A New Clinical Trial Suggests This Common Snack Might Help You Sleep Better

From womenshealthmag.com

By Korin Miller

Experts break down what to make of the latest study 

Key Points

• A new clinical trial suggests that eating almonds may help with sleep.
• People who ate about 50 almonds a day reported better sleep quality—but the study was funded by the Almond Board of California.
• Experts say there may be some nutritional health benefits to almonds and other nuts that may help with sleep, and that more research is needed.

Even though you’re well aware of the importance of getting enough sleep each night, sometimes it’s just not easy to fall asleep when you’d like. If it happens more often than not, it’s easy to find yourself in a panic spiral of worrying that you’ll never sleep well again.

Now, a new clinical trial published in Frontiers in Nutrition suggests that adding almonds to your daily diet might help you get better sleep. Keep in mind the study was funded by the Almond Board of California, but dietitians say almonds may have something in their nutritional makeup that makes this research worth looking into further.

And though almonds might be one more tool in your sleep-promoting toolbox, they’re unlikely to magically make all of your sleep woes disappear. If you’re seriously struggling with insomnia or other sleep problems, you should talk to a healthcare provider. But for those just looking to snack mindfully, here’s what to know about the latest link between almonds and sleep.

What did the study find?

For the clinical trial, researchers recruited 175 adults in India aged 21 to 55 with poor sleep quality (but excluded those with major sleep disorders like sleep apnoea, narcolepsy, chronic insomnia, and more). Participants were randomized to eat about 50 whole almonds a day (provided by the same Almond Board of California) or another calorie-matched snack for five months. The researchers took a range of measurements on the participants’ sleep quality, like brain-wave recordings and various biochemical markers, including blood tests, at the start of the study and after five months, and also collected participants’ self-reported data on sleep quality.

After crunching the data, researchers found that people in the almond group reported having fewer sleep disturbances and an easier time falling asleep than those in the non-almond group. Their blood tests also showed slightly higher levels of the sleep hormone melatonin than in the non-almond group. People in the almond group were also more likely to achieve a clinically significant improvement in their sleep scores.

“These findings suggest that almonds may enhance perceived sleep quality, with slight objective improvements among responders,” the researchers wrote in the study’s conclusion.

Why might almonds help you sleep better?

The study found that almonds mostly improved perceived sleep quality—meaning, the participants felt (and self-reported) better sleep, while objective sleep changes were more limited. Still, dietitians say there may be something to adding almonds to your sleep regimen.

“Almonds are a good source of magnesium, which has been found in many studies to promote restful sleep because of its impact on muscle relaxation, regulation of melatonin production, and nervous system regulation,” says Jessica Cording, RD, author of The Little Book of Game-Changers.

They also contain tryptophan, which the body uses to make serotonin and melatonin, says Keri Gans, RD, author of The Small Change Diet. “Researchers also observed higher melatonin levels in the almond group at the end of the study, but we can’t say the almonds caused that increase or that melatonin was responsible for the sleep improvements,” she points out.

Beyond outright sleep-boosting nutrition, almonds also deliver a satisfying combination of protein, healthy fat, and fibre, which supports stable blood sugar—which is itself an important aspect of good quality sleep, Cording says.

Could other nuts have the same impact?

It’s tough to say. “Because this study focused specifically on almonds and the evidence is still limited, we can’t assume that other nuts would have the same effect on sleep,” Gans says.

Still, Cording notes that other nuts can support stable blood sugar through protein, fat, and fibre, and some specific nuts offer nutrients similar to almonds. “Cashews also contain magnesium, walnuts contain omega-3 fatty acids and melatonin, and pistachios also provide some melatonin,” Cording says.

What’s the takeaway?

More research is definitely needed, but experts say there may be something here. “Almonds are a nutritious food that can easily fit into an overall healthy eating pattern,” Gans says. “Fit into” is the key part here—50 almonds offer a solid amount of protein, fat, and calories, so you don’t want to just tack that onto what you’re already eating.

If you’re hungry before bed, a nutrient-dense snack that’s easy to digest like almonds can be part of a healthy sleep routine, Cording says. “Also, what you eat throughout the day and your daytime habits are important too,” she says. “Just eating almonds before bed isn’t a replacement for sleep-supporting habits like practicing good sleep hygiene, having consistent sleep and wake-up times, limiting caffeine late in the day, being physically active, and managing stress.”

https://www.womenshealthmag.com/health/a73512370/almonds-sleep-study/?itm_source=parsely-api

Middle insomnia: what it is and how to beat it

From saga.co.uk

By Patsy Westcott

Waking repeatedly in the night and being unable to sleep again is the form of insomnia most suffered by older people. But there are ways to boost your chance of a better night’s sleep 

It’s 3am and you’re awake. You turn over, plump up the pillow, adjust the duvet and try a different position. You take a sip of water, realise you need the loo, tell yourself it can wait, then decide it can’t, and drag yourself to the bathroom. By the time you get back into bed, you’re wide awake and thoroughly fed up. However hard you try, sleep won’t come. 

If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Doctors call it middle insomnia, or sleep-maintenance insomnia, and it’s especially common in older people.

How common is middle insomnia?

“Sleep efficiency is undoubtedly more challenging as we get older,” says consultant neurologist Professor Guy Leschziner, professor of neurology and sleep medicine at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals.

Around half of older people report difficulty dropping off or staying asleep. Of these, sleep-maintenance insomnia, defined as multiple awakenings or prolonged wakefulness in the middle of the night, affects 50 to 70%.

“Typically, people report waking at 2, 3 or 4am and being unable to fall asleep again for hours,” says psychologist and sleep expert Dr Lindsay Browning of Trouble Sleeping.

Why are older people more affected?

“There are several destabilising influences on sleep that come with age,” says Prof Leschziner, author of The Nocturnal Brain: Nightmares, Neuroscience and the Secret World of Sleep.

“They include weakening of the brain circuitry that controls when we fall asleep, when we wake up and how stable sleep is, together with changes in the secretion of the sleep hormone, melatonin.

“Melatonin is the main chemical signal to the brain that it’s time to go to sleep and stay asleep. With age, its nocturnal peak is much lower, making it harder to maintain sleep,” he explains.

What physical changes can cause middle insomnia?

Certain physical aspects of getting older play a role too. They include: 

• Bladder weakness or irritability
• Joint and back pain or stiffness
• Menopausal symptoms such as night sweats or anxiety
• Medications, such as blood pressure-lowering beta blockers and calcium channel blockers, antihistamines, steroids and some antidepressants  

Medical conditions can also be culprits according to Prof Leschziner. Common offenders include:

• Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts during sleep
• Periodic limb movement disorder (PLMD), which causes repetitive, uncontrollable jerking or twitching of the limbs
• Restless legs syndrome (RLS) a neurological condition that creates an irresistible urge to move the legs

“People with these conditions often feel as though they haven’t had any sleep,” says Prof Leschziner. In fact, this can be a trick of the brain, making you feel as though you haven’t slept a wink when you may actually have been drifting in and out of sleep.

What should you do if you’re affected?

Both experts agree that it’s best to not to lie there tossing and turning as this strengthens the association between bed and wakefulness.

“If you feel like you have been awake for about 20 minutes or more, it can help to leave the bedroom and go somewhere else,” says Dr Browning.

Prof Leschziner suggests sitting in dim lighting and doing something fairly unstimulating until you feel sleepy again. Dr Browning, meanwhile, recommends doing something “pleasant and engaging” to take your mind off not sleeping.

As she explains: “The aim is not to make yourself sleepier. It’s to take your mind off the fact you’re awake. This can reduce the link between bed, wakefulness and frustration, so that when you return to bed, sleep is more likely to follow naturally.”

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Distracting and/or calming activities could include:

• Reading
• Watching TV
• Listening to the radio
• Creative activities such as puzzles, word searches or colouring books
• Humming a favourite tune to calm the brain and vagus nerve  

And what shouldn’t you do?

One of the biggest mistakes is checking the time. “Calculating how much longer it is until morning, and how annoyed you are that you’ve woken up can increase anxiety, making it harder to go back to sleep,” says Dr Browning.

She recommends setting an alarm for the latest time you need to wake up. “If you wake in the middle of the night, ask yourself: ‘Has my alarm gone off yet?’ If it hasn’t, it’s not morning, and you can try to go back to sleep.’

Another thing to avoid is scrolling on your phone. This can make it harder to get back to sleep because it strengthens that connection between being in bed and being awake and mentally switched on, and secondly, because the content of what you scroll may leave you feeling alert, agitated or distracted.

Instead, she suggests trying a calming breathing exercise or what experts call cognitive shuffling: mentally listing random, unrelated words or objects to gently distract the brain.

Should you have a snack?

Having something to eat in the middle of the night is not a good idea either, as it can train your body to wake up expecting food at that time. Instead try a light snack before bed, such as a piece of wholemeal toast with nut butter or a glass of warm milk.

And while we’re on food and drink, bear in mind that eating late in the evening, as well as caffeine and alcohol, are well-known sleep disruptors.

Are there any treatments?

According to the British Geriatrics Society, it’s best to steer clear of sleeping pills if you can. Older people are more susceptible to their sedating effects, which can lead to daytime drowsiness and a higher risk of falls and serious injury.

The good news is there are plenty of non-pill options and, even if you have struggled with insomnia for decades, you can still improve your sleeping habits.

“Long-standing insomnia is often maintained by unhelpful behaviours and anxiety about sleep itself, and this can be changed,” says Dr Browning.

CBT-I (cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia) uses a range of techniques to tackle the habits and thought patterns that keep insomnia going – such as going to bed earlier to compensate for sleep loss or worrying about how you will function the next day – as well as so-called sleep restriction or sleep compression.

These techniques involve working out how long you usually spend asleep then strictly limiting the time you spend in bed to that time. It sounds counter-intuitive to deliberately restrict your sleep to treat insomnia, but over time it creates mild sleep deprivation. “Eventually, the sleep pressure that builds up as a result stabilises your sleep pattern, enabling you to gradually increase the amount of time you spend asleep in bed,” explains Prof Leschziner.

The Sleepio app, which uses CBT-I, is recommended by NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) and is thought to be especially beneficial for over 65s.

What matters, both experts agree, is not to accept broken nights as something you have to put up with. Once you understand what lies behind them, small changes to your routine can make a real difference and help you back to more restful nights.

Types of insomnia

• Short-term (acute) insomnia: lasts for less than three months and is often triggered by stressful events, jet lag or changes in the environment, such as a heatwave or extreme cold.
• Long-term (chronic) insomnia: lasts for three months or more and is often linked to underlying medical, psychological or lifestyle factors.
• Sleep-onset insomnia: difficulty dropping off at the beginning of the night. This is the kind most common in younger adults
• Sleep-maintenance (middle) insomnia: frequent awakenings during the night, or waking in the middle of the night and struggling to drop off again. This is the one most commonly suffered by older people
• Insomnia with early morning awakening: when you wake up very early in the morning, e.g. 5am.

If poor sleep is causing anxiety, frustration or daytime fatigue, speak to your GP or a sleep professional. 

https://www.saga.co.uk/magazine/health-and-wellbeing/middle-insomnia-what-it-is-and-do-you-have-it

Popular healthy snack that fights insomnia and helps you fall asleep at night

From dailyrecord.co.uk

Not getting enough sleep can be triggered by a number of different things such as stress, anxiety, or consuming too much alcohol or caffeine 

When thinking about ways to improve your health, the most common factors are often eating healthily and exercise - but getting enough sleep is also vital.

According to the NHS, the average adult should aim to get between seven and nine hours of sleep every night. Unfortunately, this is difficult for a lot of people due to factors like work, stress, anxiety or too much alcohol or caffeine.

If you regularly find it hard to drift off, or keep waking up in the middle of the night, you could be experiencing insomnia. However, experts say that eating one snack before bed can help you sleep easier and deeper, so you wake up feeling refreshed.

                                  Snacking on nuts may help you to sleep better at night (Image: Getty Images)

The Mirror reports that sleep experts at Bed Kingdom have recommended snacking on nuts before bed time as they are high in magnesium and zinc, which have been linked to aiding sleep disorders.

"While many people resort to a glass of wine or two to help them drift off in the evening, this can actually be detrimental to the quality of our sleep in the long run," said sleep experts from Bed Kingdom. "There are several much more sensible options that you can add to your diet to help boost your chance of getting some quality Zzz's."

Nuts such as almonds, pistachios, walnuts and cashews can all help to contribute to a better night's sleep. Other foods recommended by the experts include kiwis, cherries, malted milk, and oily fish.

You could also try chamomile tea, magnesium supplements or lavender scents in order to drift off easier at night.

The NHS does not explicitly recommend any particular food as a way of battling insomnia - but does urge sufferers to avoid eating a big meal late at night or exercising close to bed time. You should also aim to go to bed and wake up the same time each day, and make sure your room is dark and quiet.

If you are seriously struggling with insomnia, consider contacting your GP for additional help such as cognitive behavioural therapy or medication.

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/lifestyle/popular-healthy-snack-fights-insomnia-32002662

My View: Learning to live with insomnia

From buffalonews.com

What can I say about insomnia? Let me sleep on it. Wait – I can’t. That about sums it up. Not being able to fall asleep is very frustrating. While the world sleeps, I am wide awake listening to my fan drone on and on, my cellphone is set for the soothing sounds of a midnight thunderstorm. My window is open, and the bedroom is at a cool temperature. A perfect setting for “sleep ... perchance to dream.” To quote Shakespeare.

Carol J. Russell treats insomnia with 2 a.m. pizza.

But it’s not happening in my world. In my world, there is a lot of tossing and turning.

Since I am awake, I usually get up to get something to eat. (I was wondering where those extra pounds were coming from.) Eating at night is performance art at its best. You aren’t going to make an actual meal, although I have made a plate of microwave 90-second rice topped with Romano cheese. So good! I have also made sandwiches.

Why does a bologna sandwich at 2 in the morning taste better than it does in the afternoon? Forbidden fruit, that’s why. We humans are not supposed to eat lunch at 2 a.m. Cereal is also a good choice. But the absolute best 2 a.m. snack is – of course – cold pizza. Not microwave or toaster-oven-heated pizza. It has to be cold, paired with a cold glass of white wine.

You might ask why I haven’t tried a sleep medication. The answer is, I have. A few years ago I tried a doctor-prescribed sleeping pill. It did work, but the side effects were interesting to say the least.

After taking the pill, I did have a night’s sleep, but I also woke up to a half eaten bag of cookies on the bed table next to me. I had no memory whatsoever of getting up, going downstairs to the kitchen opening the pantry door, taking out the package of cookies, going back upstairs, getting into bed and eating half a bag – while sleeping! That was the end of sleeping pills for me.

At least I didn’t go for a joyride or shop online, as I’ve heard can happen with these medications.

I do have friends who also have insomnia. One friend told me she gets up at 5 a.m. after not sleeping all night and does laundry. While the washing machine is going, she will sit in a recliner and fall asleep. Another friend vacuums. Still another irons. That definitely is something I would never do. “Does not iron” was in my wedding vows. Way too boring. Although that could be the answer I am looking for.

Functioning during the day with no sleep is challenging. If I don’t have plans for the day and I remain home, I can at least rest, but if I have a busy schedule after a sleepless night, I am running on fumes.

Since my retirement, I now have the freedom of sleeping later in the morning and planning my day accordingly. I usually try to schedule any plans or appointments I make for 2 p.m. or later.

To any and all readers who see themselves in this article, I say to you, and I’m quoting that great newsman Edward R. Murrow, “Good night, and good luck.”

https://buffalonews.com/opinion/my-view-learning-to-live-with-insomnia/article_fb2f5ae6-3163-11ee-ab53-9b975e70bb8e.html 

Late-Night Carbs Cause Insomnia

From newsmax.com

Actress Blake Lively, who is the mother of three kids under the age of 5, says she'll sleep when she's dead.

While we sympathize with the gruelling routine that motherhood demands, we hope she's finding a way to get more rest. Her health, longevity, and happiness depend on it.

But we have a theory about what — besides her active trio — may be contributing to Blake’s sleeplessness. It turns out that she's a big fan of having a sweet treat before bedtime.

A new study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reveals that eating carbs before bedtime contributes to insomnia.

The researchers found that the worst culprits are refined carbs with a high glycaemic index. That includes ice cream, soda, cookies, chips, and candy.

Such foods make your blood sugar spike, causing insulin to be secreted. Then your blood sugar drops quickly, stimulating the release of energizing hormones like cortisol and adrenaline.

Then guess what? You're awake.

Because 30% of Americans contend with insomnia, and the U.S. is an avid snacking nation — 62% of people snack throughout the day, and almost 50% have four or more snacks daily — we're betting late-night noshing is keeping a lot of folks awake.

If you need a bite of something before bed, try a slice of an apple or a pear (not a whole one) with a teaspoon of peanut butter on it. That touch of complex carbs with protein should keep the snack from keeping you up.

And you’ll feel a lot more Lively in the morning if you lay off the bedtime sweets.

https://www.newsmax.com/health/dr-oz/insomnia-carbohydrates-insulin-dr-oz/2020/01/23/id/951011/