Get all your news in one place.

100’s of premium titles.
One app.

Start reading

Get all your news in one place.

100’s of premium titles. One news app.

Start reading

Manchester Evening News

Business

Emma Gill

Experts share six foods you should eat to keep warm without the central heating - and which to avoid

Asda

The colder weather is upon us, but with soaring energy costs most people are reluctant to turn on the central heating.

Warming up at bedtime can be a particular challenge and there's nothing worse than the cold stopping you from sleeping.

That's why experts have been sharing their advice on what foods to eat, particularly as a late night snack, which will naturally heat up your body as well as induce sleep.

Warming up at bedtime can be a particular challenge (PA)

Here Bed Kingdom highlights the six best foods, as well as those to avoid

Nuts

Having nuts before bed, such as peanuts, almonds, and pistachios, can increase the speed of your metabolism and raise your body heat, therefore warming you up for bed. As well as this, these nuts contain melatonin, a natural hormone that helps to control your sleep cycle and therefore helps you get some shut eye.

Cinnamon

It’s no coincidence that cinnamon is associated with winter – thanks to its thermogenic properties that increase our body’s heat when it’s cold, it’s perfect to consume before bed. Having a sprinkle of cinnamon in a glass of milk at night-time won’t just heat you up, but due to the tryptophan in milk which induces sleep you’ll also find it easier to rest.

Oats

Oats may be something that you would normally have at the start of the day, but they have several benefits that prove useful for bedtime. They are slow to break down in your body due to being high in bran and fibre, and this slow digestion releases warming energy. Plus, this food also contains melatonin to improve your sleep.

Bananas

Filled with vitamin B and magnesium, bananas help with the functioning of your thyroid and adrenal glands, thus regulating your body temperature in the cold weather. In fact, the high levels of magnesium don’t just keep you warm, but they also help your muscles to relax and calm your body to ensure you get to sleep easily.

Ginger

Ginger is another excellent food you can consume to warm you up before you catch some Zs. With the vasodilating properties in ginger, your blood vessels are relaxed which contributes to an increased blood flow helping your body to heat up. Opt for a ginger tea – and if you’re suffering from a stuffy nose due to the weather, this will ease that to help you sleep better.

Carrots

Being a root vegetable, carrots cause your body to heat up due to the necessity for more energy during digestion. And while some vegetables may not be the best thing to consume before you try to get some shut eye, carrots are one of the vegetables that will promote sleep as they contain the alpha-carotene nutrient as well as potassium.

Cooling foods to avoid before bed

While there are several foods that can keep you toasty, there are others that will do quite the opposite – so when you’re trying to warm up before you go to sleep, there are some foods in particular you should try to avoid.

Water-rich fruit and vegetables are known to cool the body, including watermelon, peaches, oranges, celery, and cucumber.

Berries are alkaline, meaning that they generate cold energy and release excess body heat.

Spicy foods such as jalapenos and cayenne peppers surprisingly make us cooler by activating a nerve receptor in our tongue that can recognise heat, thus causing us to sweat and cool us down.

Leafy green vegetables such as kale and cabbage might be healthy, but it’s best to avoid these before bed due to their cooling effect on the body.

A spokesperson for Bed Kingdom said: “It’s that time of the year where switching the heating on is essential, but with the price of energy at the minute, it’s no doubt that many people across the UK will be avoiding doing so. Fortunately, there are some ways to heat up without having to add more money to the energy bill, one of these being with certain foods to eat before heading to bed.”

READ NEXT: