A Food which Improves Sleep Quality

​Sleep debt or sleep deficit is the cumulative effect of not getting enough sleep. A large sleep debt may lead to mental or physical fatigue.
 
It is said that proper sleep time is 7 hours. In a study, when sleeping 6 hours for 2 weeks, the level of their brain became as low as they stayed up all night for 2 days.
 
Getting enough sleep elevates the strength of the immune system and activates the body cells, maintaining the health.
 
Sleep debt causes weakening of the immune system, lowering of the metabolism and accumulation of waste matters.
 
People who sleep less than 6 hours have about 1.6 times more risk of dementia, about 1.7 times more risk of diabetes, and about 1.4 times more risk of prostate cancer for men and about 1.7 times more risk of breast cancer for women, compared to people who sleep 7 hours.
 
Sleep time can’t be stored. It doesn’t compensate that people who don’t get enough sleep weekday try to get more sleep during the weekend.
 
Actually, there are people who sleep only 6 hours but don’t have sleep debt. On the contrary, there are people who sleep 8 hours but have sleep debt. Sleep debt is dangerous because it accumulates without knowing.
 
Let’s check sleep debt
 
How many clauses fit into you?

• My sleep time during weekday is less than 6 hours.
• I sleep additionally more than 2 hours on a day off.
• I feel sluggish or light headed when waking up.
• I feel sleepy in the morning (10 am to 12 pm).
• I feel sleepy on the way home after work.

 
Even if one clause fits into you, you can have sleep debt.
 
What food is good to decrease sleep debt?
 
To decrease sleep debt, it is necessary to improve the quality of sleep.
 
The key nutrition to improve the quality of sleep is GABA.
 
GABA is a type of amino acid which suppresses the excitement of the brain and relaxes the mind. GABA has instant effect, so taking GABA after dinner or right before going to bed has potential to lead to good sleep.
 
Amount of GABA (per 100 g) of the foods rich in GABA are:
Tomato: 62 mg
Potato: 35 mg
Eggplant: 20 mg
 
But a food contains 89 mg of GABA and in an experiment, when the food was eaten during dinner, the sleep-onset time became shorter and the depth of sleep became deeper.
 
The food which improve the quality of sleep is Kimchi (Korean pickle).
 
You can get kimchi everywhere, but Kimchi containing lactic acid is recommended.
 
Proper amount of GABA per day is about 100 mg. a small bowl of Kimchi should be eaten at dinner.
 
GABA is not broken by the heat, so you can heat up Kimchi to prepare any dishes.
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