One of the best ways you can take care of your body is by staying hydrated. But did you know that drinking water right before bed can actually negatively impact your health? Here’s how:

Drinking water directly before bed can significantly disrupt your ability to stay asleep. Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night to run to the restroom? We’ve all been there!

If you drink a lot of water before bed, you will surely disrupt your sleep cycle to run to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Waking up repeatedly throughout the night to urinate is known as nocturia.

What Is Nocturia?

As we just discussed, nocturia is the term used for those frequent trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night. But how does this negatively impact your health?

Great question! Well, everybody needs a good night’s sleep in order to function properly in their day-to-day lives. Not getting a good night’s sleep is directly linked to decreased productivity, increased likeliness to get into a motor accident, changes in mood, and depression.

Take a look at the various risks you may be exposing yourself to by not getting enough sleep:

• Increased blood pressure
• Increased anxiety
• Lack of alertness
• Increased risk of motor accidents
• Impaired memory
• Excessive daytime sleepiness
• Relationship stress
• Decreased quality of life

As you can see, getting a good night’s sleep is critical in order to function properly. If we don’t get a good night’s sleep, we put ourselves at risk of jeopardizing our overall health and well-being. 

Keep reading to learn more about the importance of getting a good night’s sleep.

Sleep is a necessary function for your body to get the rest it needs. A good night’s sleep allows your brain to recharge, store memories, and process information.

Sleep also helps the body fight diseases, heal, and grow. Without enough sleep, your immune system won’t work as effectively as it should, making you vulnerable to getting sick. In addition, sleep greatly affects your brain’s learning and memory functioning.

But what do we do if we’re thirsty before bed, or if we enjoy a soothing, calming beverage before drifting off to sleep? Not to worry. 

Let’s discuss the best and most calming drinks that you can drink before bed without the fear of disrupting your night’s rest.

When it comes to getting a good night’s sleep, nothing should ever stand in your way. If you really want to wake up feeling well-rested, check out this list of drinks designed to help you fall and stay asleep throughout the whole night:

• NightCap
• Chamomile Tea
• Cherry juice
• Warm Milk 
• Almond Milk
• Valerian Tea
• Coconut Water
• Herbal Tea with Lemon Balm
• Peppermint tea
• Ashwagandha tea 

As you can see, there are plenty of calming drinks out there that can actually improve your quality of sleep instead of negatively impacting it. But what exactly are the benefits of these bedtime beverages? 

Let’s discuss their health benefits below.

NightCap is an evening cocktail chock-full of healthful, all-natural ingredients designed to help you achieve the best night’s sleep possible. Not only does NightCap reduce stress and anxiety, but it maximizes your REM sleep, the dream phase of your sleep cycle. 

Not only can NightCap help your body achieve deeper REM sleep, but NightCap helps you sleep through the night without waking up. In addition, NightCap contains zero calories and zero grams of sugar. It almost sounds too good to be true! 

It’s safe to say that NightCap is a great way to end the day. You can even make it part of your bedtime routine; relax and wind down with NightCap to get the night’s sleep of your dreams.

The beverages listed above are all infused with a very special mineral known as Magnesium. Click here to learn more about Magnesium and its wide breadth of health benefits. 

In short, drinks or foods with Magnesium in them can significantly improve your ability to fall and stay asleep. This is because Magnesium helps regulate your Melatonin levels. Melatonin is also known as the sleep hormone.

Because Magnesium helps regulate your melatonin levels, the above-mentioned bedtime beverages can help you get a good night’s sleep, minus the midnight trips to the restroom.

Increasing your daily Magnesium intake is a great place to start if you want to get a deeper night’s sleep. Did you know you can increase your daily Magnesium intake with the foods you eat, too?

Generally, the best sources of Magnesium are nuts, seeds, beans, greens, grains, wheat, and oats. Here is a list of the many Magnesium-rich foods we can eat to maintain sufficient Magnesium levels:6

• Pumpkin seeds
• Almonds
• Cashews
• Peanuts
• Black beans
• Edamame 
• Avocado
• Potato
• Whole wheat bread
• Bananas
• Oatmeal
• Cereal
• Dark chocolate
• Salmon
• Raisins
• Broccoli
• Carrots
• Apples
• Brown rice
• Plain yogurt

Magnesium is everywhere! As you can see, there are plenty of foods rich in Magnesium, so even picky eaters can incorporate a healthy amount of Magnesium into their diets. 

Now that you know the best calming drinks to drink before bed and the health benefits of Magnesium, let’s take a look at what you shouldn’t drink before bed if you want to maintain or improve your overall health.

In this article, we learned how important it is to get a good night's sleep and how your bedtime beverage intake can affect your ability to get enough rest.

If you’re experiencing restless nights, these drinks could be the reason why. In order to get a good night’s sleep, you should avoid drinking these in the afternoon or before bed:

• Coffee
• Alcohol
• Soda
• Black Tea
• Green Tea

If you can get through the day without that last cup of joe, you will have an easier time falling and staying asleep.

Coffee

In a recent study by the Journal of Biological Rhythms, participants who drank coffee in the afternoon expressed a significant increase in difficulty when it came to falling asleep. In addition, participants woke up more frequently throughout the night and expressed not feeling well-rested the following morning.

Alcohol

Even though alcohol induces sleepiness, it is directly linked to poor sleep quality and decreased sleep duration. Studies show that alcoholism can lead to insomnia and worsen symptoms of sleep apnea. 

In other words, drinking alcohol before bed can significantly impact your sleep cycle, circadian rhythm, and mood.

Soda

Did you know that almost 50% of adults consume at least one carbonated beverage a day? If you want to get a good night’s sleep, you should avoid drinking soda before bed. 

Not only is soda concentrated with added sugar, but it is also a major source of caffeine. Consequently, like coffee, soda can keep you up at night, contribute to restless sleep, and affect your overall health and mood.

Black and Green Tea
Black and green teas are some of the most caffeinated teas on the market. If you drink black or green tea before bed, you will surely be up all night, making them some of the worst drinks you can drink before bed.