11/27/2022
I posted this on the Fullscript site this morning, and it got so much attention I figured I would tweak it a bit and re-post it here. High quality sleep is so, so important! And if I can help folks with advice that few others are offering, that makes me very happy.
(If you don't know of Fullscript, you can check it out at this link: https://us.fullscript.com/welcome/mbarr )
"For sleep support, I like to look at the in-obvious places. Anyone and everyone seems to coach about sleep hygiene, electronic device use, cool rooms and even blue light blocking glasses. Give me a break. We can do better than that!
To sleep well you need to eat well. Think plant heavy Paleo (yes, fat is not only good but essential, thus the name: EFA) with abundant sea creatures mixed in a couple times a week. I am a big fan of minerals, since very few of us get what we need through diet alone (unless we are lucky enough to have our own organic vegetable gardens & live near an ocean): especially magnesium + potassium-- and zinc, possibly even more so, for folks with chronic viral infections, and aging men-- but also some of the minerals considered "trace," chief among them iodine, boron, manganese, lithium.
I generally discourage folks from taking calcium supplements unless it's a top, top grade source and taken together with vitamin K2 and magnesium. Most calcium supplements end up lining your blood vessels (and calcifying other tissues); not exactly the desired effect...
Probiotics, whether via fermented foods or capsules, also seem to help although some species/strains have more research behind them than others. Reuteri, helveticus, longum, possibly also rhamnosus & plantarum would likely be among the top species to focus on for so-called gut-brain or "psychobiotic" effects.
Folks that find themselves incorrigibly fidgety or absolutely incapable of turning off mind chatter might want to look into gut health; that is to say, bacterial and/or fungal overgrowths (most definitively diagnosed via Organic Acids (urine) Test or stool tests like GI-Map and GI Effects can also be guesstimated through constellation of symptoms & health history). I like Biocidin (liquid drops, slowly titrated up to effective dose) and raw garlic consumption (1-2 cloves daily) for this, but there are many, many respectable treatment avenues.
Finally, people plagued by 3 a.m. waking are often actually experiencing blood glucose crashes that wake them up. (The body releases a burst of cortisol to free up glucose, and that in turn gets that whole catecholamine cascade going: cue racing mind & panicky thoughts.) Getting more fat in the evening meal (and surprise, fewer simple carbs-- including alcohol, especially during those last few hours before bed) usually does the trick.
Longer term you will want to work towards greater "metabolic flexibility," but chronic stress can work against this, so that too might need to be addressed. In the meantime, a tiny dose of Dhea-- 5-10 mg-- at bedtime seems to support deep "delta" sleep.
Of course, you can get (just about) all the vitamins, minerals, fats and proteins you need from food, but to do so you'd need to adopt a Terry Wahls "reversing Multiple Sclerosis" type eating plan: 2-3 cups each daily of dark leafy greens, blue/black/red berries, cruciferous veggies + allium, mushrooms, fatty fish, organ meats, seaweed & crustaceans! It can be done, but it takes real commitment & discipline."
