There is a difference between eating healthy and eating right for your body.
Im not going to tell you to eat turkey and drink milk and so on to sleep better. The ways that food nourishes our body are much more complicated than that. I want to dive deeper into how to find out which foods are best for you individually so that you can be healthy and sleep well.
Im going to tell you about the importance of keeping your blood sugar levels steady, why you want to avoid foods youre sensitive to, how to balance your macronutrients for your metabolism and why low-carb, low-fat and plant-based diets and intermittent fasting arent good for you if you have trouble sleeping.
When your blood sugar levels fluctuate from extremely high to extremely low, youre on a blood sugar roller coaster that continues into the night. When levels get too high, your body releases insulin to lower blood sugar. When your blood sugar levels drop too low, your body feels stressed so it releases cortisol, which will wake you up if this happens in the night. You feel wired and awake from that cortisol. This is a common reason why many of my clients wake up around 2 a.m. and have a hard time falling back asleep.
The key to maintaining steady blood sugar levels is to avoid refined carbohydrates and sugars and to eat for your metabolic type (see below). Even if you dont eat many carbs or refined foods, your blood sugar system could be dysregulated from other systems in your body being out of balance, especially your hormones.
If you have blood sugar issues, a snack before bed can keep your blood sugar from falling too low at night and waking you up. Shoot for 100 to 200 calories with complex carbohydrates, protein and fat.
When you eat foods youre sensitive to, you have constant low-grade inflammation in your body. When your body is inflamed it releases cortisol, which is an anti-inflammatory hormone. When that happens in the night the cortisol wakes you up and makes it hard to go back to sleep.
Even healthy and easy-to-digest foods like rice and broccoli can sabotage your sleep if your body doesnt like those foods. Some of my clients start sleeping better just by avoiding foods theyre sensitive to.
Eating the correct balance of macronutrients (fat, protein and carbs) for your metabolism and body is key to being healthy, keeping your blood sugar levels steady and sleeping well. According to the metabolic typing diet, there are three types of ideal diets: protein, carbohydrate and mixed. Each type has its ideal ratios of fat, protein and carbs that you should eat.
If your body is meant to run on more carbs for fuel and youre giving it too much fat and protein, it will make you feel tired and cause cravings for sweets.
If your body needs more protein and fat for fuel and you eat too many carbs, its like injecting rocket fuel into your system. Your energy spikes, making you feel anxious, and then crashes, making you feel tired and depleted. This roller coaster ride triggers hormone fluctuations and energy deficits that can cause weight gain and poor sleep.
I start with the metabolic type assessment with my clients. I also use the Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis test that also shows their metabolism. Then I take it one step further to individualize their diet even more. Assessing how you feel after each meal and then fine-tuning your food ratios based on your bodys feedback will help you figure out your perfect ratios so you have energy all day and sleep well at night. You can get the Food Balance Log to assess your diet on my websites blog.
Vegetarian, vegan and low-fat diets arent the best for good sleep. The fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K are found exclusively in animal foods. These vitamins help make a lot of our hormones and neurotransmitters, like dopamine, serotonin and melatonin. You cant get all of these necessary nutrients from a plant diet. I recommend plenty of animal foods in the form of fats (like butter and full-fat dairy), eggs and organ meats to be healthy and sleep well.
Low-carb and ketogenic diets can also ruin your sleep. Everyone is different, and these diets are not good for everyone. You want to have carbohydrates at night so that your body releases insulin. Insulin helps clear out the amino acids that compete with tryptophan. Tryptophan converts to serotonin and melatonin so you can relax and go to sleep.
Intermittent fasting has become the new health craze. I do think it can benefit healthy people, but I also believe that it can be harmful if you arent in perfect health. If you arent sleeping, your body is already stressed. Adding intermittent fasting to insomnia creates even more stress and can wreck your sleep even more.
As you can see, food and sleep are complicated and intertwined. Figuring out your perfect diet based on food sensitivities, your metabolic type and blood sugar regulation will help you feel better, sleep better and improve your health.
As always, wishing you a good nights sleep.
Martha Lewis is a certified Sleep Sense consultant and owner of The Complete Sleep Solution. Follow her on Instagram and Facebook @completesleepsolution. Email her at completesleepsolution@gmail.com.
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Eat right for you and sleep better | Health | jhnewsandguide.com - Jackson Hole News&Guide
