Dr. William Davis

Cardiologist + Author + Health Crusader

"The food you eat is making you sick and the agencies that are providing you with guidelines on what to eat are giving dangerous advice with devastating health consequences. You can change that today."

Check it out — Dr. Davis newest book, Wheat Belly: Revised & Expanded Edition that condenses all Wheat Belly strategies into one book with new recipes, new success stories, with plenty of other updated material is in stores now! Click to order and learn more.

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Books
  • Detox Course
  • Recipes
  • Success Stories
  • About
  • Media
  • Contact
  • Marketplace
  • Login

Better Sleep . . . With Benefits

By Dr. Davis | September 20, 2018 4 Comments


There are a handful of strategies that can augment or improve sleep quality while remaining consistent with the Wheat Belly lifestyle. Many people who banish all wheat and grains from their diet experience improvement in sleep duration and quality, further enhanced by our efforts to cultivate bowel flora. (Bowel flora metabolites have a major influence on sleep and dreams.) But, given life stress, transitional changes as you get further into this lifestyle, bad habits, and other factors sometimes make additional efforts necessary. But getting sufficient quality sleep can take you further down the path of health.

Melatonin should be the first nutritional supplement choice for restoring sleep patterns.

Melatonin is not a sleeping pill, as it does not share the characteristics of prescription sleeping pills: It does not adversely modify sleep patterns, it does not become habit-forming, and there is no withdrawal process when stopped. It simply “resets” your circadian clock to make your brain and body receptive to sleep. Numerous other benefits have been identified, including 70 percent reduction in tension headaches, 50 percent reduction in migraine headaches, reduction in chronic pain, and reduction in symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome and other gastrointestinal effects of stress. Melatonin has also been shown to improve prediabetic measures, such as reduction in triglycerides, reduction in blood pressure during sleep (reducing an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease called nondipping, in which blood pressure fails to drop during sleep, like it normally should), and modest reduction in waist size. Accumulating data also suggest advantages in preventing, even treating, breast, prostate, and ovarian cancers.

Because insufficient or disrupted sleep contributes to weight gain, you’d expect that improved sleep via melatonin supplementation would result in weight loss, and it does, though the effect is modest, about 5 pounds over 4 months. No sleeping pill can accomplish the range of positive health effects achieved by this potent hormone of circadian rhythms.

Melatonin, available at health food stores and drugstores, is easy to use. Start with a small dose (e.g., 0.5 milligram) about 1 hour prior to bedtime, and increase the dose with every use until you achieve the desired effect. Doses can range as high as 12 milligrams per day or more. If you manage to fall asleep but struggle to stay asleep, consider either a higher dose and/or converting to a time-release preparation. If you experience a “hangover” effect that persists upon awakening, take your dose earlier in the evening.

The younger you are, the earlier you should take your melatonin dose. Adolescents, for instance, who wish to fall asleep at 10:00 p.m. may need to take it as early as 7:00 p.m., while people over 60 years old generally do fine by taking it 30 minutes before the desired sleep time.

Given the substantial health benefits of melatonin, should everyone take measures to increase it, regardless of whether sleep/circadian issues are present? This is not yet clear. But even if you don’t struggle with sleep issues, melatonin supplementation should be considered for any form of endocrine disruption—such as thyroid disease, adrenal dysfunction, or infertility— given that this regulator of circadian rhythm modulates numerous hormonal levels. It should also be considered as you age, as over age 50 or so, circadian hormonal rhythms are blunted, leading to dysfunction of several hormonal systems, such as reductions in testosterone and growth hormone, partially restored by melatonin supplementation.

You can add to the melatonin effect by supplementing tryptophan, an amino acid that also triggers melatonin release from the brain and increases serotonin levels, making it useful for improving mood over time, as well.

 

Tryptophan or 5-Hydroxytryptophan Supplements

Serotonin levels in the brain can be increased by taking tryptophan or its closely related 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP).

Brain serotonin levels can drop with weight loss, resulting in food cravings, low mood, irritability, anger, and argumentativeness. While the conventional medical answer is to prescribe brain serotonin– increasing antidepressant drugs, you can increase serotonin levels a natural way and reduce the negative emotions and carbohydrate cravings. Some people like the effects of these supplements so much, especially the favorable effects on mood, that they continue taking them long after the wheat and grain withdrawal is nothing more than a bad memory.

Tryptophan can be taken alone or, even better, with melatonin. Tryptophan can also be taken during the day, e.g., 500 to 1,000 mg three times per day. Alternatively, it can be taken at a higher dose once per day at bedtime to encourage sleep at a dose of 1,000 to 3,000 mg. Supplementation increases brain serotonin and melatonin, which benefits sleep at night and mood during the day. Tryptophan can be taken by itself or in combination with melatonin and tends to not leave any residual effects upon awakening. Tryptophan is most effective taken on an empty stomach.

5-Hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) In addition to its helpfulness in reducing cravings during grain withdrawal, 5-hydroxytryptophan can also be used to enhance sleep. Supplementation has been shown to extend deep REM sleep, suggesting that sleep is deeper and more restorative with its use. As with melatonin, dose needs vary; most people take between 25 and 200 mg at bedtime.

Note that 5-HTP should not be used in combination with antidepressant medications, especially anyone taking a prescription antidepressant or carbidopa for Parkinson’s disease. This may cause an excess in serotonin levels. 5-HTP however, be used in combination with melatonin.

 

Lactobacillus reuteri yogurt

While anecdotal, I am receiving feedback from users of the L. reuteri yogurt that deep, child-like sleep is experienced by some.

Unlike accelerated skin healing, reduced skin wrinkle depth, increased strength and muscle mass, and anorexigenic effects that are experienced by most on the yogurt, deeper sleep seems to be enjoyed by less than half of people following this idea. I don’t have an explanation for the variability of this effect. But I can tell you that I have personally experienced it.

Stress, bad habits (reading or working late), decades of sleep deprivation through medical training and practice all contributed to many years of bad sleep for me, often necessitating high-dose melatonin and/or tryptophan. But, with consumption of the L. reuteri yogurt, my sleep is scary wonderful: Deep, dream-filled sleep, minimally interrupted by awakenings (very unusual for me), the kind of profound sleep I last remembered having when I was a kid. And this is with no melatonin or tryptophan.

So I cannot predict whether you will enjoy this benefit like I and some others have but, even without it, you can still enjoy all the other benefits of cultivating L. reuteri in your gastrointestinal tract.

Share:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Email

Related

Filed Under: News & Updates Tagged With: 5-Hydroxytrptophan, Dr. Davis, health, melatonin, Natural Sleep Aides, oxytocin, reuteri, tryptophan, undoctored, wheat belly, yogurt

Like This Post? Sign Up For Updates — It’s FREE!

Plus receive my latest collection of recipes, Wheatbelly Hearty Entrees!

Enter the Captcha:
Reload

About Dr. Davis

Cardiologist Dr. William Davis is a New York
Times #1 Best Selling author and the Medical Director of the Wheat Belly Lifestyle Institute and the Undoctored Inner Circle program.

Nothing here should be construed as medical advice, but only topics for further discussion with your doctor. I practice cardiology in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Comments & Feedback...

  1. Katee

    September 21, 2018 at 10:29 am

    Within a few days of starting 5-HTP, I was manic but without additional energy (being manic had never an issue for me before, and I wasn’t on any pharmaceutical), a little delusional, having trouble sleeping, and a few days later I began having suicidal thoughts about 2-3 AM. Scared me quite a lot.

    I’ve always wondered about the mechanism that would cause this. But then it is typical for me to have weird and unusual side effects to meds. And I’ve recently learned that, as I suspected, I have a homogenous MTHFR mutation. And I also suspect that the MTHFR is responsible for not being able to utilize and clear much more than folate. We just haven’t discovered it yet.

    Log in to Reply
  2. Pauline

    September 22, 2018 at 10:16 am

    I have concerns taking melatonin after reading that your body reduces production if you supplement. I am 54 only sleep 4 hours, thrive on 8 which is a distant memory.
    Should I be concerned?

    Tried all the formentioned supplements (except melatonin) & yogurt with no effect.

    Log in to Reply
    • Bob Niland

      September 22, 2018 at 4:05 pm

      Pauline wrote: «I have concerns taking melatonin after reading that your body reduces production if you supplement.»

      If true, that wouldn’t surprise me. Endogenous melatonin production seems fairly fragile. Bright or blue light at night can shut it down as well. This, of course, wasn’t a real problem prior to artificial light.

      Personally, I’ve never tried melatonin or 5-HTP. I’d consider them way down on the list of things to try when things higher on the list either don’t work, or can’t be implemented (due to travel, etc.)
      ________
      Blog Associate (click my user name for details)

      Log in to Reply
  3. Carl

    September 23, 2018 at 4:03 pm

    Get the sun at dawn on naked grounded body, UV exposure builds your melatonin in your eyes. Start slow 5-10 minute exposures with NO make up or sun glasses, built up your sun callous. Be a Mitochondriact.

    Log in to Reply

Share Your Comments, Opinions, And Feedback... Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Most Popular Posts

  • Getting started
  • The Wheat Belly Food Pyramid
  • Surviving the opiate withdrawal when stopping wheat
  • List of Wheat Belly safe baking flours and meals
  • Focaccia bread recipe–wheat-free, of course!
  • Follow a full program of bowel flora restoration in the aftermath of wheat
  • I lost the wheat, but didn’t lose the weight – Identifying weight loss blockers
  • I lost the wheat but didn’t lose the weight – Video: Part 1
  • I lost the wheat but didn’t lose the weight – Video: Part 2
  • I lost the wheat but didn’t lose the weight – Video: Part 3
  • Login

Wheat Belly Books By Dr. William Davis

Click To Learn More

The Next Step after Wheat Belly

 Inner Circle Logo

For an expanded Undoctored experience, join our Inner Circle to talk directly to Dr. Davis and other engaged in the program.

Membership Details

Wheat Belly Approved Products

Coconut oil representing a product from the approved products of the Wheat Belly lifestyle.

New: Finally, a place to obtain all Wheat Belly approved products! Dr. Davis has personally reviewed each and every product.

View Here

EXCLUSIVE BONUS RECIPES!

Wheat Belly Hearty Entrees

Eating the Wheat Belly way is rich, varied, and delicious! Get some additional inspiration for wheat/grain-free dinners with these recipes. This will also sign you up for the Wheat Belly newsletter featuring additional, delicious recipes and the latest information about new developments in the Wheat Belly lifestyle! Enter your name and email to get started!
Enter the Captcha:
Reload

Wheat Free Market Wheat Belly Approved

For an expanded Undoctored experience, join our Inner Circle to talk to Dr. Davis and others engaged in the program.

Click To Learn More

 Inner Circle Logo

For an expanded Undoctored experience, join our Inner Circle to talk to Dr. Davis and others engaged in the program.

Click To Learn More

Read the Wheat Belly books and cookbooks:

  • Wheat Belly
  • The Wheat Belly Cookbook
  • The Wheat Belly 30-Minute Cookbook
  • Wheat Belly Total Health
  • Login

Like Wheat Belly? You’ll Love Undoctored!

New to eating wheat- and grain-free and in a rush to lose 30 pounds? Start here:

  • Quick And Dirty
  • My Favorite Grain-Free App
  • Lost The Wheat, But Didn’t Lose The Weight
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Login

About Dr. Davis

Dr. William DavisDr. William Davis is a New York Times #1 best selling author and Medical Director and founder of the Undoctored program, including the Undoctored Health Workplace Program.

Copyright © 2021 Dr. William Davis. All Rights Reserved. | Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Books | Media | Contact

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.