How To Improve Your Sleep

[Hans]

Hello everyone,

We all want our sleep to be optimized and it feels like an uphill battle for most.
I postponed this article for quite some time but finally decided to work on it and finish it.
It's a biggie so take your time. I hope you enjoy and learn something new. After reading let me know your thoughts.
I also want to hear what works for you, routines, supplements, doses, etc.

How to Optimize Sleep for better Life Performance » MenElite

 

[reality]

I really enjoy your articles, great info. Thanks man

 

[Mito]

Not sure if it’s as good as the Oura ring but Fitbit does also distinguish between REM and deep sleep.

 

[Such_Umami]

Point 5 says sleep increases oxidative stress...Is that correct?

 

[Kingpinguin]

Hello everyone,

We all want our sleep to be optimized and it feels like an uphill battle for most.
I postponed this article for quite some time but finally decided to work on it and finish it.
It's a biggie so take your time. I hope you enjoy and learn something new. After reading let me know your thoughts.
I also want to hear what works for you, routines, supplements, doses, etc.

How to Optimize Sleep for better Life Performance » MenElite

For me correctin/taking iron supplement helped me the most with my previous sleep issues. Before I sleept and never woke up rested. Only when I started using iron supplements did my sleep go from 10-11 hours to 7-9 hours and finally waking up fresh with energy for once.
Also saw you that you wrote iron increases kynurenic acid? Would like to see this if you have it at hand. Curious as to where this is in iron excess or any amount of iron would do that. I’ve seen iron do the opposite increase niacin from tryptophan synthesis away from serotonin and kynurenic acid. Iron is involved in that enzyme and iron deficiency makes it dysfunctional like many other enzymes.
Iron deficiency reduces the efficacy of tryptophan as a niacin precursor. - PubMed - NCBI
Good if people can distinguish between deficiency and excess states in nutrition. And not just portray things as simplistic as black and white. That only spreads disinformation. No hate against your work or articles they are great. But it’s easy to miss certain information and other things studying nutrition just because studies are designed that way. Simplistic.

 

[Hans]

I really enjoy your articles, great info. Thanks man

Not sure if it’s as good as the Oura ring but Fitbit does also distinguish between REM and deep sleep.

Oh ok thanks. I guess it improved then. I'll change it then.

Point 5 says sleep increases oxidative stress...Is that correct?

Good catch. Bad sleep/sleep apnea increases oxidative stress and inflammation.

For me correctin/taking iron supplement helped me the most with my previous sleep issues. Before I sleept and never woke up rested. Only when I started using iron supplements did my sleep go from 10-11 hours to 7-9 hours and finally waking up fresh with energy for once.
Also saw you that you wrote iron increases kynurenic acid? Would like to see this if you have it at hand. Curious as to where this is in iron excess or any amount of iron would do that. I’ve seen iron do the opposite increase niacin from tryptophan synthesis away from serotonin and kynurenic acid. Iron is involved in that enzyme and iron deficiency makes it dysfunctional like many other enzymes.
Iron deficiency reduces the efficacy of tryptophan as a niacin precursor. - PubMed - NCBI
Good if people can distinguish between deficiency and excess states in nutrition. And not just portray things as simplistic as black and white. That only spreads disinformation. No hate against your work or articles they are great. But it’s easy to miss certain information and other things studying nutrition just because studies are designed that way. Simplistic.

"Excess copper, zinc and especially iron inhibits QPRT and can increase QA, lower NAD+ and cause excitotoxic damage (R).

Under inflammatory conditions, vitamin B2, B6, Cu and zinc can inhibit excess activation of the kynurenine pathway, whereas excess iron and inflammation promote it."
The first paragraph say excess iron. I added "excess" in paragraph two just for proper distinction.

Under non inflammatory conditions the pathway should create a good amount of NAD and a balance between QA and KA, but iron does not specifically increase KA.

Under inflammatory conditions, in which iron plays a big role, the pathway creates more QA and/or less KA.

I also added "But have your iron tested before trying to lower it as iron is needed for this pathway. Too little iron, zinc, copper, vitamin B2 and B6 and you will have reduced NAD+ synthesis through this pathway." at the bottom.

I wasn't trying to say iron is bad in general, so thanks for pointing that out.

 

[Mhtro]

GABA did wonders for my sleep, the only thing I've used that actually kept me on sleep. Phenibut did this as well but it does pretty much the same things as GABA.
Alpha GCP did wonders for my sleep as.

Intense exercise also made me sleep "deeper"? I always feel like I sleep better after a heavy workout day.

 

[Hans]

GABA did wonders for my sleep, the only thing I've used that actually kept me on sleep. Phenibut did this as well but it does pretty much the same things as GABA.
Alpha GCP did wonders for my sleep as.

Intense exercise also made me sleep "deeper"? I always feel like I sleep better after a heavy workout day.

Sweet. Did you use plain GABA? And how much?

 

[Insaneacinamide]

Great article Hans. You presented many areas one could cover.
Here are some of my thoughts as you asked in first post:
-Ondansetron has worked better for me than ginger in "Blocking 5-HT3 with ginger can be helpful"... could put ondansetron on the list(perhaps other 'setrons work as good). 2-8mg works well but can go higher if needed.
-prazosin(minipress) is a good alpha andrenergic blocker, could add it to the list. Some interesting pubmed studies with it used in ptsd/sleep. 1mg works fine but dosages can go much higher, or even small dose like 250mcg might work.
-50mg-100mg pregnenolone(daily) + 6mg-8mg aromasin(used 2-4x a week) is a good combo for sex hormones without shutdown which can help sleep/dreams. Or perhaps just lowering estrogen in some ways can help sleep/dreams.
-You mentioned some hard to get things like mk677 + melanotan 2 but no mention of ghb/xyrem. Which is available from a doctor and Peat approved. Could add it to the gaba list.

 

[Mhtro]

Sweet. Did you use plain GABA? And how much?

Yeah, plain GABA Powder, around 500-700mg. Phenibut works way better for sleep though but I wouldn't suggest it.

Great article Hans. You presented many areas one could cover.
Here are some of my thoughts as you asked in first post:
-Ondansetron has worked better for me than ginger in "Blocking 5-HT3 with ginger can be helpful"... could put ondansetron on the list(perhaps other 'setrons work as good). 2-8mg works well but can go higher if needed.
-prazosin(minipress) is a good alpha andrenergic blocker, could add it to the list. Some interesting pubmed studies with it used in ptsd/sleep. 1mg works fine but dosages can go much higher, or even small dose like 250mcg might work.
-50mg-100mg pregnenolone(daily) + 6mg-8mg aromasin(used 2-4x a week) is a good combo for sex hormones without shutdown which can help sleep/dreams. Or perhaps just lowering estrogen in some ways can help sleep/dreams.
-You mentioned some hard to get things like mk677 + melanotan 2 but no mention of ghb/xyrem. Which is available from a doctor and Peat approved. Could add it to the gaba list.

MK677 is really easy to get, like extremely easy. I am currently using it and people over-hype the sleeping benefit, yes you can get better quality sleep but it can **** up your sleeping pattern, the first cycle I did I had a messed up sleeping pattern for the next month or so.

Melanotan 2 is also easy to get although there aren't any reliable suppliers and even the known ones such as peptidesciences.com are not really US-made peptides, but so far they seem to be the most "trustworthy" supplier within the Peptide community. Melanotan 2 also gives insane erections. Truly insane.

Not aware of GHB or Xyrem.



I wanted to try out some Pro-hormones sold by haidut but I am pretty sure customs will keep my stuff. I live in the UK and I am not aware of a reputable seller.

 

[Hans]

Great article Hans. You presented many areas one could cover.
Here are some of my thoughts as you asked in first post:
-Ondansetron has worked better for me than ginger in "Blocking 5-HT3 with ginger can be helpful"... could put ondansetron on the list(perhaps other 'setrons work as good). 2-8mg works well but can go higher if needed.
-prazosin(minipress) is a good alpha andrenergic blocker, could add it to the list. Some interesting pubmed studies with it used in ptsd/sleep. 1mg works fine but dosages can go much higher, or even small dose like 250mcg might work.
-50mg-100mg pregnenolone(daily) + 6mg-8mg aromasin(used 2-4x a week) is a good combo for sex hormones without shutdown which can help sleep/dreams. Or perhaps just lowering estrogen in some ways can help sleep/dreams.
-You mentioned some hard to get things like mk677 + melanotan 2 but no mention of ghb/xyrem. Which is available from a doctor and Peat approved. Could add it to the gaba list.

Sweet man, thanks for sharing. All good suggestions. Added!

 

[Marcine]

Melatonin supplementation is controversial. I don't recall why but better to get morning sunlight into your eyes to start the melanopsin cycle. I also would not advocate any form of cold therm. It's stress if you have a hypo situation. glysine with taurine and B1 improved my sleep but I take the B1 in the morning. Giorgi just said something about sleeping in a warm room in the LIVE 17 with Danny.

 

[Beastmode]

2 things that I've experimented with off and on are ginger and acetazolamide.

Ginger disturbed my sleep every time.

Acetazolamide seemed to open up my brain a bit (i.e- make more clear,) yet made me wake up frequently throughout the night to pee. Interestingly though, the nights I had to get get up and pee I was still pretty fresh the next day. I imagine I was awakened during light phases so my deep sleep phases weren't interrupted?

 

[milkbasedvegan]

Not having high blood glucose in the evening is the best way to enjoy nice GH output during the first hour and quality sleep thereafter. If insulin is elevated (because of hyperglycemia) there’s no chance of getting GH’s restorative benefits. As a rule of thumb my dinners are zerocarb inspired. Keeps me in the 90s as per my glucose monitor, even after a 1000+ kcal dinner.

Pre-bed fructose is great as well. Depleted liver glycogen = high cortisol and adrenaline = poor sleep. Fructose obviously does not disrupt blood sugar.

 

[Wagner83]

2 things that I've experimented with off and on are ginger and acetazolamide.

Ginger disturbed my sleep every time.

Ginger is extremely unreliable, at times it has made me feel completely out of it.

2 things necessary for (my) good sleep :

- No fibrous foods for dinner.
_ Slightly open window.

 

[Beastmode]

Ginger is extremely unreliable, at times it has made me feel completely out of it.

2 things necessary for (my) good sleep :

- No fibrous foods for dinner.
_ Slightly open window.

I used such a small amount that it was pretty apparent that my system doesn't interact well with it. Felt great while drinking the concoction, but slept like crap.

 

[Lokzo]

For me correctin/taking iron supplement helped me the most with my previous sleep issues.

Same here dude.

 

[LuMonty]

Same here dude.

Count me in as well.

 

[Lokzo]

Ginger disturbed my sleep every time.

Let's try and figure out a a mechanism here...