Diet Insomnia

I've always had the opposite happen - the healthier i eat, the better my sleeping habits tend to be!!

GingerbreadCandy wrote: »

Hi! That happens to me when I am not eating enough. Or if I have a really intense exercise session. Otherwise I sleep way better, normally.

I actually didn't think of this, but ^thats the case for me (and most people) as well. If you're not consuming enough the hunger can keep you up for sure, and other physical reactions may impact your sleep.

Have you tried tracking your sleeping habits AND your eating habits for a few weeks, to look for patterns?

pkw58 wrote: »

Absolutely have had too low a calorie intake impact my sleep pattern. I got a standing desk at work and if I make sure I stand /walk 8-10 hours a day, I sleep a solid six hours. I do try to save 1/3 of my calories for dinner. I exercise (yoga or PT Sessions) in the morning . I get my minimum water in by 6 pm every night. I start my "shut down" process 30 minutes before I go to bed. For me, it is all about treating sleep like I do exercise, eating right and getting hydrated. With the holidays, I am getting up one extra hour earlier each morning to plan my day better.

Bolded for emphasis. I am absolutely horrible at doing this myself, but one should start "shutting down" (turning off electronic devices, no intense exercise, etc.) 30 minutes before going to bed.

Also using your bed for sleeping only is something that helps improve your sleep as well.

For me, I am like the others here... though I am already an insomniac clinically, it can be way worse if I don't make sure to have something in my system to prevent severe low blood sugar during sleep.

Shutting down is important, but there is also a reason why people have "bedtime snacks" that are full of protein and long-burning sugars. If we don't eat for several hours prior to sleep, then go to bed, our glucose levels can drop so low that survival instincts kick in. Recently, I've had several instances where I'm trying to go to sleep and I just can't.. I take in water, try to relax, meditate, and it doesn't allow me to pass out... then finally, randomly, my stomach will grumble. I'll get up and have a snack/meal, and within half an hour, I'm passing out.

If you experience this when cutting food and such, it's likely that your glucose levels are not leveled out yet. Either space it so that you eat something decent, even as simply as a serving of nut butter, before going to bed, or you'll have to tough it out as your body re-adjusts to the new sugar cycles.

I can say that even if you take a bunch of melatonin, if you're hungry enough to be woken up by your body, it won't work. Better to adjust the habits, than to struggle for no reason...

I only ever can't sleep if I let myself get too hungry. When 'dieting', I normally have a snack right before bedtime, which helps a lot.

DeeJayD2014 wrote: »

Does anyone else suffer from what I call diet insomnia? Whenever I get back on a track of eating clean and exercising I start sleeping horribly. Is it just me? Usually if I ride it out a week or so it gets better but it's hard to be up at 3am and not eat. lol.

If you are exercising late in the day, move exercise to earlier in the day.

I wouldn't be able to sleep when dieting if I wasn't eating enough. After a bowl of cereal I knocked right out. Figured listening to my body was more important than my numerical goals.

Have you recently started taking a multivitamin? I'll tell you why I ask. I have this happen to me when I take vitamins. It took me years to figure out why. Every time I would take them, I would be fine for the first day, but then my symptoms would always kick in by the second or third day. My doctor and I narrowed it down to B-complex vitamin sensitivity. I get jittery and anxious. It's really hard for me to relax and get a good night's sleep. This is a rare reaction to B vitamins, but it's not unheard of, which is why I thought it might be worth a mention. I know many people start taking vitamins when they change to a healthier lifestyle.