the cause of your disturbed sleep could be vitamin c and folic acid deficiency follow these tips for a sound snooze do you keep tossing and turning restlessly through the nights if yes then you need to rectify what you are eating for dinner or even breakfast to avoid your bleary eyes today a study published in the journal appetite found differences in the diets of people who slept the longest number of hours compared with those snoozing for the least those who slept less than five hours took in less vitamin c had less selenium which is found in nuts meatconsume little and often having 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 rather than large meals with gaps in between aim for six mini meals a day if you go to bed hungry your bodys innate biological need for food will send signals to keep you awake to find subsistence a survival throwback to our cavemen days when food was scarcego bananas have a banana ideally in the second half of the day this sleep wonder fruit is packed with potassium and magnesium nutrients that double as natural muscle relaxants plus they contain the sleepinducing amino acid tryptophan which ultimately turns into serotonin and melatonin in the brain serotonin is a natural chemical that promotes relaxation while melatonin is the hormone that promotes sleepinessa carbrich dinner a recent study found that people who ate rice before bedtime fell asleep faster than those who didnt this is because rice is rich in sugars which increase production of tryptophan the amino acid that makes you sleepyavoid fatty meals not only will greasy takeaways scupper your diet theyre a recipe for sleep disaster research suggests people who have fatty meals in the evening clock fewer hours of total sleep than those who dont so stick to lean meat and plenty of vegetablesno crashdieting if youre eating fewer than 1200 calories a day as many diets recommend theres a good chance youre missing out on key nutrients which can affect your sleep low levels of calcium from dairy products and magnesium which is found in green veggies and nuts are linked to poor sleep low iron can trigger restless leg syndrome symptoms in which twitching leg movements disrupt your sleep a deficiency in the b vitamin folic acid found in wholegrains and green leafy veggies may also lead to insomnia people who dont get much vitamin c in fruit and veggies or selenium from nuts meat and fish have been shown to sleep for fewer hourslay off the booze initially drinking induces sleep but if you indulge in more than two small drinks youre in for a fragmented night one recent study showed alcohol increased slowwave deep sleep in the first half of the night but increased sleep disruptions in the second half