Diet, meal timing linked to better sleep, studies show
A recent study suggests that what and when we eat can have a major impact on sleep quality. As the body expends energy on digestion at night, heavy & late-night meals can interrupt sleep, according to a study reported by the BBC. Avoiding caffeine in the evening is also known to improve sleep, but there is also evidence that certain meals may promote better sleep.
According to studies, drinking sour cherry juice, kiwifruit and warm milk before bedtime will help sleeping better. Milk includes tryptophan which is an amino acid required for the synthesis of melatonin. It's the hormone that controls the sleep-wake cycle. Melatonin can also be derived from foods like eggs, fish, nuts and seeds.
“You can’t eat poorly all day long and think that it’s enough to have a glass of tart cherry juice before bedtime,” said Marie-Pierre St-Onge, professor of nutritional medicine at Columbia University in New York. Nutrients needed for sleep-promoting neurochemicals must be available throughout the day.
A plant-rich diet which consists of fruits, vegetables, wholegrains, legumes, dairy and fish also helps in sleeping better. In a 2021 study, University of Michigan researcher Erica Jansen found that increasing fruit and vegetable intake over three months significantly improved sleep.
The benefits may come from tryptophan which is converted into serotonin and then melatonin. From high fibre, magnesium and plant compounds that support gut and brain health. A study was carried out in 2024 in Spain. According to this study which involved over 11,000 students, discovered that individuals with the lowest tryptophan intake had poorer sleep. They were more prone to experiencing insomnia.
Magnesium which is found in green vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, and whole grains, aslo helps in improving REM sleep and reduced stress. A recent trial led by Heather Hausenblas of Jacksonville University found that magnesium supplements enhanced REM sleep in self-described poor sleepers, though she cautioned that supplements alone are insufficient without healthy habits.
Experts have instructed to avoid heavy meals before bedtime and maintain consistent meal and sleep schedules. “When you have a clearer separation between day and night, the brain has an easier time recognising that it’s time for sleep,” Jansen said. Eating breakfast in bright daylight may also support melatonin production for the night ahead.
The study further noted that factors like exercise, light exposure, and mental health also influence sleep.
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Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
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