Snacks to help you Sleep

According to Dr Kathryn Woodhall low blood sugar is a trigger to wake us up from our slumber and is considered a indicator to the bodies system – waking us up.

Plus the body can be considered under alot of stress when this function occurs or from increased physical acitivity..

What’s stress got to do with blood sugar?

You’ve probably heard that your adrenal glands handle stress, but they actually do a lot more.

Your adrenals:

• adjust your blood pressure so you don’t get dizzy when you stand up
• help produce some sex hormones
• are responsible for the fight/flight/freeze response, as well as for dealing with other stressors like allergies, infections, diets that are high in sugar, and emotional or physical trauma
• play a role in your sleep/wake cycles
• help you repair/heal
• help keep your blood sugar levels relatively even between meals
• If your adrenals get overly occupied with any one of their tasks, the other functions they perform will sometimes pay the price.

Often people complain of waking between 2 – 4am having real struggles geting back to sleep.  Nothing worse then watching the clock tick by knowing you are missing out on valuable sleep time.  Well there’s a good chance that your blood sugar is dropping too low during the night.  The reason you can go back to sleep right before the alarm goes off is that cortisol increases in the morning to wake you up, but it also allows your sugar levels to increase.

The first thing to check is that your diet is nutrient dense without an excess of sugary foods and that you’re getting regular exercise. If your diet needs work, you aren’t exercising, work on changing your diet and exercise habits.

Of course if you are thinking that both diet and exercise are at good levels then youa re probably stressed out about something at present.

Keeping a small protein/fat snack by your bed to eat when you wake during the night can help you get back to sleep.

Example: 6-12 almonds, 2-3 tablespoons of sunflower seeds, etc.

AND whatever you don’t turn the light on because then your melatonin levels will pep up and you will really think its time to get up.

There you go snacking in the middle of the night CAN be good for you – of course not suggesting a trip out to the fridge will help – we are talking about healthy small snacks for the sake of a good night sleep.

Charlie G Hunter