Insomnia caused by bad nutrition?

[Hivoyer]

Sorry for bothering,but I have this huge problem I can't seem to resolve:I've had insomnia for 3 years,I seem to feel extremely restless when i go to sleep and once i fall asleep i wake up 3-4 hours later with a rapid heartbeat and extremely hungry.I'm also very tired during the day and very energetic at night,i have a huge caloric intake and I don't gain any weight.My strength increases,but i gain almost no muscle mass and no fat.The tiredness is also kinda making me miss workouts from time to time.I went at doctor for testing and they came out negative for any parasites or digestive problem,so I seem to have no known conditions that cause these problems.I eat 6-7 medium meals a day,my daily feeding looks something like that:

Upon Waking Up: 1 liter of water

30 Minutes Later(Breakfast):Mostly carbohydrates,I try to keep them complex so I dont get a sugar crash(happens to me every time i eat sweets,so i try to only eat more rich-flavoured chocolates and cookies) - 10-12 large chocolate bisquits with 1-2 croissans and some yoghurt.For desert i usually drink honey tea or fresh milk.

Before lunch I eat a plate of 2-3 medium sandwitches with beacon and cheese.No fluid intake here.

At lunch time i have the habit of prolonging the meal(i eat it for 1-2 hours with small breaks)Here I eat the motherload of protein.I start with a large plate of cooked food(different every time) and 1-2 sandwitches with mayonaze and cheese and then i usually drink 2-3 raw eggs with some salt for taste.30 minutes later i always get thirsty,so I drink another 2-3 glasses of water.

I have to mention that 2 years ago i had a serious head incident(classmates made a platform with their hands and throwed me in the air,I made a salt and then..amnesia.From what they said''You landed on your head''.Since then I started getting slow bowel movements,even tho I had no changes in the e*crements,for that I also consulted a doctor who said it's caused by the incident.Thats when I started eating 1-2 apples a day and to eat whole grain bread.I drink exactly about 700 ml water after I eat fruits.

I have dinner 3 times,mostly because I have trouble going to sleep before 2AM.First time it's same as lunch,second time I eat cereal with milk and about a hour before i go to sleep I get something totally random since I'm still hungry.

As for supplements,I only took fish oil for 4 months 1 year ago and the second time I took supplements was 2 months after I stopped the fish oil.It was some herb-based pills that make you feel more relaxed and sleepy,but I stopped them as well,since they didn't help at all.

Thats about it,sorry if it looks messy,I never wrote down my diet before and I had a hard time recalling what I eat,but I think I get pretty much everything out of my diet.Like I said the hunger,tireness and insomnia are big trouble for me,since if I dont get sleep after a workout my joints ache.

One last thing - I stop being tired after 30 minutes of warmup and get extremely tired again 30 minutes after I workout and I even try to workout less,so I won't feel dead the next day and my progress is going down fast.So basicly it's:

5-6 mixed meals during the day

2-3 liters of water and 1 liter of other fluids

4-6 hours of sleep during the night

Again thanks for reading my problem and sorry for bad english/explanations

[Jay Guindon]

Holy Hell man! I would definitely consider cleaning up your nutrition! I don't know if that's what causing your insomnia but I guarantee that after 30 days you will feel better than you've ever felt before. I need to go to be right now but tomorrow I will try to delve into some of what might be going on. This will be based on my reading of the available literature only. I am not a doctor or dietitian so you may want to verify what I tell you as well.

[Blairbob]

I'd say insomnia amongst young men is common. It stems from a few things:

1. being bored

2. lack of direction in life

3. depression from no. 2 or emotional trauma

4. some people are not morning people.

[Joshua Naterman]

With that many calories, you may want to have your thyroid hormone levels checked. Go see an endocrinologist if things haven't improved. If your hormones are jacked up, which they may be with you eating like that and not gaining weight, all kinds of symptoms can appear, including insomnia.

[Guest Ido Portal]

I'd say insomnia amongst young men is common. It stems from a few things:

1. being bored

2. lack of direction in life

3. depression from no. 2 or emotional trauma

4. some people are not morning people.

Wow. No disrespect, my friend, but I could not disagree more with you here. Not even one of those reasons are the common cause for insomnia. Actually, this kind of reasoning will lead one closer to the same reasons you are providing as causes.

Even my mother, who is a very successful psychologist here in Israel, nowdays realizes the power of exercise and quality nutrition for mental health, insomnia or similar seemingly 'psychological issues'.

Your insomnia may be the result of one or more of these factors:

1. Mineral depletion, mainly Magnesium. Search for my posts on the preferred way to correct this.

2. Blood sugar fluctuations. Clean up your diet, my friend.

3. Another disruption to the circadian rhythm. (too high evening cortisol is one example)

To help you through an Internet forum is impossible, I suggest you consult someone close to you on this.

Best of luck with your healing,

Ido.

[Ryan Libke]

Eating better may help, but, as Slizzardman suggested, it is possible that you are having thyroid or other hormonal problems. I would suggest seeing a physician again, at least to rule out something more serious than your current eating habits. I wasn't clear whether they looked at anything other than diet. I am very lucky- I was having trouble sleeping, and anxiety, and went to see my primary care physician, and he happened to spy something...when he felt my neck, he could palpate a lump on my thyroid. After ordering certain tests, including a needle biopsy, it turned out to be cancer. So, after a thryroidectomy, and radiation treatment, I am, according to the last scan, cancer free. So I am glad to have gone to the physician! As a note to all that, having been both hyper- and hypo- thyroid, I can tell you hormones have a very profound effect. And there are somethings you cannot control with diet. (Arguably, if I had been eating Paleo since birth, I might not have gotten cancer in the first place, but it can be very hard on the psyche to try to place blame on why or why not one gets cancer or other afflictions.)

Hopefully, you can address insomnia with lifestyle changes, but given the length of time you have been suffering from it, I would get to the doctor. And certainly, eliminate caffeine, and avoid alcohol at night. As Mr. Portal suggested, blood sugar problems can also be a cause. Don't try to solve the problem alone. I disagree that depression is not associated with insomnia; here again, while diet may help, don't avoid seeking help if you have other symptoms of depression.

[Amebix138]

If no one is going to address it directly I guess I will: stop eating a ton of sweets for breakfast. Try bacon and eggs with tabasco or something.

And Ido, for what its worth my experiences are more in line with Blairbobs then yours, my trouble sleeping usually starts with a dissatisfaction with where my life is and ends when the issue is resolved.

[Joshua Naterman]

Notice that Ido's third point was that cortisol, which is directly affected by stress, can cause insomnia. Stress is a pretty broad term, because stress comes from a lot of places. For me, sometimes it's just formulating ideas that I want to develop but don't have money to develop. That can and has kept me up all hours of the night at times, and that's fairly simple.

That diet really is absolutely horrible. Eating much better will have profound positive effects, but may not be the total answer to the insomnia

This guys only good solution is to find qualified help in his/her local area and fully disclose his lifestyle so that they can offer good solutions based on his particular issues. We really can't help beyond saying "Hey, go have your thyroid checked, take an honest depression screen, and fix your diet."

That's all there is to be said. Hopefully this guy/girl will handle his/her business!

[Jay Guindon]

I was going to add more but evryone else seems to have said the same thing I would have said.

[Cole Dano]

I was going to add more but evryone else seems to have said the same thing I would have said.

Best of luck to you, i have insomnia from time to time and its not much fun.

Yoga/relaxation/breathing/meditation can help with the stress side.

Let us know how it goes, and be patient, the kinds of changes we recommending don't normally happen overnight, and can involve allot of trial and error.Don't let it get you down, its all part of the learning curve.

[griffdrc]

i use to eat raw eggs as well... had a hard time staying awake... couldn't stay awake for more than about an hour... i was averaging over 18 hours of sleep a day... i physically could not get the strength to get up... parents thought i had mono but i didn't have the energy to go to the campus health center... after about three months i stumbled upon an article saying that raw egg consumption could block b vitamin absorption... i stopped eating raw eggs and started supplementing a b vitamin and felt a lot better after a couple of weeks and normal after a month... i don't think we had the same problem but it may help... good luck

[Joshua Naterman]

Lol, good ol' Avidin.

[ASForum]

I had 2 months of Insomnia once.. BAD INSOMNIA!.. 45 mins of "passing out" due to fatigue and then being up for 23.. Almost went whacko... Sleeping pills did not work even a bit.

As Blairbob pointed out ... cause by mental, emotional, direction issues.

I am guessing you are having excessive thoughts & restlessness?

Anyways..How did I fix it?

Sudarshan Kriya - SKY. It is a kind of special breathing technique that works miracles.

Helps you mentally release all stress. The course involves special breathing (pranayama), meditation & yoga..

From Prisoners, Terrorists, War zone & natural calamity victims ..and those with insomnia, stress, depression or anxiety..

http://www.aolresearch.org/

THE BENEFITS OF SUDARSHAN KRIYA - Research conducted by

Dr Kochupillai, Head, Cancer Center at All India Institute of Medical Sciences

http://www.lifepositive.com/artofliving/slideintro.asp

http://www.artofliving.org.au/home/inde ... Itemid=155

http://www.indyarocks.com/blogs/blog_vi ... 0#blog9920

http://www.artoflivingyoga.org/sudarshan-kriya.html

http://www.infinityfoundation.com/manda ... ameset.htm

Published Medical Journals:

Aneurophysiologic theory of the effects of Sudarshan Kriya

http://www.reconnectwithfood.com/resour ... ndptsd.pdf

http://www.infinityfoundation.com/manda ... ameset.htm

I hope this helps. One of the things is Ayurveda.. based on your body type certain foods have good / bad effect. Energizing or calming effect..

Experiences of people worldwide with Sudarshan Kriya - War soldiers/ victims, , Health issues, Mental, Emotional etc.

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Experiences in Bulgaria

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