The five worst foods for your sleep

My wife always says that a woman needs her beauty sleep. There’s a lot of truth in that. Getting enough quality sleep at the right times can help protect your mental health, physical health, quality of life, and safety.

The way you feel while you're awake depends in part on what happens while you're sleeping. During sleep, your body is working to support healthy brain function and maintain your physical health. In children and teens, sleep also helps support growth and development.

Yet, nearly a third of adults in developed countries are sleeping just six hours or less each night, putting them at risk of adverse health effects (such as heart disease and obesity) and potentially fatal drowsy driving linked to lack of sleep.

While stress is one of the most-often cited reasons why people can't sleep, there's another factor that could be keeping you up at night: your diet. Certain foods can significantly interfere with your sleep, including these five sleep killers:

Alcohol

A drink or two before bed can make you drowsy, leading many to believe it's actually a good idea for

sleep. But while it may make you nod off quicker, research shows that drinking alcohol makes you more likely to wake up during the night, leaving you feeling less rested in the morning.

The latest study found that alcohol increases slow-wave "deep" sleep during the first half of the night, but then increases sleep disruptions in the second half of the night. Since alcohol is a powerful muscle relaxant, it can also raise your risk of snoring. If you don’t sleep by yourself, snoring can also keep awake your bed partner.

Caffeine

Coffee, of course, is one of the most common sources of caffeine. This stimulant has a half-life

of five hours, which means 25% of it will still be in your system even 10 hours later, and 12.5% 20 hours later (see the problem?). In add