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How to eat for better sleep

Army research shows that troops who regularly get seven to nine hours shut-eye a night have fewer mental lapses than those who sleep less. Eating smarter will maximize the quality and power of your shut-eye. Here are the rules sleep experts swear by:

Don’t skimp, then splurge

Skipping midday meals may seem like an easy way to shed weight, but doing so can throw off your body’s normal sleep pattern.

Researchers who followed a group of Muslims during Ramadan (a month of fasting from sunup to sundown) found that the group lost an average of 40 minutes of sleep a night compared with a nonholiday time of year.

The likely culprit: changes in hormone levels caused by fasting. Large, late dinners exacerbate the problem: “A big meal increases the blood flow to your digestive tract, causing your stomach to secrete more gastric acid and making your pancreas and intestinal muscles work harder,” said Michael Breus, sleep expert and author of “Beauty Sleep.” This stimulates your system instead of calming it.

Eat early and often

“Your body uses up energy during the sleep process; it needs to be restored,” Breus says.

Eat a mix of protein and carbs for breakfast (think eggs and whole-wheat toast), and have six 250- to 300-calorie mini-meals throughout your day. Eating something nutritious every few hours helps your body and brain maintain the right balance of hormones and neurotransmitters, essential for falling — and staying — asleep at night.

Don’t be a party victim

Just say no to canapes, cheese plates and mini-meatballs. High-fat and spicy foods spark indigestion and reflux, keeping you up long past your bedtime, says Carolyn O’Neil, a registered dietitian and author of “The Dish: On Eating Healthy and Being Fabulous!”

Do eat carbs for dinner

A recent study found that people who ate jasmine rice before bedtime fell asleep faster than those who didn’t, according to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

The reason? Jasmine rice is high on the glycemic index, so it helps increase the body’s production of tryptophan, an amino acid that makes you sleepy, explains study author Chin-Moi Chow, a senior lecturer at the University of Sydney.

Don’t overdo cold cuts, coffee

Processed foods such as deli meats contain a lot of sodium, which can interrupt sleep by raising your blood pressure and dehydrating you, says James B. Maas, a psychology professor at Cornell University.

Caffeine, meanwhile, stays in your system for up to 12 hours, so the effects of an afternoon latte could linger well past midnight. Try skipping the joe tomorrow: Not having caffeine for a single day can improve sleep quality that night, a study in the Journal of Clinical Nursing found.

Do go herbal

Before bed, have a cup of chamomile tea; the plant it’s made from acts as a mild sedative, Breus explains, calming your body and helping you drift off.