Starch Should Work! What If It Doesn’t? by Joan Kent, PhD

For better sleep, I’ve long advised eating a small portion of starch (carbs) about 80-90 minutes before bed. Starch examples include quinoa, potato, rice, sweet potato, squash, oats, even pasta (pasta does contain gluten).

 

But what if that doesn’t work?

 

If you’ve tried starch but couldn’t fall asleep, try adding a small portion of turkey next time.

 

Eating starch plus turkey will have the same effect you may have experienced on Thanksgiving – feeling sleepy after dinner. That’s because turkey contains a relatively high amount of tryptophan. Tryptophan is an amino acid; protein is made of those.

 

Turkey is usually blamed for that Thanksgiving sleepiness, but the tryptophan wouldn’t even reach the brain if we didn’t eat starch with it. Several larger and more plentiful amino acids compete with tryptophan for entry to the brain and block tryptophan. So without starch, the sleepy effect wouldn’t occur.

 

Those competing amino acids form 2 other brain chemicals that make us feel awake and alert – dopamine and norepinephrine.

 

Starches trigger insulin release, and the insulin transports the aminos throughout the body. That allows them to be used for many functions: making of antibodies, hormones, receptor sites, enzymes, and much more.

 

While all of that is going on, tryptophan – smaller in size and less abundant – can then easily reach the brain, where it’s converted to serotonin.

 

Why Starches? Why Not Sugar?

 

Eating sugar can backfire for a couple of reasons.

 

Sugar prompts the release of endorphins (beta-endorphin) and dopamine. Because dopamine is an alertness chemical, it could wake us up, rather than promote sleep. Some people are more sensitive to dopamine and might feel “wired” after eating sugar.

 

Starches produce relaxation without a wired feeling.

 

Another Problem with Sugar

 

Sugar promotes high insulin secretion. That secretion is more pronounced in some people than in others. (They’re called “carb sensitive”, but don’t let the name fool you. We’re still talking about sugar.)

In someone who’s sensitive to sugar in this way, the extra insulin can cause glucose levels to drop very low. It might seem logical that low glucose would make someone so tired, they’d stay asleep all night and even having trouble waking in the morning.

 

But instead, the sharp glucose drop tends to wake us in the middle of the night so we have trouble going back asleep, even if we’re tired.

 

Starch is a better solution.

 

Bottom Line?

 

• Eat protein throughout the day.
• Eat less protein with your dinner.
• Have a small portion of starch plus a small amount of turkey about 80-90 minutes before bed.
• Avoid late-night sugar.

 

Bonus Tip

 

Avoiding sugar may be easier said than done. I help people get away from sugar so they can sleep well, transform their health, lose weight, stop mood swings, and restore normal eating. Grab your free copy of “3 Biggest Mistakes People Make When Trying to Quit Sugar” when you visit www.LastResortNutrition.com .

 

Brought to you by Dr. Joan Kent, best-selling author of Stronger Than Sugar.