Can’t Sleep

If your exhausted and you can’t sleep there are a number of reasons this may be occurring. The two more common reasons are a poor diet and stress and psychological factors. Unfortunately it is very common to have some sort of sleep disorder at one point in our lives. If you cant sleep ask yourself a couple very simple questions. First, do I eat unhealthy foods throughout the day? Do I eat a lot of sugary foods or drink a lot of caffeinated beverages?

Eating an unbalanced diet throughout the day will cause more than just weight gain or vitamin deficiencies. The foods we put in our bodies are what we need to survive. It is just like the outrageously expensive gasoline we put into our cars, a car won’t be able to do its job without the necessary fuel. The better the fuel we put into our vehicle the longer it will last. There are a number of vitamin deficiencies that have been linked to sleep disorders. Vitamins are a key point when trying to diagnose a sleep disorder. When we eat processed foods they are generally refined carbohydrates and low in any nutritional value. Certain carbohydrates may actually help in falling asleep but may decrease actual sleep time.

Sugar and caffeine are two commonly known things that may interrupt sleep. Caffeine is found in coffee, tea, sodas, chocolates and even some other foods. Drinking or eating caffeine in the afternoon may be a big culprit in not being able to sleep at night. When you drink coffee in the afternoon it still remains in the system for up to twenty hours. Caffeine is our top source for antioxidants and is fine in moderation and in early morning. Sugars, much like caffeine, gives us that boost of energy we seem to need during the day. But when the sugar leaves our system our body wants it back, hence sugar high. When we have that sugar crash especially during the night our body stimulates the brain and indicates that it’s time to eat, when this happens it is very difficult to try to go back to sleep or have a truly restful sleep.

If you change your unhealthy diet and still have sleep issues consult a doctor to find out if it is a more serious sleep disorder.