hypoglycemia

How to Sleep Like a Baby with a Really Simple Diet Change!

How to Sleep Like a Baby with a Really Simple Diet Change!

Tired of Sleepless Nights?

Sweet Sleep, Sleep Like a BabySleepless nights quickly take their toll on a person’s life.

If you are someone who tosses and turns at night…

you know it is a problem that effects more than your sleep.

A lack of sleep soon causes havoc in your daytime routine as well.

Are you tired of being tired? If so, you may want to read on and take look at one of the culprits that may be preventing you from sleeping like a baby; out of whack sugar levels. Hypoglycemia is a condition of lowered blood sugar levels, which can result in trouble sleeping.

What’s Your Bedtime Routine Look Like?

Does this sound familiar? You’re wrapping up a long day and you’ll be going to bed soon. A bowl of ice cream and a cookie sounds like a nice bedtime snack, so you enjoy one and head to bed. You fall asleep right away.

But then in the middle of the night you wake up and simply cannot go back to sleep. You toss and turn and lie there thinking about the previous day and what you need to do tomorrow. Your mind replays things over and over and you’re frustrated because you desperately need sleep but just can’t fall back asleep.

Or do you experience this scenario? You eat your ice cream and go to bed, only to find yourself tossing and turning. You don’t sleep well. You have weird, scary dreams such as running to escape from danger and jumping off a cliff. You wake up in a sweat; feeling like you’ve been run over by a train. You are not rested and feel like you’ve been in a battle all night in your dreams.

What is going on?

Remember the ice cream, (or anything sweet) you ate before bed? Well it causes your blood sugar to rise quickly. Your pancreas then in turn cranks out a jolt of insulin to bring the sugar levels down, but it puts out too much insulin. Now your sugar levels are dropping too quickly.

And, since you are asleep you will not be eating something to bring up your out of whack blood sugar levels. So your body calls upon your adrenal system to trigger the release of stored glycogen into the blood stream. It works, and your blood sugar levels rise.

However, the problem is that now you also have fight or flight hormones coursing through the blood stream. One of these hormones, norepinephrine, is also a neurotransmitter. It causes your mind to kick into high gear and think, to devise a plan to fight and escape danger; it turns your sweet dreams into nightmares.

Sleeping Like a Baby Doesn’t Have to be a Dream!

Clearly a lack of sleep detracts from your quality of life. The good news is that, simple diet changes can be made to help control low blood sugar and improve quality of sleep.

Do this. Make a point of eating six times a day; three meals and three snacks. Include some protein at each of these times. Protein is critical to controlling low blood sugar because it slows the absorption of sugar into the blood stream and causes a gradual rise in blood sugar instead of a straight line increase.

Never eat a carbohydrate alone. Always have it with a protein. If you find yourself awake at night and having trouble going back to sleep, eat something with some protein, a little carbohydrate, and a little fatty acid; like a piece of cheese and a cracker, or a handful of peanuts.

Your next step? Take what you’ve just learned and put it into practice. This really simple diet change is easy to do and it may just allow you to place your head on your pillow and sleep like a baby.

May your nights be filled with sweet sleep and your life be full of growing prosperity!

God bless you always,
Brenda

P.S. This post was inspired by information from nutritionist Karen Hurd and you can find additional health and nutrition info at her website: http://www.KarenHurd.com

P.P.S. Do have any tips for sleeping well? Please feel free to share with everyone and leave a comment… Thanks!

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