Tired and Wired? Try These 5 Foods to Improve Your Energy and Get a Good Night’s Sleep

You wake up exhausted from a poor night’s sleep. You go to work, push through the day with loads of coffee and sugary vending machine trips, and barely keep it together without falling asleep at your desk. Once home, you call up your favourite delivery place or throw a frozen processed meal into the oven or microwave.

After dinner, you actually start to feel normal- like you can get shit done and then some, it’s your best time of the day! As evening turns to night, you know you should get to sleep, but you’re feeling wired. Your brain just won’t shut off even though your body is ready for a winter’s worth of hibernation.

This is a really familiar story among the women I work with in my 21-Day Happy Hormones Diet program. It’s that ‘wired and tired’ state that over time really wreaks havoc with how we feel and how our bodies and hormones function.

Why Am I Tired And Wired?

The answer lies in the function of two small and little-known endocrine glands in the body, the adrenals! You have two adrenal glands, who sit atop the kidneys like little hats. They’re so important, they regulate your whole stress response! Additionally, the adrenal glands may also produce small amounts of sex hormones like estrogen, testosterone and DHEA. A few of the various functions include:

Releasing cortisol in response to short and long-term stress
Releasing adrenaline and noradrenaline in response to short-term stress (that “Fight or Flight” response)
Control blood pressure
Creation of sex hormones, which increases after menopause

When you’re chronically stressed out, especially over many years, your adrenal glands simply can’t keep up with the demand for stress hormones, and they crash, potentially contributing to Adrenal Fatigue.

Adrenal Fatigue, or insufficiency, or dysfunction is exactly that- your adrenal glands may be fatigued and causing issues in the body. Adrenal Fatigue is characterized by experiencing many of a long list of symptoms, which you can see below. Adrenal Fatigue doesn’t happen over night- it’s something that comes about after years of health issues and stress.

Symptoms of Adrenal Fatigue include:

Feeling tired and wired in the evenings, can’t get to or stay asleep and then are bone tired all day long even after drinking coffee
Irrational anger, irritability, anxiety or are quick to cry
Constant fatigue
Weight gain, especially in the belly area
Blood sugar control issues
Low blood pressure
Low blood sugar
Inability to handle stress
Low resilience
Cravings, especially for salty foods
Reliance on stimulants like coffee and sugar to get through the day
Weak immune system- chronic colds, flus and other infections
Mild depression
Insomnia
Lack of motivation or “get up and go:
Short fuse
Brain fog or poor memory
Inability to concentrate
Low libido
Severe PMS

5 Foods to Improve Your Energy and Get a Good Night’s Sleep

#1 Bone Broth

A true superfood, bone broth contains loads of nutrients beneficial for supporting the adrenal glands, restoring energy and improving sleep. For example, bone broth contains loads of minerals like calcium and phosphorous which not only keep our bones strong but also help to calm the nervous system and feed the adrenals.

Bone broth also contains both collagen and gelatin. You may have seen collagen and gelatin supplement powders available at health food stores. They are the latest craze, and for good reason. Collagen supports a healthy immune system and soothes the lining of the digestive tract. Gelatin is where most of the minerals live, soothes gut lining and can calm symptoms of inflammation and immune over-response. All of this together helps to reduce your body’s internal stresses, like inflammation from foods for example.

#2 Root Vegetables

An amazing group of veggies, the roots literally help us feel rooted. This is partly due to the energetics of root vegetables- they grow in the ground and that grounding energy transfers into us when we consume them. The benefits of root vegetables are often best obtained when they’re cooked, as it becomes easier for us to absorb their nutrients.

Root vegetables such as sweet potato, carrots, beets, winter squash, parsnips, turnips and others are indispensable when you want to heal adrenal fatigue, boost your energy and sleep well. They contain complex carbohydrates that are both extremely comforting when we eat them, and slow the spike of blood sugar when we eat, preventing crashes later on. These complex carbs also help our bodies to produce feel good chemicals like serotonin, boosting mood- hence the comforting effect of these foods!

Root veg are also high in many minerals, and the adrenal glands need high amounts of minerals to function well, especially when you’re chronically stressed out. An example of a mineral they contain in abundance is Magnesium. Although they may not have as much as other foods like nuts, seeds and beans, root vegetables are often much easier to digest than the other sources, making it a bit easier to get this calming and rejuvenating mineral into our bodies.

When healing extremely tired adrenal glands, it may be beneficial to use 1/4 to 1/2 cup cooked root veggies with each meal, including breakfast. Having some of these veggies with dinner or before bed can help to reduce sleep disturbances like waking during the night.

#3 Sea veggies

Sea vegetables are not widely used in North America, to our detriment. Sea vegetables are extremely concentrated in nutrients, making them an amazing addition for improving energy, assisting sleep and restoring adrenal function. There are many types of seaweeds, including nori, kelp, dulse, arame, wakame and more.

Sea vegetables are high in many minerals, including iron. If iron stores are low, fatigue often sets in, and immune function suffers, putting additional strain on the adrenal glands. Sea veggies are also high in the mineral iodine, something lacking in Western diets as we get away from eating sea foods of all types. Iodine in small amounts is necessary for proper thyroid function, and a sluggish or under-active thyroid will negatively impact the adrenals and your energy levels.

Lastly sea vegetables contain small amounts of tryptophan, an amino acid used to make the happy chemical serotonin. This may mean that sea veggies are a great addition to the diet to boost mood.

Using sea vegetables is easier than you think. You can buy shakers of kelp or dulse in health food stores or online, and shake it onto your food in place of salt. You can use nori sheets to make wraps for lunch instead of flour-based products, and you can sprinkle strings of sea veggies like wakame and arame into soups and salads.

#4 Bell Peppers

Sweet bell peppers are a delicious addition to most any meal. They are also one of the highest sources of vitamin C out there, out-ranked only by papaya. The difference is, bell peppers contain a lot less sugar than papaya, making them a great choice to increase your vitamin C consumption without spiking blood sugar.

The high levels of vitamin C (1 cup contains 157% of your recommended daily intake) in bell peppers are food for your adrenal glands. Specifically, the highest amounts of vitamin C in the body are stored in your adrenal glands. Vitamin C is used to produce all adrenal hormones, especially in the production of cortisol, a hormone released in response to both short and long-term stress. When you’re chronically stressed, your body is going to use up vitamin C very quickly.

When you run low on vitamin C, your adrenal glands go into a panic mode of sorts, releasing even more cortisol, meaning you need even more vitamin C that you don’t have.

Getting bell peppers and other high vitamin C foods like broccoli, Brussel sprouts, strawberries and pineapple on a regular basis can healthfully support your adrenal glands to increase energy and allow for a good night’s rest.

#5 Wild-Caught Salmon

Last on the list, but no less important than the other foods, wild-caught salmon has numerous health benefits for the adrenal glands.

Firstly, wild-caught salmon is high in omega-3 fatty acids, an anti-inflammatory type of fat most of us aren’t getting enough of. Farmed salmon doesn’t have the same levels of omega-3s, so I recommend choosing wild-caught whenever possible.

Omega-3s help to balance blood sugar, and imbalanced blood sugar and insulin levels put more stress on the body and adrenal glands. Omega-3s are also extremely calming to the nervous system, reducing stress and strain on the adrenals. They may also help to boost mood, increase your energy and calm you enough for a good night’s sleep with regular use.

This is a fabulous recipe using salmon to help you get started.

Beyond the omega-3s, wild-caught salmon is a high protein source. Protein of course is needed to create muscles, but it’s also used in the creation of hormones, like the stress hormones adrenaline and noradrenaline. Consuming enough protein (about 20g-30g per meal and 5g-10g per snack) is an excellent way to support energy production, lean muscle mass, hormone production and adrenal function.

One Life Changing Yoga Pose To Melt Stress & Balance Hormones

Think about the last time you felt truly relaxed- nowhere to go, no one to be, tension-free and happy.

Where were you? Who were you with? What smells, tastes, sights and sounds do you remember?

Think about it in detail for a minute right now.

Are you feeling more relaxed? Great! The rest of this article is aimed at helping you to achieve the sense of calm you felt in the memory above more often in your life.

One of the best ways to cultivate calm within our selves and our busy lives is yoga. I have been yoga-in for about 10 years now. By no means am I an expert, or even able to do crazy headstands and arm balances, but yoga has saved me. And it’s not just anecdotal stories that should convince you (although they did with me!), there’s some serious science to back up the yoga craze.

What You Feel Like When You’re Stressed Out

Awareness is a huge step towards making positive changes in your life. If you can’t recognize patterns of distress your body is sending you like giant red flashing lights, you can’t help yourself.

So how can we cultivate this awareness? By keeping track of patterns.

Specifically when you’re stressed, you can experience any number of symptoms, including the following list. See how many you’re checking off as you read through- likely the more of these symptoms you experience, the more stressed you are and the harder it is for your body to cope without support.

Fatigue
Quick to anger
Irritable
Brain fog
Inability to focus
Cold hands and feet
Body aches and pains including shoulder, neck, jaw, lower back and hips
Chest pain
Heart racing or irregularity
Panic attacks
Shallow breathing
Depression
Anxiety
Fist or jaw clenching
Poor digestion- sluggish or loose bowels, burping, bloating
Fits of rage
Insomnia
Menstrual cycle irregularities
And much more!

What’s Happening in Your Body During Stress

So now that you have a slight idea of how you feel when you’re really calm, and what symptoms might be signalling you’re feeling major stress, let’s talk what’s causing these reactions in your body and how we can balance them naturally (aka with the Stress-melting yoga pose).

Your adrenal glands are very important for hormonal health, including both regulating your body’s stress response and creating sex hormones in small amounts. When you’re feeling stressed or are in a stressful situation, it’s your adrenals that kick in to help you get through it.

The main stress hormone the adrenals produce is called cortisol, and you may have heard of this hormone before. Cortisol is released both in acute and long-term stress. This means that every time you get pissed off at a dumb driver on the road, or internalize family drama that’s been going on for years, you’re telling your body you’re in a stressful and life or death situation (even if your life isn’t in danger). This is called the fight or flight response

Many hundreds of thousands of years ago, we were hunters and gatherers- living off the land and having to kill our own prey. The threat of bodily harm or death due to other large predatory animals and the elements was huge. Because of this, our bodies adapted to be able to save our asses in this kind of situation by releasing certain chemicals like the stress hormone cortisol, as well as adrenaline.

Here’s an example:

You’re out picking berries along the savannah, and you hear the cracking of dry brush in the distance, like it’s being stepped on. Your body will go on high alert, waiting for more information before deciding whether to fight or flee. If suddenly a lion comes charging at you through the brush, without you consciously making the decision, you’ll be running away in a split second flat. This is because the sudden increase in stress hormones has gotten your body ready to move quickly and easily to save your life. Your heart rate increases, pupils dilate and blood flow goes to the extremities.

All non life-saving body functions are put to the back burner- things like digestion and reproduction. Digestive juices dry up, and production and use of hormones like estrogen falls or goes crazy.

While this situation is awesome short term when your life is in danger, your body can’t tell the difference between that lion chasing you and your irritation over piles of dirty laundry or a crappy boss. So, every time you feel on high alert, stressed, tight, snappy- your body is in this fight or flight mode. Generally, this is happening to us several times per day, as we have little stress episodes like this many times throughout the day.

If this happens over a period of months or years, your adrenals begin to give up or go crazy and you can experience something called adrenal insufficiency or adrenal fatigue. Adrenal fatigue is a little known root cause or contributor to sex hormone imbalances, which is why I’m highlighting it here.

Why You Need to Manage Stress Better

As I’m sure you can gather, managing stress is mucho important for your overall well being and the health of your hormones.

When you’re better able to manage your stress in a healthy way, all those shitty symptoms we talked about above can be replaced with:

Be able to predict when your regulated periods will come and know there won’t be pain keeping you on the couch with The Notebook, Midol and a heating pad.
Have stable energy throughout the day and you won’t have to worry about 24/7 grumpiness because you’re over-extended and haven’t eaten for hours.
Feel slim, feminine, strong and sexy in your body while coming to a happy and sustainable weight.
Feel confident and empowered in your healing journey
Experience clothes that fit year round- no need to undo buttons, live in yoga pants or go up a size every season
Be present and actually participate in your life instead of watching it pass you by

One Life Changing Yoga Pose To Melt Stress & Balance Hormones

Pin it for later >> https://goo.gl/biJD21

Okay! Now we get to the fun bit, the bit you can actually put into practice into your life. Before I get into what the pose is and why it’s so amazing for your health and hormones, I urge you to remember that small changes can have massive impact on how we think and feel- even if it seems too easy. With consistent practice and attention, positive results will follow (aka doing it once ain’t gonna cut it!).

The yoga pose I’m excited to share with you is called Legs Up The Wall or Viparita Karani is so helpful in melting Stress and balancing hormones because it reverse the effects of gravity on the body, helps direct nourishing blood flow to your internal organs (especially reproductive and digestive organs, and your adrenal glands) and helps the body move from “fight or flight” mode to “rest and digest” mode.

A few of the many benefits that come from this include:

Insomnia relief when used regularly before bed
Softens symptoms of PMS and bothersome menopause
Calms a busy mind
Relieves stresses and anxiety
Relieves swollen and tired legs and feet
Improves digestion

How To Do Legs Up the Wall

If you’ve looked at the image, you an see it’s a fairly simple pose. The things to pay attentoin Ito are making sure when you’re in the pose you cal relax fully. Your neck and spine should be straight, and you can put a bolster or block underneath your sacrum if you wish to go a little deeper. If you feel you need extra grounding, a block put on the bottoms of your feet when they’re up in the air can help.

If all else fails, check out YouTube for more detailed instruction! Here’s to melting Stress and balancing hormones.

The Connection Between Sleepless Nights and Your Hormones, Plus 6 Natural Sleep Hacks

Are you unable to fall asleep at night? Or perhaps you’re waking up at 2 or 3am, unable to go back to sleep? Maybe you used to sleep like a baby, but can’t remember what that even feels like anymore.

Sleep disturbances are a hot topic among the women I see in my practice, and in my online community. Many women, perhaps like you, struggle to control their thoughts, emotions and actions because they’re so freaking TIRED, and maybe even a little wired. Even I, who usually sleeps very well, had a bought of insomnia for months back in 2014 when I was under a lot of stress and in a bad job.

What Happens in Your Body When You Don’t Get Enough Sleep

Our quality of sleep is very much tied to our hormones, for better or for worse. In fact, some research has shown that upwards of 67% of menstruating women have experienced sleep problems, especially in the few days before their period arrives.

There are real problems that can develop and arise when we don’t get enough sleep.

Weight

Poor sleep can really pack on the pudge- especially in the belly area. Before that statement triggers you to start hating on your belly some more, take this in. You have two major appetite hormones, leptin and ghrelin. Poor sleep quality can increase your ghrelin (which makes you hungry) and decrease your leptin (which keeps you feeling full and satisfied). Basically, this means you’re more likely to overeat if you have chronically disrupted sleep. I remember eating constantly throughout the day just to try and keep myself awake when I was going through my sleep issues. I definitely gained weight and felt even worse about myself during this time.

Sex Hormones and Menstrual Cycle

As I mentioned above, many women experience sleep problems a few days or a week before their period arrives. Just when we WANT more sleep to rejuvenate and give the PMS monster a rest, we are deprived. What gives? Well, a few days before your period, both estrogen and progesterone (which have been high up until this point) dip (often drastically).

Progesterone is a calming hormone, one that helps us to sleep better at night, and reduces our depression and anxiety. When it comes to sleep and PMS, the problem is two-fold. First, progesterone is often super LOW in women who experience various symptoms of hormonal imbalance. Second, progesterone dips, often quite dramatically just before our period starts. So, if you have low progesterone to start with, you might experience poor sleep a lot more often, maybe throughout your whole luteal phase (second half of your cycle), and the drastic decline of what little progesterone you had worsens the problem right before Aunt Flo arrives.

Yuck.

If your estrogen is also low, or too high in comparison to your progesterone levels, this could increase the problem BIG TIME. Many women entering perimenopause and menopause note sleep difficulties because both their estrogen and progesterone are on a general decline, as the adrenal glands take over hormone production from the ovaries.

Lastly, if you experience irregular or absent menstrual cycles, there could be another factor influencing both your sleep quality and your cycle regularity. That is the hormone melatonin. Melatonin helps regulate our circadian rhythm (or sleep-wake cycle), and without adequate melatonin and a great circadian rhythm, your estrogen, progesterone, thyroid hormone and luteinizing hormone (LH) levels will be thrown out of whack- delaying or preventing ovulation. No ovulation = no period.

Everything Else in Your Body

Sleep isn’t just important for your waistline and hormones balance- it will essentially effect almost any other system in the body. As you may be aware, there are different stages to sleep. The deepest sleep stage is the time of real repair for your body. Cells are able to repair damage from stress and trauma, the immune system gets a boost and your metabolism stays on track. A lot of this healing is due to higher levels of growth hormone, which does trigger “growth” in kids, but is used for healing in us adult folk.

Long story short, not enough sleep will slow or halt your body’s critical repair time, will slow your metabolism to a crawl and isn’t doing you any favours when it comes to managing stress!

This is Why You Can’t Sleep

If you’re reading this, chances are you haven’t slept well through the night in a really long time. Maybe it’s because you can’t fall asleep, or perhaps you can’t stay asleep, or both. The interesting part is, regardless of what type of sleep issue you have, often there is a similar story to how you got to this point.

Your Brain Won’t Turn Off

Many of the women who come to see me as private clients tell me that they just can’t seem to turn their brain off at night. Often, they replay the day in their head, continue to worry about things happening tomorrow, or situations that are out of their control. They lie in bed and stew, ruminating over stuff that matters and stuff that doesn’t. Sometimes this is the ONLY time in the day these women have to have a thought of their own. Pretty scary. Is this you too?

You’re Incredibly Stressed

Yep, it’s official- we’re all STRESSED. Like, to the max. To the top. To the point of not being able to take it anymore. Maybe your stressed out way of living makes you embarrassed for yourself because you’re freaking out on innocents who really haven’t done anything earth shattering.

Chronic stress raises the stress hormone cortisol, which is produced in your adrenal glands. Cortisol, while healthy in normal amounts and rhythms, can really disrupt your sleep. Cortisol should be highest when you first wake up (part of that circadian rhythm) and then gradually decline until is becomes very low before you go to bed, leaving you sleepy and ready for slumber. However, in the chronically stressed woman, cortisol levels often become high all the time, or they REVERSE. Reversed cortisol will make it hard to get out of bed in the morning, but you’ll be so wired by bedtime that it’s nearly impossible to fall asleep.

You Don’t Take Time for YOU

This is really a continuation of the above. No time for you = poor stress management. Simple statement, simple truth. Are you taking time for yourself? No, not with a friend, or watching TV with your spouse. Just by yourself, for yourself. Like maybe a hot bath with a good book and a pice of dark chocolate. Or doing a facial mask and body scrub just because. OR going for a solo walk to listen to the sounds of nature and get grounded. If you don’t remember the last time you’ve done one of these, or have NEVER done it, it’s time to make a change. For the sake of your health, and your sleep.

What IS Healthy Sleep?

Yep, pretty sad, but often we don’t know. Should it be 9 hours? Should I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow? How do I know if I’ve gotten enough sleep? These are pretty common questions.

The truth is, the amount of sleep required varies for every individual. However, there are some great guidelines to move towards. Adults are recommended to get between 7 and 9 hours of sleep per night. Many women get only 5 or 6. This is the amount of time your body needs to really rejuvenate.

If you wake up NOT feeling rested, and you’re a moody and binge-eating mess for the rest of the day, chances are your sleep quality isn’t very good. If you’re waking up 3 times a night to pee, or just because your body jerks you awake for no good reason- your sleep quality isn’t up to par.

How to Get a Good Night’s Sleep – 6 Natural Sleep Hacks

There are endless strategies to getting a good night’s sleep in a holistic way, and I’ve outlined my favourite 6 below. I urge you to pick ONE and try it for 1 week. I bet it’ll make a big difference. Add in other techniques as necessary until you find a good balance.

#1 Laptop Curfew

Giving yourself a laptop curfew, or a time before bed when ALL screens are turned off is imperative for healthy, rejuvenating sleep. Whether you’re emailing, watching TV, flipping through Facebook on your phone or using any other device with a screen, turn it off at least one hour before going to sleep.

Why? Well, the simple reason is that these devices cognitively stimulating, making you feel more awake. Additionally, when your brain becomes revved up, it often puts our body into “fight or flight” mode, increasing stress and stress hormone output. What we want for good sleep is to be in “rest and digest” mode- and screen time won’t get you there. Lastly, the blue light emitted by these devices delays the production and release of your sleep hormone, melatonin because your hypothalamus (itty-bitty part of your brain) becomes stimulated.

#2 Bedtime Rituals

While a laptop curfew could be considered a bedtime ritual, I highly recommend that becomes only PART of what you do at night to prepare yourself for sleep. Having rituals that you do every single night really helps your body to have a sense of routine. Over time, your body will be signalled to move into that “rest and digest” mode simply through the actions of your rituals. If rituals sounds a little woo-woo to you, feel free to think of them as a bedtime routine.

Here are some examples of bedtime rituals. I urge you to try any or all of them, until you find what works best in your life. Then, commit to doing them nightly and you’ll be sleeping like a baby in no time!

Laptop curfew (see instructions above)
Brain dumping (see info below)
Restorative, Gentle or Yin yoga
Deep breathing or meditation
An epsom salt bath (see more about using it’s main component Magnesium below)
Reading a fluff novel- no true crime or other stimulating subjects
Applying a lotion with calming scents like lavender, chamomile or sage
Diffusing essential oils into the bedroom like lavender, chamomile, sage, vetiver, ylang ylang, sandalwood, cedarwood, bergamot or marjoram
Having a cup of herbal tea- look in stores for a sleepytime blend or try lavender, chamomile, rose, passionflower, skullcap, or lemon balm
Laying out your clothes for the next day and pre-packing your lunch

#3 Brain Dump

Brain dumping is often one of the most effective sleep remedies in my clinical experience. Many women simply can’t fall asleep because their minds are constantly running- with worries, to-dos, song lyrics, TV show outcomes- you name it. Being able to take all of that circling information out of your brain and onto paper can help to relax the mind and prepare for sleep.

To do a brain dump, get yourself a little notebook and a pen to keep by your bedside. Don’t do this in an app or on your phone, because you’re turning screens off before bed, right? Every night before bed, write down everything that’s running in your mind. It doesn’t have to make sense, and no one is going to read it, so let the words flow from your mind onto the paper. You never even have to read it again if you don’t want to, so don’t let this be a scary experience.

Once you feel you’ve written everything down, or your mind feels finally calm, stop the dumping and you should be ready for sleep!

#4 Magnesium

Possibly my favourite nutrient/supplement for sleep, magnesium can truly work wonders. Magnesium is both a muscle and nervous system relaxant, meaning that it will help calm your body and mind for restful slumber. I find that many women with hormonal imbalances and sleep issues are deficient in magnesium, and bringing this nutrient up to par in your body may be great for your sleep.

There are many different forms of magnesium, like citrate, glycinate and malate- all of which are helpful for sleep. One thing to note is that higher doses of the citrate form may cause loose bowels or gassiness in some people. For that reason I often recommend the glycinate form, but you can choose what works for you. You can also use magnesium in the form of epsom salts, which are essentially magnesium sulfate, and can be absorbed through the skin when you take a bath.

If you are taking a supplement, start with 200mg daily before bed. You can work up to a dose that’s right for your body- up to 1200mg daily. If you are taking more than 400mg, split the doses and take some during the day as well- don’t worry, it won’t make you sleepy or drowsy during the day. Be consistent in taking the magnesium for a few months to see how it will work for you.

#5 Sleep Herbs

If you know me, you know I love herbal medicine. Sleep is a great application to use herbs. Herbs can be taken as tea, tincture or capsules. I find clinically that teas and tinctures tend to work faster for the purposes of getting to sleep.

Here is a list of herbs that may be helpful for sleep:

valerian
skullcap
passionflower (this can be combined with the above two herbs for a potent combination in tincture form)
lavender
chamomile
lemon balm
peppermint
rose
St. John’s wort (note: don’t take if you’re on antidepressants)

Teas can be made by using 1 tsp of the herb or herb mixture with one cup boiling water poured over. Steep covered for 10-15 minutes for maximum benefits.

Tinctures can be taken in the few hours before bed.

#6 Pre-Bed Protein Snack

A common reason women may wake during the night or have trouble staying asleep is imbalanced blood sugar. If your body believes it doesn’t have enough fuel, it might wake you up during the night. If you find yourself waking up more than once a night, or having trouble falling back to sleep or you need to eat something in the middle of the night, blood sugar imbalance may be at the root of your issue.

Of course, it is important to balance blood sugar all day with every meal and snack, but specifically for sleep, having a pre-bed protein snack could help. Protein helps to balance blood sugar and keep us full, as well as providing building blocks for the repair your body does at night.

Some examples of protein snacks to enjoy 1-2 hours before bed would be:

Small handful of nuts
One tbsp of nut butter (like almond or cashew) on a bit of fruit (like half an apple or pear)
A small cup of chicken soup, or another soup with protein in it
Chia pudding topped with some hemp seeds
Two tbsp of grass-fed collagen protein (like from Great Lakes or Vital Proteins) mixed into your nightly herbal tea
A little bit of leftover cooked chicken or turkey with some salt

As you can see, while sleep disturbances can be extremely debilitating there are many natural remedies that are very efficient in helping your body to get back on a regular sleep-wake circadian rhythm.

Creating Sleep Rituals for Restorative Sleep

Click Here for Your Sleep Guide

Sleep is something I get asked a lot about. So many of us can’t fall asleep because the mind is running, or wake constantly through the night and never get refreshed. Listen in and read below for my top tips for creating a successful sleep ritual.

Causes

Cortisol/stress hormone imbalance
Low progesterone
Anxiety and running thoughts
Poor sleep environment: Everything from darkness, sound and temperature can effect you
Liver congestion: If you wake between 1:00-3:00am, Traditional Chinese Medicine says you’re liver is overloaded (time for a detox!)
Low melatonin production due to age

Here’s what you need to know to create your own sleep ritual.

Food

Before supplements, always put your focus on food. There are a number of nutrients (and even more foods) that can help your sleep.

Magnesium Foods: Magnesium helps with muscle relaxation, promoting sleep
1. Leafy greens of all types, nuts and seeds, fish, avocados, brown rice, and dried figs
Tryptophan Foods: This amino acid (protein building-block) promotes good sleep quality because it is used to make sleepy chemicals like serotonin and melatonin
1. Turkey, chicken, pumpkin seeds, fish, crab, rolled oats, white beans, eggs
Tart Cherries: One of the only food sources of melatonin, eating cherries or taking tart cherry juice could help your slumber. See how to use tart cherry concentrate in my Sleep Juice Recipe at the end my free Creating Sleep Rituals Guide!
Pre-Bed Protein Snack: Having protein (extra points for using a source of tryptophan) will help to stabilize your blood sugar during sleep to prevent stress hormone imbalance and waking during the night
1. Turkey rolled in lettuce with avocado
2. Small smoothie with protein powder, pumpkin seeds and non-dairy milk
3. White bean dip with veggie sticks or a few gluten-free crackers
4. Sleep herbal tea (see my sexy examples below) mixed with collagen protein powder and consumed 1-2 hours before bed

Herbs + Supplements

There are so many medicinal herbs and nutrients that can assist your sleep, depending on the cause. Trial and error may be in order. I’m sharing details, dosages and brand recommendations for some of my favourite sleep supplements in the free Creating Sleep Rituals Guide.

Self-Care Practices

Self-care is awesome and fun- you ARE doing it, right? If not, or if you need something a little more exciting than your current ‘self-care’ routine of a glass of wine and Facebook scrolling . . .

Get my list of best self-care ideas for sleep in my free Creating Sleep Rituals Guide.

My Sleep Rituals

Creating a ritual for sleep can help lessen the overwhelm of daily life, and achieve seriously restorative sleep. Here I’m sharing my personal sleep rituals, to give you an example of what it could look like.