New cookbook connects healthy eating to good sleep

Anyone who has ever suffered in bed after eating three slices of pizza could surmise there is some relationship between food and sleep quality.

For Marie-Pierre St-Onge, the director of Columbia University’s Center of Excellence for Sleep and Circadian Research, years of studying the relationship confirmed it.

Data from large-scale population studies showed that eating a lot of saturated fat and simple carbohydrates made it harder to get deep, restorative sleep, she says. The inverse was also true. People who don’t get enough sleep, for example, were more likely to be obese.

“It’s a cycle of having poor sleep leading to poor dietary choices, and lower dietary quality that further propels poor sleep,” St-Onge says.

If bad food could keep you awake, she wondered, can good food help you sleep? Her research led to a new cookbook, “Eat Better, Sleep Better,” co-written with Kat Craddock, editor-in-chief of the food magazine Saveur.

‘Nutrients at the ready’

St-Onge says the answer is yes. The book’s recipes reflect her findings that people with high-fiber diets report better sleep, and the dishes rely heavily on what she called sleep-supporting ingredients.

Nuts, seeds and whole grains such as barley, buckwheat and kasha contain melatonin, a compound the body also produces naturally to regulate the circadian rhythm. Research suggests the anti-inflammatory properties of ginger and turmeric improve sleep quality, as do the phytochemicals in brightly colored fruits and vegetables like squash, cherries, bananas and beefsteak tomatoes, St-Onge says.

Besides the properties of particular ingredients, the combination of certain foods is key to encouraging your body to produce the hormones it needs to fall and stay sleep, she said. Tryptophan, for example, is an essential amino acid only found in food, but it requires nutrients such as magnesium, zinc and B vitamins to be converted into melatonin and serotonin.

St-Onge notes that people shouldn’t expect to fall dead asleep after loading up on certain ingredients at dinner. Food has to be processed, with chemical reactions transforming nutrients over time before they are absorbed.

“It’s making sure you have a healthy diet across the day to have the nutrients at the ready,” she explains.

A world of ingredients

Recipes were developed for every meal of the day, plus snacks and desserts, the authors say. The two then arranged them into a 28-day meal plan designed to improve your sleep.

Craddock says developing the recipes came naturally because the research stressed using a variety of foods she likes to cook with anyway. The challenge was making sure the recipes fell within the nutritional requirements.

“My instincts are to go hard on bacon and butter and cheese and heavy cream, and she pared a lot of that back,” Craddock says.

Instead of bacon, Craddock says, she could achieve similar flavors with a little olive oil and smoked paprika. “It was a bit of a dance back and forth between my more restaurant approach to making foods delicious and her nutritional goals.”

A Creole gumbo recipe, for instance, is inspired more by a vegetarian version often served during Lent than the heavier traditional one. The andouille often used — a pork product high in saturated fat — is swapped out for healthier chicken sausage. Adding more than a pound of mixed greens makes it more like a vegetable stew, and brown rice adds a complex carbohydrate.

With numerous charts and scientific research, the book is a practical guide to improving your diet in general. But Craddock says it also introduces people to international ingredients and dishes so they might think beyond what they eat every day.

“If you dig a little deeper and look a little further, there are healthful and flavorful and exciting ingredients from many cultures that are right in our own backyard,” she says.

Green Spring Gumbo with Chicken Andouille

This recipe for a nutrient-rich, vegetable-forward stew riffs on a style of Creole gumbo traditionally made vegetarian for Lent. It’s also a great way to use up a crisper drawer full of greens and fresh herbs.

The authors like to add a little bit of andouille-style chicken sausage for protein and tryptophan, but if you prefer a pescatarian option, leave out the sausage, replace the chicken stock with mushroom or vegetable broth, and top the finished dish with a few shrimp or even steamed crab or lobster claws.

For a vegan option, replace the sausage with tempeh or a spicy or smoked plant-based sausage.

Served with brown rice, any of these variations makes a well-balanced and sleep-supporting meal.

Serves: 4-6

Total time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Ingredients

2 tbsp. olive oil

Three 2½-oz. chicken andouille sausages, sliced ½ in. thick

2 tbsp. whole wheat flour

2 medium yellow onions, finely chopped

2 bunches scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced

2 celery stalks, finely chopped

1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded, and finely chopped

2 bay leaves

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tsp. garlic powder

2 tsp. dried thyme

1 tsp. dried oregano

½-1 tsp. cayenne pepper (optional)

1¼ lb. mixed greens and fresh herbs, such as spinach, arugula, collards, kale, Swiss chard, broccoli rabe, parsley, and cilantro, chopped

4 cups chicken stock

3 cups cooked brown rice

Lemon wedges, for serving

Directions

In a large, heavy pot, heat the oil over medium until it begins to shimmer. Add the sausage and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, 6-8 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the sausage to a heatproof bowl and reserve. Lower the heat to medium-low, then stir the flour into the oil that remains in the pot and cook, stirring frequently, just until the mixture, or roux, smells toasty, about 5 minutes. Add the onions, scallions, celery, bell pepper and bay leaves, season lightly with salt and black pepper, and cook, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot frequently, until the onions are translucent, 12-14 minutes.

Stir in the garlic powder, thyme, oregano and cayenne, if using, then add the greens a little at a time, allowing them to wilt before adding more, until they all fit in the pot. Stir in the chicken stock. Increase the heat to medium-high, bring the liquid to a full boil, and then decrease the heat to low, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the broth has thickened and the greens are meltingly tender and have turned from bright green to a muted olive color, 30-45 minutes (hardier greens like collards will take a bit longer to cook).

Stir in the reserved sausage, cover and continue cooking for 15 minutes. Adjust the seasoning with more salt and black pepper, then ladle into soup bowls. Top each bowl with a scoop of rice and a lemon wedge and serve hot.

— From “Eat Better, Sleep Better”