The late-night talk show hosts look more familiar than most of your relatives. You and the night cashier at the 7-Eleven are on a first-name basis. You can’t remember the last time you paid full price for a long-distance call; in fact, you could use more friends in faraway time zones who would still be up when you are. If you sometimes have trouble sleeping, you’re far from alone. About 30 percent of adults have an occasional bad night that keeps them from functioning at their best the following day. That, by the way, is how the experts decide whether your insomnia is a problem.
“It is not how many hours you sleep but how you feel during the next day that’s important,” says Peter Hauri, Ph.D., director of the insomnia program at the Mayo Clinic Sleep Disorders Center in Rochester, Minnesota. “Some people routinely sleep only four hours a night but feel fine during the day. They don’t have insomnia.”
But while an occasional bad night won’t ruin your life, a whole string of them can pose some serious problems. Some of the worst industrial accidents of the century have been linked to errors made by sleep-deprived workers, according to Dr. Hauri. If you’re among the 9 percent of Americans who suffer from chronic insomnia, you know that sleepless nights make a big difference in the way you feel, the way you work and the way you relate to other people.
Sleuthing beneath the Surface
“Insomnia is not a disease. It’s just an indicator that something is wrong,” says Dr. Hauri. In about half of all cases, the underlying problem is psychological. Depression, job stress and marital problems can all lead to insomnia.
Sometimes the cause is physical, such as an allergy or chronic pain, says Dr. Hauri. If that’s the case, finding an effective treatment for those symptoms should end insomnia as well.
Sleepless nights can also be caused by environmental factors (noise), bad sleep habits (sleeping late on weekends) and circadian rhythm problems (feeling sleepy at the wrong times).
Finally, a growing body of research shows that sleep can be affected, positively or negatively, by what you put in your mouth. “There are so many other factors—illness, stress, depression, lifestyle—that are likely to have much stronger effects on your sleep than nutrition would,” says James G. Penland, Ph.D., head researcher with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center in North Dakota. “But once those factors have been ruled out, our research suggests that getting more or less of certain nutrients can improve the quality of sleep.”
Copper Gets a Medal
A study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that low intake of copper was associated with poor sleep quality in premenopausal women. Women on a low-copper diet of less than one milligram daily took longer to fall asleep and felt less rested in the morning than women who consumed the same diet but also got a two-milligram copper supplement daily, says Dr. Penland, who directed the study.
The Daily Value for copper is two milligrams—a tiny amount, but more than the average American is getting. Most of us get about one milligram of copper a day. That is not enough of a deficiency to cause obvious symptoms, but it may be enough to affect the way we sleep. The best food sources of copper are lobster and cooked oysters. Seeds, nuts, mushrooms and dried beans also contain copper, but you’d have to eat several servings a day to meet the Daily Value, says Dr. Penland.
Iron Makes a Difference
Another mineral that seems to have an effect on sleep quality is iron. One study by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that women who got only one-third of the Recommended Dietary Allowance for iron experienced more awakenings during the night and poorer sleep quality than those who got the full Recommended Dietary Allowance. And while both low-iron and low-copper diets cause total sleep time to increase, that’s not necessarily a good thing, says Dr. Penland. “When people are sick, they sleep more,” he says. “Greater total sleep time often indicates that the body is trying to cope with some kind of challenge, which may be the case if you’re not consuming enough copper or iron.”
If you suspect that low copper or iron intake is affecting your sleep, a multivitamin/mineral supplement is a safe, easy way to correct the problem, says Dr. Penland. Just be sure that the supplement contains 2 milligrams of copper and the Recommended Dietary Allowance of iron, which is 15 milligrams for menstruating women and 10 milligrams for men and nonmenstruating women.
| Food Factors When it comes to insomnia, what you're eating may be just as important as what you're not eating. Here's how to make sure your diet isn't sabotaging sleep. Eliminate the usual suspects. That means coffee, tea, cola and anything else containing caffeine. Everyone knows that too much caffeine can interfere with sleep. What we may not know is just how much is too much. "Some people with insomnia are very sensitive to caffeine, and even one or two cups of coffee is too much," says Peter Hauri, Ph.D., director of the insomnia program at the Mayo Clinic Sleep Disorders Center in Rochester, Minnesota. Bag the nightcap. The late-night cocktail is one of the oldest sleep remedies in the book. But while a nightcap may help you drop off faster, it's also likely to wake you up during the night, says Dr. Hauri. Keep it light. Eating a heavy meal before bed can kick your digestive system into overdrive and keep you awake. Have a light but satisfying dinner, suggests Dr. Hauri, and skip any foods that tend to trigger heartburn for you. Stop raiding the refrigerator. Try to break the habit of getting up in the night for a snack, counsels Dr. Hauri. If you often wake up hungry, have a high-protein snack before bedtime, such as yogurt or a bowl of cereal with milk. This often prevents nocturnal hunger pangs. |
Aluminum Can Foil Sleep
Another mineral that seems to have an effect on sleep quality is aluminum. Dr. Penland and his colleagues compared the sleep quality of women who consumed over 1,000 milligrams of aluminum a day with the sleep quality of women who consumed only 300 milligrams of aluminum a day. The women who consumed more aluminum reported poorer sleep quality.
We all absorb small amounts of aluminum from air and water as well as from aluminum cooking utensils and some antiperspirants, but it probably isn’t enough to cause a problem, says Dr. Penland. But if you regularly take an antacid, especially a liquid, you should be aware that many brands contain as much as 200 to 250 milligrams of aluminum per teaspoon. If you take an antacid and find yourself waking up during the night, try giving it up for a few weeks to see if your sleep improves, suggests Dr. Penland. You can also try switching to tablets, which are usually aluminum-free. Check the active ingredients on the label to be sure.
| Tripping to Dreamland Until a few years ago, the top nutritional remedy for insomnia was the amino acid tryptophan. Sold in health food stores, tryptophan was used successfully by thousands of people to get a better night's sleep. That changed around 1990, when several people came down with a rare blood and muscle disorder that was linked to contaminated tryptophan supplements from a Japanese manufacturer. "If I could be sure it was pure tryptophan, I would still recommend it to people," says Peter Hauri, Ph.D, director of the insomnia program at the Mayo Clinic Sleep Disorders Center in Rochester, Minnesota. But while tryptophan supplements are no longer sold in the United States, some people find that eating foods rich in tryptophan just before bedtime seems to help them sleep, says Dr. Hauri. "It doesn't work for everyone, but it's certainly worth trying for a couple of weeks to see if it helps." Good sources of tryptophan include turkey, spinach and milk, which may have something to do with why a cup of hot milk before bedtime became such a popular folk remedy. |
Keep an Eye on Magnesium
Some research suggests that a low magnesium level can also lead to shallower sleep and more nighttime awakenings. “Low magnesium status means that your magnesium intake is very low on a daily basis, probably less than 200 milligrams a day,” says Dr. Penland. “It isn’t uncommon, especially among people with reduced caloric intakes, such as the elderly and people on weight-loss diets.”
Even if your magnesium intake is normal, certain medications can keep your body from absorbing the mineral efficiently. The most common are probably diuretics (water pills) prescribed for high blood pressure. If you’re taking them, your doctor should keep an eye on your magnesium level. Just make sure your physician knows about any medications that you’re taking, especially if you’re being treated by more than one doctor.
The Daily Value for magnesium is 400 milligrams. If you opt for a supplement, this amount should be enough to prevent sleep problems, says Dr. Penland. If you have heart or kidney problems, be sure to consult your doctor before taking magnesium supplements.
| Prescriptions for Healing Some doctors recommend these nutrients to send you nightly to the Land of Nod. Nutrient Daily Amount
Copper 2 milligrams Iron 10 milligrams for men and nonmenstruating women, 15 milligrams for menstruating women Magnesium 400 milligrams
MEDICAL ALERT: People with heart or kidney problems should consult their doctors before taking magnesium supplements. |
