Staying Awaked

Friday, September 26, 2008 | 1 Comments

Será que têm aquele péssimo hábito de acordar a meio da noite e começar a pensar em tudo e mais alguma coisa, a ordenar tarefas do dia seguinte mentalmente e a dar por vocês sem pingo de sono? Quando dão conta são 4 da manhã e o vosso cérebro está em plena actividade com todo o tipo de pensamentos e ideias que vos mantêm acordados pelo menos umas boas 2 h e quando finalmente conseguem voltar a adormecer falta 1h para terem de acordar para ir trabalhar. E voilá: acordam exaustos. Será que vos soa familiar?
Dizem os especialistas que para quem não tem particular dificuldade em adormecer mas que acorda frequentemente a meio da noite, o problema está na estabilidade dos níveis de açucar no sangue. Fiz uma pesquisa sobre o tema e cá ficam umas dicas de um plano a 2 semanas para recuperar desta maleita. Eu cá vou tentar.

"Blood sugar fluctuations when they dip too low at night will cause your adrenal glands to send out cortisol (a stress hormone) which then wakes you up in the middle of the night, often with anxiety, racing mind and heart.  This will happen during times of high stress or times of fatigue.  Because your adrenal glands are weaker than normal, the blood sugar control is less stable therefore you are woken up at night by your stress hormones.  The key to fixing the insomnia has a lot to do with what you eat or drink during the day.  

Here is the easy plan to get refreshing sleep:

  • Keep all electronic devices at least 4 feet from your body or unplug while you sleep.  EMF fields will disrupt quality sleep for many people.  Included in this is digital alarm clocks, clock radios, CD/iPod speakers, electric blankets.
  • Eat a protein snack 1/2 hour before bed.  Can be a small handful of nuts, a bite or two of steak/chicken/fish from dinner, 1/4 cup whole milk yogurt, 1/4 cup cottage cheese, 2 ounces of cheddar cheese etc.  The key is small but protein/fat rich snack.  This will keep you from getting low blood sugar during the middle of the night.
  • If you commonly wake in the middle of the night hungry keep a protein bar by your nightstand and take a couple of bites before trying to fall back asleep.  This is just a temporary thing while you are working on keeping your blood sugar level.
  • Go to bed between 10pm and 12am.  These are the best times to fall asleep.
  • Try to manage your schedule to allow yourself to wake naturally and refreshed.
  • Avoid stimulants like coffee or caffeinated drinks.  This contributes to fluctuations in blood sugar and can affect the quality of your sleep at night.  Yes, this can happen even if you keep to your morning Starbuck's latte.
  • Eat 3 protein rich meals, don't skip meals, and 3 protein rich snacks (morning snack, afternoon snack and before bed snack).  Don't choose snacks that have sugar, simple carbohydrates or are sweet. Do NOT skip a meal even if you are not hungry, try to eat a little something.
  • Eat BEFORE you get hungry.
  • No dessert after dinner.  Also keep dinner to lower carbohydrates.  Small amounts of potato, pasta, bread or rice will really help you in your recovery."

1 comentários:

Unknown said...

Sim acontece me várias vezes lol.. o pior é quando começo a analisar o dia anterior e vejo que não correu assim muito bem e começo a ficar preocupada etc etc.. :)

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Mei and Arawn