SLEEP

[Rinse & rePeat]

YAY! Did you get the Pitaya brand?

Yes!

 

[Jennifer]

Yes!

Nice! I get the warm fuzzies every time I see that package. lol

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

UPDATE:

Hacking my sleep has been a major priority for me this past 6 months and I have certainly gotten to the bottom of a bunch. One of the biggest things I have discovered is that Ray Peat is right about having your proteins and calcium during the day and carbs and fat at night. I sleep the worst when I eat a typical dinner with meat, or a lot of food. My two best night sleep this past week was when I had cheese and crackers with watermelon for dinner one night, and the very best one was when I had my homemade gelatinous chicken bone broth with a butter scrambled egg in it and some watermelon. I slept 9 hours with that soup! I still bag breathe right before I sleep, and if I wake up in the night a spoonful of Manuka honey, a drink of water or more bag breathing puts me back to sleep. Sleeping with a nightlight on has made a difference, as well as my air filter at night. I know the slight hum is helpful to take away little noises, but I also don’t wake up with my sinuses stuffy in the mornings anymore now. Days I have grounded and gotten some vitamin D from the sun, I think, are helpful, but I haven’t paid attention to that angle yet, but I will. There are so many variables, but the foods I eat at night make the biggest difference for me. Coincidentally my stomach is flatter than it has been in years! How is everyone else sleeping nowadays?

UPDATE:

I had my gelatinous beef bone broth, egg and butter soup last night, again for dinner, but this time with fresh Keitt mango and slept a deep 9 hours again! I woke up once and took a spoonful of Manuka honey and don’t remember anything after lying back down. I will be having this again tonight for sure!

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

UPDATE:

I slept 9 hours again! This time I had the cheese and crackers again in the evening, since they worked good last week too, but without fruit this time. I had a spoonful of Manuka honey before bed instead. I haven’t watched tv on several nights this week and the two night I did was only for a couple of hours and I really wasn’t paying much attention to it, being on my phone instead. Last night though I was laughing so hard my my stomach hurt, actually the night before I was too. I laugh all the time, but not at night around bedtime. I had some vivid dreams, for a change. I dreamt I was ice skating and then it turned into snow skiing and I was doing some really high jumps and landing in powdery snow. There was a part in the ice skating part where the ceiling got low and there were spiders on it, but overall it was a really fun dream! Tonight I am gonna go back to the bone broth broth egg with mango, leave the tv off again, like last night and listen to.a comedienne on my phone instead. This 3 nights of 8 to 9 hours of sleep WITH dreams has been a wonderful holiday!


EDIT:

I am remembering another possibility for those vivid dreams last night. I had a bunch of butter sautéed white and criminy mushrooms with some shiitakes thrown in around 5:30. I don’t eat mushrooms like that otherwise. I did it hoping for some extra vitamin D. Right after I ate them I got so hot and perspired in my face something fierce, like when you break a fever. My body is a great self regulator to hot or cold weather, but these mushrooms made me feel extra warm in a comfortable way. I am putting them as a repeat for my sleep list.

 

[FocusedOnHealth]

For me, it’s peanut butter and honey mixed together. Also, exercize in the morning. If I exercize too late, it tends to energize me too much. And, making the bedroom cold, whilst snuggled under blankets.

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

For me, it’s peanut butter and honey mixed together. Also, exercize in the morning. If I exercize too late, it tends to energize me too much. And, making the bedroom cold, whilst snuggled under blankets.

I gotta have fresh cool air in the bedroom too, that is a good one for good sleep!

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

“Eat onions, leeks and artichokes if you’re stressed and struggling to sleep.

For scientists have discovered that the popular vegetables could help humans to relax – allowing them a better night’s sleep.

They are known to be high in prebiotics, dietary fibres that act as food for good stomach bacteria.

And a ground-breaking new study has found these help to boost gut health by aiding the growth of beneficial bugs.

They also release metabolic by-products which influence the brain into overcoming worry and fear, research shows.

Experts believe the findings strengthen the ever-growing link between gut bacteria and overall health.“

Artichokes, leeks and onions could improve sleep and relieve stress by boosting levels of gut bacteria, ground breaking research shows – Good Earth

goodearth.com.mt

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

“A generous supply of glycine/gelatin, against a balanced background of amino acids, has a great variety of antistress actions. Glycine is recognized as an “inhibitory” neurotransmitter, and promotes natural sleep. Used as a supplement, it has helped to promote recovery from strokes and seizures, and to improve learning and memory. But in every type of cell, it apparently has the same kind of quieting, protective antistress action. The range of injuries produced by an excess of tryptophan and serotonin seems to be prevented or corrected by a generous supply of glycine. Fibrosis, free radical damage, inflammation, cell death from ATP depletion or calcium overload, mitochondrial damage, diabetes, etc., can be prevented or alleviated by glycine.“ -Ray Peat

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

“A group of Japanese researchers found that laughing in the evening causes the body to produce more melatonin (the hormone released by the brain at sleep onset).”

Why Laughing In the Evening Helps You Sleep Better at Night

Laughter increases the body’s production of melatonin

www.google.com

 

[FocusedOnHealth]

“Eat onions, leeks and artichokes if you’re stressed and struggling to sleep.

For scientists have discovered that the popular vegetables could help humans to relax – allowing them a better night’s sleep.

They are known to be high in prebiotics, dietary fibres that act as food for good stomach bacteria.

And a ground-breaking new study has found these help to boost gut health by aiding the growth of beneficial bugs.

They also release metabolic by-products which influence the brain into overcoming worry and fear, research shows.

Experts believe the findings strengthen the ever-growing link between gut bacteria and overall health.“

Artichokes, leeks and onions could improve sleep and relieve stress by boosting levels of gut bacteria, ground breaking research shows – Good Earth

goodearth.com.mt

Onions, leeks and artichokes? When I first read that I thought huh, weird. But it actually makes sense because as the article states, these foods are prebiotics, and having a good source of them in your stomach promotes relaxation. From a happy belly.

Something I try to remember to do…..load up on them. I know my tummy is happier when it has lots of healthy prebiotics and diverse probiotics.

Whenever I have eaten junk for a day, (unconscious eating I call it) your stomach lets you know. And that can keep you awake.

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

Onions, leeks and artichokes? When I first read that I thought huh, weird. But it actually makes sense because as the article states, these foods are prebiotics, and having a good source of them in your stomach promotes relaxation. From a happy belly.

Something I try to remember to do…..load up on them. I know my tummy is happier when it has lots of healthy prebiotics and diverse probiotics.

Whenever I have eaten junk for a day, (unconscious eating I call it) your stomach lets you know. And that can keep you awake.

I had a couple of artichoke hearts before bed the other night, chopped up with a little olive oil and salt and it made me wonder. I am gonna have to test them several more times to ge sure they are going on my sleep list, but they seemed to help. I had been out for dinner and drinks and my sleep would normally be awful, but it wasn’t.

 

[LLight]

For those who sleep badly, have you ever tried to limit your fluid intake during the afternoon?

Some theoretical perspectives:
- vasopressin (the antidiuretic hormone) stimulates melatonin in some studies (on rats), and should be thus maximized before and during your sleep with this fluid drinking window, and by the way IIRC, melatonin is a powerful antioxydant against dehydration in plants;
- it seems like IDP (Intrinsically Disordered Proteins) might play an important role in the mecanism of circadian rythms. The structure of these proteins might be influenced (their arrangement might be more structured) by osmotic stress/osmolytes and thus not drinking fluid might influence circadian rythms synchronization (though a big hypothesis).

That being said, not drinking during such long periods is not necessarily easy at first and might require some "training". One thing is to try to eat foods that are not too dry or to combine dry and "wet" food (learnt recently on this forum that it was a concept of Ayurveda IIRC) not to trigger too much thirst.
I also hypothesize that the water homeostasis issue that some people have (particularly CFS patients I believe) is a fundamental part of their issues. By the way, CFS patients have half the vasopressin levels of controls. Maybe CFS patients have deficiencies of the crucial nutrients that make the water homeostasis possible. These nutrients might be osmolytes themselves, minerals (boron, molybdenum for example) or vitamins (B1 for example).

Sources:

Vasopressin potentiation of the melatonin synthetic pathway via specific V1a receptors in the rat pineal gland - PubMed

The pineal gland releases the "time-keeping' hormone melatonin following a rhythmic sympathetic input which translates light information. The aim of this work was to study the role and mechanism of action of the central vasopressinergic input on pineal cAMP-dependent melatonin synthesis in the...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Potentiation effect of vasopressin on melatonin secretion as determined by trans-pineal microdialysis in the Rat - PubMed

The mammalian pineal gland is known to receive a noradrenergic innervation originating from the superior cervical ganglion which corresponds to the primary regulatory input for melatonin synthesis. However, many peptidergic fibers containing peptides such as vasopressin and oxytocin have also...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Intrinsic disorder is an essential characteristic of components in the conserved circadian circuit - Cell Communication and Signaling

Introduction The circadian circuit, a roughly 24 h molecular feedback loop, or clock, is conserved from bacteria to animals and allows for enhanced organismal survival by facilitating the anticipation of the day/night cycle. With circadian regulation reportedly impacting as high as 80% of...

biosignaling.biomedcentral.com

Folding propensity of intrinsically disordered proteins by osmotic stress

Proteins imparted with intrinsic disorder conduct a range of essential cellular functions. To better understand the folding and hydration properties of intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs), we used osmotic stress to induce conformational changes in ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Osmolyte-Induced Folding of an Intrinsically Disordered Protein: Folding Mechanism in the Absence of Ligand

Understanding the interconversion between thermodynamically distinguishable states present in a protein folding pathway provides not only the kinetics and energetics of protein folding but also insights into the functional roles of these states in biological ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

PS : I've just found this interesting paper on the impact of melatonin on the bladder capacity lol

American Urological Association

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

For those who sleep badly, have you ever tried to limit your fluid intake during the afternoon?

I don’t drink water at all, and not many liquids either, but I have noticed, only recently, when I have tea at night I don’t sleep as well.

 

[LLight]

One other thing I've stumbled upon recently is that the detoxification system (the glymphatic system) in the brain might be improved when there is some hyperosmolarity (which might happen when liquids are restricted).

Sleep is also the time when this system is the more active.

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

One other thing I've stumbled upon recently is that the detoxification system (the glymphatic system) in the brain might be improved when there is some hyperosmolarity (which might happen when liquids are restricted).

Sleep is also the time when this system is the more active.

So liquids only in the first half of the day? I do notice only recently, and probably because I don’t drink many liquids, that drinking about five gulps of water (and yes I count them) in the middle of the night, if I wake up, puts me back to sleep. So I think dehydration can interfere with sleep too. It is a balance.

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

What things 100% improved your sleep quality from unrefreshing sleep?

For people who had / tend to have unrefreshing sleep (but mostly no problem with getting to sleep and staying asleep) Not just stuff you take / tried because you saw it recommended and maybe it does something, but what's something you do or take that noticeably makes you feel more refreshed /...

raypeatforum.com

 

[LLight]

So liquids only in the first half of the day?

Yes. Not saying it's a panacea or that's it will necessarily work for you but I think you might try if you sleep badly.

And also yes to your finding, being too dehydrated might impair sleep too.

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

How Do You Ensure A Good Night's Sleep?

This is one of these issues that's been plaguing me for 2-3 years now. Actually, it's been plaguing me since I started working. I figure that's at least part of the issue - it's subconscious, or psychosomatic, whatever. Why do I think? Because it's almost exclusively an issue when I have to go...

raypeatforum.com

 

[David PS]

A weighted blanket increases pre-sleep salivary concentrations of melatonin in young, healthy adults​

Summary​

Weighted blankets have emerged as a potential non-pharmacological intervention to ease conditions such as insomnia and anxiety. Despite a lack of experimental evidence, these alleged effects are frequently attributed to a reduced activity of the endogenous stress systems and an increased release of hormones such as oxytocin and melatonin. Thus, the aim of the present in-laboratory crossover study (26 young and healthy participants, including 15 men and 11 women) was to investigate if using a weighted blanket (~12% of body weight) at bedtime resulted in higher salivary concentrations of melatonin and oxytocin compared with a light blanket (~2.4% of body weight). We also examined possible differences in salivary concentrations of the stress hormone cortisol, salivary alpha-amylase activity (as an indicative metric of sympathetic nervous system activity), subjective sleepiness, and sleep duration. When using a weighted blanket, the 1 hour increase of salivary melatonin from baseline (i.e., 22:00) to lights off (i.e., 23:00) was about 32% higher (p = 0.011). No other significant differences were found between the blanket conditions, including subjective sleepiness and total sleep duration. Our study is the first to suggest that using a weighted blanket may result in a more significant release of melatonin at bedtime. Future studies should investigate whether the stimulatory effect on melatonin secretion is observed on a nightly basis when frequently using a weighted blanket over weeks to months. It remains to be determined whether the observed increase in melatonin may be therapeutically relevant for the previously described effects of the weighted blanket on insomnia and anxiety.

 

[Rinse & rePeat]

“A small dose of glycine taken shortly after suffering a stroke was found to accelerate recovery, preventing the spreading of injury through its inhibitory and antiinflammatory actions. Its nerve-stabilizing action, increasing the amount of stimulation required to activate nerves, is protective in epilepsy, too. This effect is important in the regulation of sleep, breathing, and heart rhythm.” -Ray Peat