Why can't I sleep
Along with food, poor sleep is one of the most important contributor to chronic diseases that people are not talking about.
Along with food, poor sleep is one of the most important contributor to chronic diseases that people are not talking about.
It’s easy to blame excess weight on what you are eating, or lack of exercise, but good quality sleep has everything to do with your hormones and may have an impact on your food choices too.
So let’s look at sleep. What happens to induce sleep?
You have probably heard about a hormone called Melatonin – this is the sleep hormone, and is mainly made in the brain in a place called Pineal Gland. Melatonin production starts ramping up in the early evening and peaks at around 9-10pm for most people.
Melatonin production is under the influence of so many factors in the body. It is made from an amino acid called tryptophan which is converted to 5-Hydroxytryptophan (5HTP), which is converted to serotonin, which is then converted to melatonin.
This is why people with depression (who usually have a low serotonin level) also have poor quality sleep because their melatonin production is affected. Nutritional deficiency e.g. B6, low tryptophan, may influence melatonin levels as well as other factors such as artificial light (including light from your electronic devices or reading light), a high cortisol (stress hormone – cortisol normally spikes in the morning, and then tails off towards the end of the day.1
However, some people have a reverse pattern where they have a high level at night). Also, if there are issue with your pineal gland e.g. heavy metals, trauma, your melatonin production may be limited.
Having suffered with insomnia in the past, I can tell you there is no one quick cure. However, the good news is that, if you dig deep to find out the REASON why you cannot sleep (e.g. by assessing the above factors I listed with your practitioner), you can fix it. Just as not one diet fits all, there is no one magic cure. You need to get to the bottom of why you are not sleeping and tackle that.
Here are some of 10 Pro Tips to get better quality sleep: