Dinner & Insomnia
Dinner & Insomnia
YOUR DINNER & DRINKS MAY BE KEEPING YOU AWAKE!!
Do you suffer from restless sleep, insomnia, frequent waking, waking early, inability to return to sleep after waking or a feeling grogginess and fatigue upon waking? Here are some vital dietary tips to follow.
1. Reduce overall daily sugar intake and cut out late night sugary snacks. Sugar affects our body’s ability to get good quality sleep. While we sleep, our body goes through different levels of deep rest, (the most rejuvenating level is called rapid eye movement sleep (REM). The more sugar we have before bed, the less chance we have of staying in or even achieving deep REM sleep. Even if we do not fully wake up during the night, sugar can shorten our REM sleep cycles causing restlessness thus making us feel groggy and fatigued in the morning.
2. Aim for blood sugar stability. Researchers have found that high insulin levels decrease the amount of Orexin (a chemical that stimulates being awake and alert) the body produces. This explains the extremely tired and drowsy feeling after a carbohydrate-rich meal. When we eat sugar, our blood sugar levels rise and our pancreas releases insulin, which helps direct the sugar to back into the cells, giving them fuel to run on energizing our bodies. The glucose, not stored as glycogen in the liver and muscles, is excreted in the urine which explains why after consuming sugar late at night, urination frequency and urgency increases disturbing sleep. On the other hand, lower insulin levels stimulate Orexin secretion. This would explain why people may wake at 3 or 4 AM, after the body has metabolized the sugar and insulin levels drop, and feel wide awake (blood sugar crash).
3. Drinking alcohol before bed may initially make us sleepy but can cause nightmares, night sweats, dream disturb sleep, headaches and lead to frequent urination keeping us awake. Alcohol is converted to sugar in the body and contributes to the blood sugar spikes and crashes explained above. Also, according to Chinese medicine the liver peak energy flow is between 1 and 3 AM when the liver should be resting. We often wake at 3 AM after the liver has metabolized the alcohol and we are wide awake.
4. Nicotine is a stimulant and increases heart rate and can cause sleeplessness. Avoid nicotine altogether.
5. Stop drinking too much water or fluids about two hours before going to bed to avoid frequent nighttime urination. The key is to drink plenty of fluids and hydrate during the day but stop fluid intake two hours before bed.
6. Cut off caffeine around 3-4 PM. Or, at least about 4 to 6 hours before going to bed as this will contribute to disturbed sleep. This not only includes coffee but also chocolate, cola’s, hot chocolate and even chocolate/chocolate chip ice cream.
7. It is best to eat lighter less heavy meals in the evening. Avoid fatty heavy meals after 5 pm. Eating large heavy rich meals add stress to the metabolism and slows the digestive system down causing restless sleep. Large meals and spicy foods and can also contribute to acid reflux keeping you awake.
8. Tryptophan is an essential amino acid that creates serotonin in the body. Serotonin stabilizes mood and helps us relax. Consuming foods high in tryptophan before bed promotes sleep. Foods high in tryptophan include tofu, milk, cheese, chicken, turkey, fish, oats, beans, lentils, eggs, nuts, seeds, bananas, honey and eggs.
9. Trying to get back to sleep? Try eating high carbohydrate snacks with dairy that produce tryptophan such as cereal, crackers, milk, yogurt or cottage cheese.
In Love & Light,
Byron⭐
Byron Barth; L.A., MSTOM, Acupuncturist, Herbalist, Zen Shiatsu Master and
Founder of Peace of Zen Acupuncture.
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