No More Insomnia! The Foods And Vitamins That Can Put You To Sleep

Insomnia and Nutrition - How and What We Eat Could Affect Our Sleep

By Vishal P. Rao

All the natural and holistic systems of medicine or therapies maintain the powerful effect of diet and nutrition on our body and mind. Like all other disorders, dietary factors play significant role in prevention of insomnia and sleep disorders. We will explore some of these dietary and nutritional factors related to sleep.

Insomnia and Dietary Stimulants

Dietary stimulants are metabolic disruptors that overstress the adrenal and cause the imbalance of hormones.

One of the contributing factors for insomnia is stimulant food and drugs. Caffeine drinks (coffee, tea, cola, cocoa) and chocolates cause an adrenalin rush in the body and wakes people up.

We should feel energized and refreshed after a good sleep. The need to take caffeine in the morning to ‘wake up’ creates a vicious cycle by perking up adrenaline from adrenal glands. Dr. Jonathan Wright, the author of “The New Detox Diet”, has gone to extreme by calling caffeine an insecticide. He cites that plants use caffeine to kill insects.

MSG (monosodium glutamate) is another ingredient of grocery store products. Avoid it as it predisposes to sleep disorders, migraine headaches and even Alzheimer’s disease.

Refined white sugar is another stimulant that perks the level of glucose in blood and stresses the pancreas.

Insomnia and Carbohydrates

People who eat short-lasting kind of sugars in evening are more prone to wakefulness in night. The sugar in their food is released sooner and metabolized in body. A drop in glucose level promotes the release of glucose regulating hormones (adrenalin, glucagon, cortisol and growth hormone) and this wakes them up.

Eating right foods in the evening that has long-lasting type of sugar and release sugars gradually do help in having better sleep without awakenings.

Exposure to sunlight is minimal in short days and long nights of winter.

Then melatonin hormone is above normal. High level of melatonin in brain suppresses serotonin and it results in feeling down, drowsy or getting the blues.

The common, easy and wrong way to get over the blues is to eat

carbohydrates like refined sugars or refined flour or soft drinks. It does restore the serotonin level quickly but leaves a craving for sugar and such foods that perks glucose in blood. This leads to a vicious cycle of dependence and carbohydrate craving. The better way could be to get more sunlight so that raised melatonin is normalized naturally.

Insomnia and Amino Acids

Tryptophan (L-tryptophan), an amino acid found in foods as milk and turkey, is converted to serotonin in brain. It enhances the ability of brain to produce melatonin, the hormone that regulates biological clock and induces sleep at night. Eating tryptophan rich foods benefits in sleep disorders.

Our body makes serotonin, the good mood chemical, from tryptophan. Better serotonin levels are responsible for shortening the time taken to get to sleep.

5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP), a form of tryptophan, is better as it is one step closer to serotonin. 5-HTP supports sleep in two ways – by shortening the time taken to get to sleep and by reducing the awakenings.

Phosphatidylserine is another amino acid in brain that supports brain in regulating the amount of cortisone. High cortisone level is found in stressed individuals. Phosphatidylserine help in insomnia associated with stress.

Insomnia and Mineral Supplements

The amount of salt, calcium and magnesium are important for sleep. Insomnia patients who take excess of salt found them getting better sleep by reducing the salt intake. Calcium and magnesium deficiency is also related to sleep disturbing night cramps.

Calcium deficiency causes restlessness and wakefulness. Calcium rich foods are better than calcium tablets and produce relaxing and mild sedative effect.

Magnesium deficiency is responsible for sleep disturbing nervousness. Magnesium-rich foods include kelp, wheat bran, almonds, cashews, blackstrap molasses, and brewer's yeast.

Chromium supplementation is found effective in sleep problem with uncontrolled sugar levels in diabetic persons.

Insomnia and Vitamin Deficiency

Vitamin B deficiency is responsible for nervousness, nerve irritation, general stress and insomnia. Refined cereals, beans and fast foods are responsible for its deficiency.

Vit. B12 helps to prevent insomnia while Vit. B5 (Pantothenic Acid) relieves stress. The best food sources of the B vitamins are liver, whole grains, wheat germ, tuna, walnuts, peanuts, bananas, sunflower seeds, and blackstrap molasses.

Insomnia and Food Allergy

Food allergy and intolerance of some foods can cause disturbance of sleep, sometimes because of upset of digestive system. Persons with lactose intolerance complaints sleep trouble when they consume milk or its derivative products in evening.

Avoid excess use of canned foods with food additives, colourings and preservatives.

Insomnia and Heavy Metal Poisoning

Heavy metal poisoning (especially mercury, lead and aluminum toxicities) is a well documented cause of nervousness, mental confusion, irritability, emotional upheavals and sleep disorders.

Avoid aluminum pots, new dental amalgam fillings, foils for wrapping foods and some antacids. Also avoid exercising by busy roads with heavy traffic.

Insomnia and Eating Habits

Take evening meals in moderation and two hours before bed time. Use milk and other foods with calcium, magnesium and vitamin B.

“Walk a mile after a meal” is almost a proverb. Leisurely walk inside the house or outdoor for a few minutes is very good after evening meal.

Vishal P. Rao writes on holistic living at RelishingLife.com where you can find information on natural sleep aids and herbal remedies for insomnia.

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Interesting article - makes sense - I'll watch what I eat before bed now.