therefore, this is to be avoided late at night.
White chocolate is not made from cocoa solids, so it generally does not contain caffeine. However, it is high in sugar and fat, so consideration should be given to limiting the amount consumed before bedtime.
Portion management is also important to give your body time to digest before going to sleep. A single regular chocolate egg eaten after dinner probably won't affect your sleep very much. A whole bunny, however, is another story.
In summary, it is useful to be careful about the time, type and amount of chocolate we consume, especially before bed. Thus, we can enjoy Easter chocolate eggs without sacrificing hours of sleep.
PHOTO article: Shop © Tanya Keisha | Dreamstime.com.
