Can a Low Carb Diet Treat Insomnia?

Low carb diets seem to be the fad these days. It seems that everyone is talking about popular low carb diets such as South Beach, Atkins New Diet Revolution, Protein Power Diet and the Sugar Busters Diet. Of course, the media is partly to blame for the popularity of these diets. There are also people who claim that they are very effective especially in losing weight. Advocates of low carb diet also say that it is effective in treating other health disorders. One of these health disorder is insomnia.  This article will try to answer whether a low carb diet is really effective in treating insomnia.

Many insomnia sufferers have reported dramatic improvements after shifting to a low carb diet. One of the maim causes of insomnia is nutritional deficiency, so diet really plays an important part in treating insomnia.

Some insomnia sufferers have linked their insomnia with a low fat and high fiber diet. A vegetarian and semi vegetarian diet is also said to cause insomnia in some people. Underweight individuals and those who exercise a lot are also said to be more prone to insomnia than individuals who have normal weight or are overweight and don’t exercise as much.

Other insomnia sufferers reported that their conditions have improved as they add more fat into their diets. Their insomnia also improved when they have eaten more magnesium rich vegetables, more red meat and less high fiber food. A serving of homemade vegetable and meat soup with plenty of green leafy vegetables is said to induce good sleep.

There are people who have reported that they have developed insomnia from eating whole wheat bread. These people have also reported that they were able to sleep better when whole wheat bread was removed from their diets.

So if you find yourself having difficulty sleeping, what you can do is go over the things you have eaten earlier in the day. Maybe you have eaten pizza, a rice meal or a sandwich.

A high fiber diet can also cause some problems with other people. This does not mean that a high fiber diet is bad. By all means, a high fiber diet is recommended for moist people especially those who are overweight, and at risk for certain types of cancer. It all depends on the body type of the person. There are people who just cannot tolerate too much fiber.

In women, insomnia is said to be linked to lower estrogen levels. This is why women develop insomnia after menopause. Insomnia is linked to lower estrogen level because estrogen aids in the absorption of magnesium in the soft tissue of our bodies. Magnesium is the mineral responsible for relaxing our muscles and for turning of the "flight or fright" response. Aside from insomnia, low estrogen levels can also lead to heart palpitations, anxiety and fibromyalgia.

A high magnesium diet, low aluminum diet has also been found to be linked with high quality sleep time. Consuming the high amounts of magnesium is also said to prevent awakenings during night time. Moreover, taking magnesium supplements has been found to reduce sleep latency and helps people achieve uninterrupted sleep.

So if you are suffering from insomnia, maybe you should give low carb diets a try. But of course it is always advisable to seek your physicians advice before going into any kind of diet.