It's not a strange occurrence for athletes in bodybuilding preparation to experience insomnia during some stages of their prep. Like me now. lol. But do you know what causes this?The first thing is cortisol. Low carb diets increase cortisol. Cortisol levels are elevated in people with insomnia. The cortisol actually stimulates the central nervous system, keeping you from your precious sleep.
The other sinner is CCK. This is a peptide, secreted when a diet is high in proteins and fats. Excessive amounts of this substance can lead to anxiety and therefor influencing your sleep pattern.
Low levels of calming tryptophan. Tryptophan is an amino acid that helps in the production of both serotonin and melatonin. Diets consisting mostly of low GI carbs, can lead to low levels of this calming substance and deprive you of your much needed sleep. While you can take tryptophan as a supplement, it is beneficial to begin your insomnia diet by eating healthy tryptophan rich foods as often as you can. These include:
- Turkey and chicken breast, roasted
- Milk and dairy products (choose low fat yogurt for most nutrients per calories)
- Seafood, specifically snapper, cod, yellowfin tuna, salmon, shrimp and halibut (choose steamed, baked or broiled)
- Eggs
- Tofu, soy milk and cooked soybeans
- Chick peas (aka garbanzo beans) and hummus
- Nuts, especially hazelnuts, almonds, peanuts and cashews (beware the high fat content)
- Beans of all types - black, pinto, kidney, navy
- Lentils and split peas
- Seeds, specifically sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds
- Whole grains, especially cooked cereals - wheat bulgar, oats, barley, millet
- Brown rice
- Spinach, mustard greens and collard greens
There are two common-sense objectives in creating a diet for insomnia:
1) Avoid foods that could make it worse, and...
Caffeine - in coffee, tea, cola, dark chocolate.
2) Consume foods that could make it better!
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