Secrets to a Good Night’s Sleep
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Do you lie in bed at night struggling to fall asleep?
Is your brain racing or full of the day’s activities and you can’t switch it off to fall asleep?
Do you wake in the middle of the night and can’t go back to sleep?
Does pain wake you through the night?
If you suffer from insomnia then you understand the seriousness of simply not getting a good night’s sleep. Your whole world around you appears to crumble when you can’t get a good 6-8 hours of quality deep sleep. Your work life, your family life all suffer.
Your body does not repair if you are unable to establish a deep sleep.
Today’s article will touch on a few “key” things to consider in resolving sleep insomnia.
To begin, remember that waking after a few hours of sleep and not being able to get back to sleep is often a rebound from what you ate or drank hours before. High sugar, alcohol, highly spiced foods, and of course, caffeinated drinks are often the culprits.
If you are unknowingly deficient in chromium, vanadium, manganese and other nutrients you can experience a low blood sugar (hypoglycemic) rebound in a few hours where you abruptly wake-up and are unable to drift back to sleep. It’s best to avoid those sugary snacks after dinner to minimize the blood sugar swings.
Another reason for waking up in the early hours particularly between 1-3 am is an imbalance of your body’s biorhythms. This is liver time and waking at this time may indicate that your liver is under stress. The liver is most active at this time working while you are in your deepest sleep to clean up the body from the previous day’s exposure.
If you are awake between 1-3 am your liver will not be able to do its job to detoxify the body from pollutants and medications and to facilitate repair.
Our brain transmits signals via chemicals called neurotransmitters
GABA is the neurotransmitter that calms and shuts down the chatter in your brain and the stimuli from the rest of the body. If you are not making enough your brain is not able to shut down incoming messages from the body to allow you to fall into a deep sleep and you may lay awake for hours. It’s also involved in pain memory so if you are kept awake by pain in the middle of the night GABA might be lacking.
The next obvious question is how do we get more of this stuff? Essential nutrients to make GABA include an amino acid (a component of protein) called glutamate, vitamin B6 and magnesium. Surely it should be easy to get enough of these?
Sadly, there are a lot of reasons why you may not be absorbing enough protein and essential vitamins and minerals even if the diet is ‘perfect’.
Many don’t realise they are not consuming enough protein to feed the brain but let’s assume you do. Firstly, diets high in carbohydrates (sugars) inhibit stomach acid needed to absorb protein, and secondly, after the age of 40, our stomach acid begins to decline naturally. With low stomach acid, it’s difficult to absorb protein, magnesium, calcium, zinc, iron, and vitamin B12.
Ant-acid medications are another problem. They shut down stomach acid production. Some people are on these medications for years with serious consequences.
Telltale signs of protein deficiency are thinning muscles, brittle hair or nails, fatigue, brain fog or loss of concentration to name a few.
If you are concerned you may not be absorbing your protein, try squeezing ½ a lemon in ½ glass of water then drink it with your meal to improve stomach acidity. It will not make your body acid. On the contrary, while improving stomach acidity for primary digestion in the stomach, lemon juice actually has an alkalizing effect on the body so there is a double benefit.
Let’s now consider something called the “happy hormones” that lead to a restful sleep.
One of these hormones is serotonin, which anti-depressants like Prozac work on.
We make serotonin from the amino acid tryptophanderived from proteins in our diet plus essential vitamin and minerals.
Unfortunately as we age or are faced with an overload of stress our level of serotonin suffers.
Dozens of studies show that low tryptophan levels lead to insomnia, awakening feeling unrested, inability to stay asleep after getting there, and just lying there all night watching the clock.
For over a quarter of a century literally dozens of studies have proven this amino acid (tryptophan), produces a great sleep in many, and with no side effects or hangover. In fact, folks have better mental clarity during the day. Furthermore, it improves daytime depression, PMS, fibromyalgia, and anxiety as well as carbohydrate cravings, binge-eating and even alcohol recovery.
It’s important to note we also need serotonin to make melatonin, the hormone that prepares the body for sleep.
Now from a functional medicine perspective it is important to know that a simple B6 or zinc deficiency can contribute to insomnia. A common vitamin B6 deficiency can keep you awake all night, or low zinc causes impaired conversion of B6 to its active form, which is needed to make tryptophan work. Can you remember your dreams? If the answer is no, you may be lacking vitamin B6.
Adding another layer to insomnia, if you have low vitamin B3, the amino acid tryptophan diverts to make B3 at the expense of serotonin. Essentially, if you have trouble getting to sleep it would be a great choice to take an activated B vitamin supplement.
Now don’t forget chemicals leached out of plastics in drink bottles and consumption of alcohol lower our zinc as well.
Remember that as important as serotonin is for sleep and moods, most of serotonin is not made in the brain.
Ninety five percent of serotonin is made and used in the gut.
If the gut isn’t healthy, then you are going nowhere. If you have gas, bloating, alternating diarrhea or constipation or other gut issues then your chances of solving your insomnia problem may be futile until you fix your gut.
What about your B12?
Another essential nutrient many of us don’t get enough of is Vitamin B12. Diets high in carbohydrates inhibit stomach acid production and therefore the ability to absorb B 12.
Vegan diets will be devoid of B12 and you must supplement. Ant- acid meds will prevent absorption of B 12 and even if you get enough in your diet and absorb it ok, some people have genetic issues with either transporting or recycling B12. In these cases, supplementation and or B 12 injections are necessary.
“I am disappointed with the number of people suffering with insomnia who could be helped if only their physician understood the significance of nutrition. It comes down to finding the root of the cause,” says Verona.
Nine simple techniques that can surely help establish a good night’s sleep:
1. Establish a routine.
Eat dinner at the same time each night with a balance of protein, vegetables and complex grains, and allow a few hours to digest your meal before retiring. In other words, avoid high a carbohydrate meal such as a plate of pasta and sauce without the protein and veg. Swings in blood sugar can leave you with a sugar low in the early hours of the morning and keep you awake.
Go to bed at the same time each night even if you can’t fall directly asleep. Read or just relax focusing on the beat of your heart or relaxed breathing in a slow steady rhythm and your brain will change to a rhythmical theta rhythm.
Relaxed breathing from the diaphragm (or your tummy) switches off the flight and fright agitated state to restore calm and relaxation and allow you to fall asleep.
2. Enjoy a leisurely warm bath.
Taking the time to enjoy a warm bath is a perfect way to relax the body. To have a more relaxing bath, it is best to throw in baking soda and bath salt into the warm water. An alternative is to have a relaxing warm shower before bed. “I personally do a few gentle stretches to release tension in my body before sleep. It’s part of the wind down time,” says Verona.
3. Listen to soothing music.
It is said that a lulling and soothing music can outright put one into an undisturbed sleep. Insomniacs should try to put on play their favorite medley selections before they hit the bed, but none of that head banging stuff. Time to slow down before going to bed allows your brain to unwind. It’s like allowing time for the computer to shut down before turning off.
4. Turn off electronics and WiFi.
Make sure to avoid watching TV, being on your phone, or working at the computer before bed or in bed! These emit a blue light that interferes with your brain waves and stops you from falling asleep.
WiFi exposure can fry your brain so give it a break at night to sleep.Turn your phone to aeroplane mode or switch it off completely. Don’t have it near your bed at night.
5. Ask for a massage.
Before going to bed, ask someone (this can be your spouse, family member, or friend) for a massage. Slow yet firm strokes can relieve an insomniac’s body tensions, thus, making it easier to fall asleep. It’s particularly good to stroke downwards from head to buttock to bring down tension and diffuse stress.
6. Try to avoid tobacco, alcohol, and caffeine.
Caffeine is a stimulant and can often make it difficult to go to sleep or cause you to wake through the night. Hence, insomniacs should avoid drinking coffee, cola, and other liquids containing caffeine before hitting the covers.
Alcohol dehydrates the body, puts stress on the liver and can upset a person’s sleep patterns. Particularly take note of waking between 1-3 am if the liver is struggling to detox the body of these toxins. Alcohol also drains the body of essential vitamins and minerals needed to make the sleep chemicals.
Prescription drugs and environmental toxins also put stress on the liver. Sometimes we need to help it along with a liver detox.
7. Should we avoid taking naps?
Many say not to take naps during the day because they can prevent an insomniac from having a good night sleep. I would say to you that if you are desperate for sleep and need to rest, allow yourself a 10-15 minute cat nap, set the alarm and keep going through the da
If you are too exhausted often the brain gets heated, anxiety and agitation sets in and you won’t sleep no matter how tired you are. Some clients present after not sleeping for a week!
8. Drink herb tea or warm milk before bedtime.
Studies claim that drinking herb tea or warm milk a few minutes before bedtime soothes the nervous system and helps you relax ensuring a good night sleep. Warm milk contains tryptophan, the amino acid required to make serotonin and then melatonin. It is best absorbed with a source of glucose whether it be a small biscuit or ½ banana. Falling asleep requires energy.
9. Rest and sleep in a dark, quiet well-ventilated room.
Who would want to sleep in a room that is either too cold or too hot? Insomniacs are advised to rest and sleep in a room that has fresh air and has a temperature that is suitable for sleeping. It is better to have the room a bit cool and snuggle up under the blankets for comfort. Turn off the lights and any electrical devices in the bedroom and some may prefer quiet or soft soothing music.
If you would like to chat with Verona about your sleep habits you can contact her here https://www.getahealthylife.com.au/contact-us/
