Still struggling to get that good night's sleep?
Many factors contribute to tossing and turning at night, but have you considered what’s happening in your gut? The vagus nerve connects the brain and the gut, which means your brain is ‘talking’ to your gut and your gut is ‘talking’ to your brain. This makes “our gut life powerful enough to influence all-round health, moods, stress levels, pain, circadian clocks and sleep.” (Mikhail ‘Teach yourself to Sleep’ 2021)
Mikhail goes on to say that if our gut is full of sleep-friendly food, our vagus nerve will “carry the right messages to our brain.”
What are these sleep friendly foods?
According to Mikhail, Tryptophan is an essential amino acid, which we need to create the hormone serotonin, which is needed to create the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin. Tryptophan foods include any food high in protein such as animal products like meat, fish, poultry, eggs, milk, cheese and yogurt, or plant based food high in protein such as oats, nuts, seeds, chickpeas, lentils, sunflower and pumpkin seeds and soya beans.
It is also important to remember that is it not just what we eat, but when we eat. Keeping it consistent is key and choosing nutrient rich meals will help you avoid the sugar cravings that are not helpful for regulating our body clocks.
So if you have a craving for a late night snack (no later than 30 minutes before bed), maybe consider some of the above foods to help you get that much needed rest.
And if insomnia is something that you're struggling with, we have helped many, many clients with this issue. To find out more about how The Switch can help you, head to our page on Insomnia. There can be many thinking patterns, emotional patterns and past traumas that can affect your sleep quality, and The Switch can be a fantastic tool for addressing all of these things.
