Your Diet Could Be Why You’re Waking Up To Pee Every Night

Flickr/homestilo

Waking up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom from time to time is completely normal. But what about close to every night? If waking up to pee has become part of your nightly routine, it’s time to take a look at your diet.

A new study shows that too much salt in a person’s diet can lead to peeing more in the middle of the night, which is a direct contributor to disrupted sleep. In the Nagasaki University study, 300 volunteers with high salt intake and sleep troubles were put on a reduced-salt diet. Three months into the study, those that reduced their salt intake started taking an average of one trip to the bathroom per night instead of two.

Pixabay

The study also found that those who increased their salt intake went to the bathroom more, especially at night. Once more research is done and a link is clearly defined, this information could help older people with overnight trips.

So how much salt is too much salt? Adults are recommended to stay below 6g of salt a day, which is equal to 2.4g of sodium. If you’re looking to cut down, look first at the obvious: bacon, cheese and high sodium foods like canned soup. Also be wary of pasta sauces, bread and even certain cereals.

Keeping track of your sodium intake could literally make the difference between a solid eight hours of sleep and a broken REM cycle, so don’t mess around. You need your beauty sleep, after all.