Скачать или смотреть Why do I wake up between 1-3 AM every night? 😩

I hear this question a lot from women…

And a lot of the time, these early morning wake-ups are often due to low blood sugar.

Here’s what happens…

👉🏻After you eat dinner, your body goes quite a long time without food, so blood sugar can drop too low.

Unfortunately, this is bad news for the brain, which depends on glucose for energy.

When blood sugar drops too low, the body sounds alarm bells to protect the brain and, in response, the adrenal glands release stress hormones (cortisol). These stress hormones raise blood sugar back to a safe level. This is where your liver becomes involved.

In Chinese medicine, 1-3 AM is actually known as the liver hour.

If you find yourself waking during this time, you might have problems with your liver or detoxification pathways and this impacts your blood sugar regulation.

Stress hormones also raise, well, stress. Hence, the anxious awakening in the middle of the night!

So, what should you do?

▶️Eating in the middle of the night can help you get back to sleep. Yes, really!

And I do it anytime I wake up. Just ask @murphnmal about the random dishes he finds in the kitchen sink when he wakes up for work in the morning!

WHAT TO EAT:

👉🏻small amounts of protein with some fat thrown in, such as a spoonful of nut butter, a few pieces of meat, or a hard-boiled egg.

Some of our clients say this stabilizes their blood sugar levels enough so they fall back asleep. Some carbs might be okay too - just try not to eat too much starch or sugar at this time because it will spike blood sugar levels, causing them to drop too low again - a vicious cycle!

HOW TO AVOID WAKING UP:

▶️Eat a bedtime snack - one with balanced amounts of protein, fat, AND carbs.

Carbohydrates actually help increase the availability of melatonin and progesterone, which may help you sleep better too!
I regularly eat a bedtime snack (about 45 minutes before bed), and it helps me sleep soundly through the night!

The moral of the story: When your blood sugar is stable, you’ll no longer wake up in the middle of the night!

Try the bedtime snack and let me know how it works for you!