MrRippedZilla
Retired
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Sleep is a topic that comes up often enough on the board so here is some literature that may interest some folks (if you can't find the full paper to some of these, PM me and I'll send it):
Effects of tryptophan loading on human cognition, mood, and sleep
The efficacy and safety of exogenous melatonin for primary sleep disorders. A meta-analysis
Effectiveness of Valerian on insomnia: a meta-analysis of randomized placebo-controlled trials
This is a monster, free to read, review paper from one of my favorite researchers: Sleep in Elite Athletes and Nutritional Interventions to Enhance Sleep
For those too lazy to go through this, here is a brief summary:
- In order to influence sleep, you need to target certain neurotransmitters. Specifically - 5-HT, gamma-aminobutyric (GABA), histamine, melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH), norepinepthrine and orexin.
- Diets high in carbs tend to help reduce the time it takes to fall asleep.
- Diets high in protein tend to help improve the quality of sleep.
- Diets high in fat tend to negatively impact total sleep time.
- Being in a caloric deficit will reduce sleep quality primarily due to the lower levels of serotonin (although other stuff is involved that I won't get into).
- In terms of nutritional support, high GI carbs (white rice, pasta, bread, etc) are helpful so long as you don't consume them too close to bedtime (1hr window at least).
- 1g of tryptophan can improve both time to fall asleep and quality of sleep. Supplementation or consuming 300g-ish of turkey are two ways to go about it.
- Melatonin can improve the time to fall asleep and can be found both in supplement form and some foods (tart cherries for example).
- Valerian may also help improve sleep quality.
- A bunch of other stuff might be useful but the data isn't strong enough for me to include them here.
Effects of tryptophan loading on human cognition, mood, and sleep
The efficacy and safety of exogenous melatonin for primary sleep disorders. A meta-analysis
Effectiveness of Valerian on insomnia: a meta-analysis of randomized placebo-controlled trials
This is a monster, free to read, review paper from one of my favorite researchers: Sleep in Elite Athletes and Nutritional Interventions to Enhance Sleep
For those too lazy to go through this, here is a brief summary:
- In order to influence sleep, you need to target certain neurotransmitters. Specifically - 5-HT, gamma-aminobutyric (GABA), histamine, melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH), norepinepthrine and orexin.
- Diets high in carbs tend to help reduce the time it takes to fall asleep.
- Diets high in protein tend to help improve the quality of sleep.
- Diets high in fat tend to negatively impact total sleep time.
- Being in a caloric deficit will reduce sleep quality primarily due to the lower levels of serotonin (although other stuff is involved that I won't get into).
- In terms of nutritional support, high GI carbs (white rice, pasta, bread, etc) are helpful so long as you don't consume them too close to bedtime (1hr window at least).
- 1g of tryptophan can improve both time to fall asleep and quality of sleep. Supplementation or consuming 300g-ish of turkey are two ways to go about it.
- Melatonin can improve the time to fall asleep and can be found both in supplement form and some foods (tart cherries for example).
- Valerian may also help improve sleep quality.
- A bunch of other stuff might be useful but the data isn't strong enough for me to include them here.
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