Best Tips For Getting Restful Sleep / (increasing GABA?)

[Cirion]

I used to play lots of video games but I don't really do that any more. I do still watch a fair bit of anime in particular though. I've increased the amount of productive things I do too though, like reading books and learning from this website and other places like chris masterjohn, jack kruse, others.

 

[Vinero]

Caffeine usage can actually improve sleep. The way I use caffeine helps me to get sleepy in the evening.
I only drink coffee or take caffeine pills when waking up directly after breakfast. Usually around 400 mg of caffeine which is a huge dose.
I get the metabolism boosting and dopaminergic effects of caffeine and in the evening it starts to wear off.
If you don't consume anymore caffeine during the day you will get sleepy eventually.
You will get slight "caffeine withdrawal" effects in the evening which induces sleepiness.
Only drinking coffee in the morning is the key.

 

[Cirion]

Activities to inhibit the senses and raise serotonin.
Like slouching on the couch watching stupid videos for hours until you are overstimulated with nonsense, playing video games until way too late, gambling, etc. etc.

I am starting to wonder about the negative effects of TV on androgens, as much as I hate to admit it. In particular I'm starting to think ANY overstimulation with someone unhealthy like myself should be avoided in any quantities due to the suppression of dopamine generation that it probably induces. I've already basically quit video games which is a start. Maybe the next step is to quit TV too? This would force me to do more productive things, and also not be overstimulated. I've also quit using my phone essentially once I learned how much RF radiation it was radiating me with, so the TV is the last thing to go...

Caffeine usage can actually improve sleep. The way I use caffeine helps me to get sleepy in the evening.
I only drink coffee or take caffeine pills when waking up directly after breakfast. Usually around 400 mg of caffeine which is a huge dose.
I get the metabolism boosting and dopaminergic effects of caffeine and in the evening it starts to wear off.
If you don't consume anymore caffeine during the day you will get sleepy eventually.
You will get slight "caffeine withdrawal" effects in the evening which induces sleepiness.
Only drinking coffee in the morning is the key.

I used to do this but honestly now coffee actually puts me to sleep when I take it in the morning making it useless to me for waking up. Now I do no coffee at all.

 

[frant26]

I have a very hard time finding people who really share my values, either male or female. Socializing is generally very physically and mentally draining for me, so it really only works out for me when I'm in a high energy state

Focus less on supplements and more on your environment.

The way you describe it is that you push way too much pressure on being the best version of yourself while being social.
You may need to be so healthy and so high androgen if you want to "steal the show' and flirt with success,
but definitely not if you just need some friends to connect with.

^ THIS.

You are putting too much pressure on yourself regarding girls and socializing. I can relate.

A few things brother:

- Improve your environment: natural LIGHT, warmth, negative ions, less EMF... Make a plan, develop habits and eat/supplement the same thing without thinking about it. I know it ain't easy, but is there any chance you can move to a sunnier/warmer place? You say you don't have friends in St Louis, and family? If it's just a job, how about finding another one –even if it pays less– in a more relaxing place?

- Is there anything you enjoy doing outdoors or with your hands? Surfing, carpentry?

- That will lead to a better foundation for socializing. People who share your values, are these too specific? There's all kinds of people in this world, I'm sure you can find the ones with which you connect better but most importantly, TAKE YOUR TIME AND TAKE OUT THE PRESSURE, as I can read from your comments on picking up girls. This pressure & anxiety are devastating, they have been to me.

(Personal note: In an excellent environment I can eat crap and feel much better than the opposite, i.e. meh environment and perfect food. Altitude hasn't done ***t for me, I find the sea much more therapeutic.)

I am a personal development junkie so I relate to reading health books, the forum, strategies to pick up girls, tweaking my diet to be perfect, etc. When I notice I spend hours doing that DAILY, it pretty much relates with me feeling anxious, unwell, etc.

When I notice I'm not overthinking/reading (consuming) but producing/executing habits instead, I'm usually doing well.

so the TV is the last thing to go...

Excellent!

 

[Cirion]

I'm basically screwed until summer unless I can move. I picked the worst possible time to work on my health - right at the start of winter.

I use a bright 300W incandescent light bulb but it seems to have limited effect compared to the sun and I only have that at home, not at work where we get screwed over with flourescant lights.

I have been trying to get a job somewhere warmer with no luck so far. Had a couple of good interviews but haven't been selected for anything yet.

My ideal environment would be a house close to (or even on) the beach in a warm climate, able to just basically step outside whenever to get both sunlight and contact with the earth as much as I want every day.

 

[frant26]

My ideal environment would be a house close to (or even on) the beach in a warm climate, able to just basically step outside whenever to get both sunlight and contact with the earth as much as I want every day.

YEAH!

If you can't make to the perfect beachfront, even a little patch of grass with some heat from the sun can do wonders. Good luck my friend!

 

[Cirion]

I did order some Earthing products (sleeping mat, and mat to use while on the computer) that supposedly is the same thing as getting contact with the earth. We shall see. I made sure to order straight from www.earthing.com as they seem to be the most reputable supplier of earthing mats. I am most interested to see if the sleeping mat does anything good for me, as that's 8+ hours of contact. I read some of their book and it is a lot of interesting stuff.

 

[Pieter]

I probably get plenty of calcium. mountains of goat cheese every day. I supplement 600 mg magnesium on top of whatever else I may get from food. I get lots of fats (saturated) and sugars, plenty of salt, adequate protein (something like 40% fat 40% sugar 20% protein), generally peat approved foods for the most part.

I hear what you're saying about socializing, the problem is I have zero desire/motivation/energy to do so. It's been my experience in the past when I have been healthy that the desire to be social comes about naturally when I'm healthy, and forcing it isn't that useful (for me at least). The very first outing I did the last time I was very healthy, I struck up a conversation with several women and asked one out (Keep in mind, I'm normally very bad around women). Conversely I've had times when I've been unhealthy and forcing socializing really didn't work for me at all no matter what I did, and any attempts to hit on women were laughable and pointless & I also develop a stutter and poor ability to speak my mind when my androgens are low (especially around attractive women) so they reject me outright due to my pathetic approach.

What I'm trying to say is that: High androgen males are sociable. However, trying to be sociable doesn't give you high androgens or even improve them. That has not been my experience. Actually, I often felt worse after attempting to socialize in poor health, due to feeling embarrassed by pathetic conversations and weak attempts at seducing women and then replaying said incident in my head repeatedly once back home compounding it. Experience for some other people may differ I'll admit, so I'm sure I'm not a one size fits all example.

It's possibly also because I don't really have any good friends locally, and I have a very hard time finding people who really share my values, either male or female. Socializing is generally very physically and mentally draining for me, so it really only works out for me when I'm in a high energy state. I honestly enjoy my own company more than other peoples' company, especially when I'm in a low energy state.

I resonate with you 100%. You hoping that improved sleep will fix the low androgens and youve tried everything right... Just by being on this forum I take it you pretty health savvy. Go do some research on TRT also watch TOTrevolution youtube podcast with the doctors.

 

[RobertJM]

Most important thing for me is eating enough protein during the day. I notice that if I go a whole day with a lack of animal protein, my brain becomes on edge come the evening.

A quality magnesium supplement has helped immensely (idea labs). I also have liquid melatonin that I take sporadically if I really need it (and that stuff is like a light being switched off). It works incredibly well and can send me to sleep in minutes.

Lastly, red light also works a treat. Just sitting front of red lifght before I go to bed and immediately notice my eyes dropping, starting to stick, and I yawn.

 

[Mufasa]

Most important thing for me is eating enough protein during the day

For me as well.

 

[Wagner83]

Doesn't that exclude the Ray Peat way of eating? Saturated fat and sugars... what are you supposed to eat before bed then??

Ray talks a lot about safe sources of fibers, if you find one perhaps it would help you. I haven't seen him recommend high amounts of saturated fats although I don't think he believes it's incompatible with health. He has mentioned avoiding while milk and using 1% instead.

 

[Cirion]

I don't believe in the phobia of fats that seems so rampant around here. For everyone who posts here saying fat is the devil, there's someone who is not only thriving, but living optimally with high (saturated) fat. Dietary fat is crucial to hormone production. Studies have clearly shown that you need at least 25% calories from dietary fat for optimal hormone production. I'm having constant libido problems, but my libido is literally zero if I don't eat high fat. @James IV @Cameron @kreeese & many others thrive on high fat diets.

Fats and Testosterone: Dietary Fat, PUFA, & Androgens | Anabolic Men

Studies linked here suggest the optimum is probably around 25-40% of calories which jives from my personal experiences.

This is one area where I have a bone to pick with most of the RP followers and possibly even RP himself (however, he himself used to eat high fat, and suggests that the optimal macronutrient ratio may be 33/33/33, so he absolutely does not have anything against fat). I may not be doing well/optimally yet but I can absolutely say with certainty that low fat is not the answer, at the very least not for me, I'll put that qualifier because it does seem like some can handle a little lower on fat but it seems to me the only people who can are those who are already healthy. However, low fat does not seem to be compatible with obtaining good health in my personal experience.

The above linked studies do suggest an answer as to why some with high carb intakes do better than others and the answer is fairly simple - more activity/exercise. The required amount of fat is probably "roughly constant" regardless of activity level, but with increased activity levels, carbs required increase as suggested here:

"So more fat, more testosterone? Not necessarily.

There seems to be a point of diminishing returns, and this is simply because you also need to leave some room for carbohydrates and protein. For example, one study with hockey players dropped fat intake from 40% to 30% while simultaneously increasing carbohydrate intake from 45% to 55%, this resulted in elevated testosterone levels".

 

[RobertJM]

St Louis isn’t that bad for weather is it? Honestly, you have it much better than some. I was chatting to someone from St Louis for about a year and I was always comparing the weather there to what I have here in the U.K. You guys have summers that are absolutely baking and your hot weather/sunny periods seem to last a while. If you’re struggling with things there closer to the equator, don’t ever move further north to somewhere like where I am. The winters are here are dark, gloomy, cold and really miserable. It sucks. Pretty much!

Even though the last few summers have been pretty good in th U.K (and the last one was especially good), i remember some summers in previous years where we mostly saw cloud and rain and I perhaps saw the sun three or four times. That was truly depressing. I suppose all I’m trying to say is that there are always people out there who are much worse off than you (not that it will even remotely make you feel better, I doubt!).

But if it’s really that bad you could just copy Danny Roddy and move to Mexico. It’s way more achievable for you than it is for somebody like me, thousands of miles away.

 

[Cirion]

St Louis isn’t that bad for weather is it? Honestly, you have it much better than some. I was chatting to someone from St Louis for about a year and I was always comparing the weather there to what I have here in the U.K. You guys have summers that are absolutely baking and your hot weather/sunny periods seem to last a while. If you’re struggling with things there closer to the equator, don’t ever move further north to somewhere like where I am. The winters are here are dark, gloomy, cold and really miserable. It sucks. Pretty much!

Even though the last few summers have been pretty good in th U.K (and the last one was especially good), i remember some summers in previous years where we mostly saw cloud and rain and I perhaps saw the sun three or four times. That was truly depressing. I suppose all I’m trying to say is that there are always people out there who are much worse off than you (not that it will even remotely make you feel better, I doubt!).

But if it’s really that bad you could just copy Danny Roddy and move to Mexico. It’s way more achievable for you than it is for somebody like me, thousands of miles away.

No doubt STL isn't the worst, but it's not ideal for a life-long hypo person like myself to properly heal either. I don't have a yard either so it's hard to sun-tan in privacy like I'd like to, even in summer (I have a condo). Next place I get will have a nice fenced in yard for sure.

I wasn't planning on moving north lol :P Yea that sounds horrible. I'd definitely be moving ASAP if I was you.

My current goal is Florida. It's the most realistic for me because there are some aerospace jobs down there (my current industry) and wouldn't require moving to a new country. I am envious of a former colleague who made that move. I interviewed for a similar position and had a good interview but wasn't selected. Unfortunately my specialty in the aerospace field seems somewhat niche and not extremely desirable, so I have had a hard time finding positions for it.

 

[YourUniverse]

fat is important for "hormone production" to the degree that it is blocking PUFA

 

[Cirion]

That is a good point and possibly could be one of the answers as to why only healthy people can do low fat diets.

But, I rather doubt the answer is to force yourself to go low fat to try to get healthy. It's the same fallacy as forcing weight loss to get healthy IMO.

I believe @theLaw has spoken to this saturated fat protective effect for those healing from a deranged metabolism before.

I do know one guy who (someone I know, not someone who posts here), what he did was, lots of intense weight training & gorging himself ad libitum on carbohydrates while going low to zero fat. I don't recommend what he did, but it seemed to work for him - he weight trained to complete exhaustion, then basically ate protein and especially carbs endlessly until he felt his energy return in full force, so it was a cycle of overtraining and extreme carb refeeding that seemed to work for him to force his body to learn how to use carbs again. Somewhat interestingly as well - he does not believe in sugar. Nearly 100% of his carb intake was pure glucose (he told me he just put glucose powder in protein shakes). He did have some starch later though too. I mentioned before that intense exercise can improve ability to properly utilize carbohydrates according to the study on hockey players (a phenomenon most of us are aware of, insulin sensitivity promotion of exercise). Unfortunately, my tolerance to exercise is zero currently, beyond short walks. Although now that the same guy is ripped and muscular, he eats a lot higher fat (he recently told me even eats SAD foods like pizza sometimes), so I'm still not convinced that low fat is ideal for a long term solution. Others like Zachs (who no longer post here I don't believe) did low fat for a while and is also in optimal shape but now continues to eat dietary fat in large amounts (150g a day many days) and considers his diet optimal according to him. Similary, Zachs said he pretty much eats whatever he wants and gets away with it including "bad" foods, since his hormones are in optimal condition.

I know I need at least 150-200g fat to feel close to right. I actually start to have a libido once I get to 200+g fat.

TCA & westsidepufa's are like the only two members that I know of that thrive on low fat here other than RP himself, which is not a very large sample size given how many people post here. But, that does show that it's possible, I suppose. Still, they seem to be anomolies. And RP himself, didn't he eat very high fat, at least until he started thyroid meds?

When I tried a very low fat diet all it did was increase my cortisol/adrenaline/required frequency of meals to avoid hypoglycemia. I would wake up every 1-2 hrs at night, and couldn't last more than 1-2 hours without extreme hypoglycemia (shaking hands, hunger, other signs of stress responses).

 

[Wagner83]

I don't believe in the phobia of fats that seems so rampant around here. For everyone who posts here saying fat is the devil, there's someone who is not only thriving, but living optimally with high (saturated) fat. Dietary fat is crucial to hormone production. Studies have clearly shown that you need at least 25% calories from dietary fat for optimal hormone production. I'm having constant libido problems, but my libido is literally zero if I don't eat high fat. @James IV @Cameron @kreeese & many others thrive on high fat diets.

Fats and Testosterone: Dietary Fat, PUFA, & Androgens | Anabolic Men

Studies linked here suggest the optimum is probably around 25-40% of calories which jives from my personal experiences.

This is one area where I have a bone to pick with most of the RP followers and possibly even RP himself (however, he himself used to eat high fat, and suggests that the optimal macronutrient ratio may be 33/33/33, so he absolutely does not have anything against fat). I may not be doing well/optimally yet but I can absolutely say with certainty that low fat is not the answer, at the very least not for me, I'll put that qualifier because it does seem like some can handle a little lower on fat but it seems to me the only people who can are those who are already healthy. However, low fat does not seem to be compatible with obtaining good health in my personal experience.

The above linked studies do suggest an answer as to why some with high carb intakes do better than others and the answer is fairly simple - more activity/exercise. The required amount of fat is probably "roughly constant" regardless of activity level, but with increased activity levels, carbs required increase as suggested here:

I guess what I'm saying is that increasing some of the safe fibers and lowering saturated fats depending on how much you eat isn't against what Peat has talked about, I'm not saying you should do that. Some people seem to do better with high fat diets, however I see very few people recommend high sodas / juice in combination with high fat diets. Even haidut said on a recent podcast that one thing he would change if he had to go through all the changes he experienced with a few years ago was saturated fat intake. Fat tissues create their own problems.
Anyways, some people have also reported becoming fatter and melting the fat away later on. I don't preach for anything in particular this is mere food for thought. About physical activity and being social, sometimes movement creates energy, imagine a snowball pushed downhill, the idea of healing in our room and then exposing ourselves to the outer world might be wrong (to some degree).

 

[Cirion]

Well wanna know a funny story. The moment I started complaining, I think I am now starting to lose weight lol. No doubt part of it was facilitated by a cold I just had which forced me to eat less, but I don't think that is explaining a lot of the water loss. I have lost 7 lbs in a 3 day span. Let's hope it continues. My belly is noticeably less bloated. I'm still overweight, but it's a start. I believe part of it is because I'm drinking more liquids. I was actually dehydrated, at the advice of many people here, saying you should not drink liquids. Now my urine is usually clear or very light yellow, and now I seem to finally be letting go of excess water.

In addition, one thing I'm doing now that may be helping is an increased salt and calcium intake. I basically take salt by the teaspoon now almost every glass of OJ I drink (OJ was about all I was having while I was sick as its all I had the appetite for) as well as calcium carbonate. which means I'm probably getting 10-20 gram sodium a day as well as 5-10+ gram calcium a day.

I'm wondering if the cold I got was my body finally deciding to rid itself of a lot of the crap in my body after my metabolism had increased for a couple months.

Also, on topic with the original thread (I can't complain about going off topic since its my thread, but still :P) I had my first night sleeping grounded on an earthing mat and its too early to say, but it may be doing beneficial things. I will say I slept almost 7 hours without waking up which is unheard of for me. In addition, I feel a lot of tingling in my body and I had some muscle pain that actually seems a little worse, which I suspect may be one of those cases where it gets worse before its better (inflammation / healing response maybe??)

My bed is literally in the perfect environment - don't think I can improve it further. Grounded on earthing mat, sleeping in zero EMF environment (nearly), Inclined bed, & sleeping with the circuit breaker pulled so no dirty electricity. That and sleeping pitch dark, at a comfortable temp.

 

[Owen B]

I did order some Earthing products (sleeping mat, and mat to use while on the computer) that supposedly is the same thing as getting contact with the earth. We shall see. I made sure to order straight from www.earthing.com as they seem to be the most reputable supplier of earthing mats. I am most interested to see if the sleeping mat does anything good for me, as that's 8+ hours of contact. I read some of their book and it is a lot of interesting stuff.

I bought the same. Just got it yesterday. The universal mat, not the sleeping mat.

It was all news to me. Free electrons to satiate the electron hungry free radicals.

It's pretty strong. I'm using it sparingly at first. I experience effects almost immediately. It feels quite good.

I read through the book but there's even better literature at Earthing Institute – Reconnecting People To The Earth.

It has a curious effect of toning both the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems at the same time. IOW, I felt very energized and went about catching up with a lot of odds and ends in my apt, organizing things I keep putting off etc. But at the same time I felt a lot of relaxation, good surges of energy going below the diaphragm and into the pit of my belly.

A possible caveat is too much melatonin. I can't quote the arguments but I actually think Peat is not crazy about melatonin. I think he would probably say good sleep would be better attained through food and hormones.

Anyway, it's a nice little tool to experiment with, modestly priced and has direct, noticeably good effects. Lol.

 

[Cirion]

After second night on the earthing mat, a chronic pain in my back I had developed has diminished over 50%. The first night it actually increased. There may very well be something to this... I bet the first night it was my body starting to go into healing mode and temporarily flared up the inflammation in preparation for healing... or that's my explanation at least lol

I wonder if putting a mat over the belly could help with gut problems... I think that because negative EMF's aggravate the gut, so maybe positive EMF's could heal it?

What do you mean that it increases melatonin? I don't notice that effect. Melatonin has a clear drugged feeling to it, I don't experience that from earthing myself.

I don't consider this an abnormal method to attain health in any way, if anything, it is one of the more natural things to do (for thousands of years man remained in contact with the earth nearly 24/7 even while sleeping, its only until recently that we became "smart" and made buildings that we started to lose that).