Your diet keeping you awake at night?

Chuck, I'm one of the millions of people struggling with insomnia. Going to bed at night is more work than my day job. I'm just looking for natural and food-related solutions. Any recommendations? – Sincerely, "Sleepless in Cincinnati"

Sleep is a critical constituent to our health and fitness. Dr. Mark Stibich has studied it extensively and documented 10 key benefits: It keeps your heart healthy, may prevent cancer, reduces stress, reduces inflammation, enhances alertness, bolsters memory, may help you lose weight, makes you smarter, reduces the risk of depression and helps the body make repairs.

There are several nonprescriptive ways to get more and better sleep – natural alternatives and strategies to overcome insomnia. They include exercising more regularly (which releases natural endorphins), learning to handle stress better, changing behaviors or life patterns, getting counseling and taking natural herbs and supplements such as melatonin.

But what and when we eat can radically affect our sleep patterns, as well. Proof is in the drowsiness we feel after a big lunch. Of course, the same can be true in the evening. Though experts warn people not to eat late if they don't want to gain weight, slumber wisdom says a little non-sugary snack late at night could be a natural sleeping aid.

Cited in the great book "The Doctors Book of Food Remedies," by Selene Yeager and the editors of Prevention, Dr. David Levitsky, professor of nutrition and psychology at Cornell University, says: "When you put food in your stomach at night, you should be able to sleep better. Eating draws blood into the gastrointestinal tract and away from the brain. And if you draw blood away from the brain, you're going to get sleepy."

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At least regarding diet, the key to a good night's sleep is eating the right foods at the right time, including those high in the amino acid tryptophan, which influences the part of our brain that governs sleep. The body converts tryptophan into serotonin and then melatonin, which makes you calm and sleepy (on the other hand, high-sugar and high-fat intake, smoking and alcohol abuse can actually reduce the conversion of tryptophan to serotonin and melatonin).

Good sources of tryptophan include pumpkin seeds, eggs, turkey, chicken, milk and fish. Tryptophan also can be found in smaller amounts in peas and other legumes. Before bedtime, any snack with a small combination of the items above can provide that shot of tryptophan you need to go to sleep.

According to "The Doctors Book of Food Remedies," only recently have scientists learned that melatonin, known as the snoozing hormone, is found in foods and not just produced in the body. Dr. Russel Reiter, professor of cellular and structural biology at the University of Texas Health Science Center and co-author of "Melatonin," explains that melatonin-rich foods include oats, rice, sweet corn, barley and bananas (which also might explain why bananas can offer non-peaking, potassium-based energy, too).

In addition, according to Dr. Judith Wurtman, author of "The Serotonin Power Diet," foods high in starch (the most basic carbohydrate) – such as potatoes, bread, cereals, rice and pasta – actually separate tryptophan from other amino acids, sending the latter to muscle cells and leaving the former in the bloodstream to sedate the brain. So a combo high-starch, high-tryptophan snack an hour before bedtime might be a remedy for your sleeplessness; that is the prescription from a 2007 Australian study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

But don't gorge, which can enhance insomnia. Big munchies or meals two to three hours before bedtime can keep you up because of uncomfortable bloating or digestive acids, which can lead to heartburn or acid reflux, especially when you're lying down.

Other given insomnia boosters to avoid include caffeinated beverages and super-sugary snacks. If you drink or eat these three to four hours before bedtime, be prepared to count lots of sleep before you reach slumber-land. Also avoid alcohol during the same period; it might put you to sleep sooner, but it actually irritates sleep patterns with a rebound effect (via hypocretin neurons).

In the end, as with other ailments, the best dietary remedy for insomnia is a balanced diet and exercise. Studies show that insufficient amounts of iron, copper, magnesium and B vitamins – which regulate amino acids, including tryptophan – can enhance insomnia's symptoms.

In short, a high-sugar, high-fat diet tends to result in poorer sleep. A high-protein diet can mimic symptoms of insomnia if eaten at the wrong time, because it can enhance energy. But in small proportions, starchy foods generally will enhance drowsiness, because they allow more tryptophan to get into the brain.

Remember that there are a host of sleep-inducing diets, but their effectiveness depends more upon the individual than it does the diet. Outside of what one consumes, one's digestion, blood sugar levels, hormone balance, genetics and life situation and even one's personality (say, how one adapts to stress) all become factors in how our diet affects our patterns of sleep. So be sure to consult your health practitioner for specific advice on how to boost your own slumber.