Courtesy of AARP

The foods you eat for dinner or shortly before bed can prevent you from getting some much-needed zzz’s. Here’s what to shun for up to several hours before turning in if you want to sleep better and wake rested.

Grapefruit
Tangy and tart, grapefruit is packed with nutrients and vitamins, but it’s also acidic. Eating grapefruit before bed can cause heartburn, notes endocrinologist Caroline Apovian, director of the Center for Nutrition and Weight Management at Boston Medical Center.

Celery
Steer clear of celery just before bed. Celery and other foods with a high water content (cucumbers, watermelon, radishes and such) are natural diuretics that may cause you to wake in the middle of the night with a full bladder.

Dark chocolate
A small piece of dark chocolate each day helps keep your heart healthy — but don’t nibble it right before you go to bed. Dark chocolate (though not white chocolate), hot cocoa and tea all contain caffeine, and if you’re caffeine-sensitive, you may find yourself staring at the ceiling instead of snoozing.

Broccoli
Broccoli is a nutrition powerhouse, but its slow-to-digest fiber will keep your body working hard into the night. Broccoli and its relative’s cauliflower and brussels sprouts also contain an indigestible sugar that will produce large amounts of gas.

Chips and Salsa
This popular pairing is the Bonnie and Clyde of evening snacks, sure to rob you of a good night’s sleep. Salsa that registers high on the heat thermometer is infamous for causing heartburn, and fried chips, either potato or tortilla, are slow to digest. The result? Fragmented sleep and a restless night.