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i'm pretty sure now that my SALT INTAKE was a contributor to my INSOMNIA. comparing the past couple of days to the previous days says it all. when my salt intake was moderate i had 21 hours awake, zooming around – unable to sleep (naps) to yesterday with much fewer hours awake and my usual 3 hours of sleep (NO SLEEPING PILL) since i went OFF SALT completely.
Salt, sleep? Interesting. Ihave bee low salt for years with no change in sleep patterns however, salt really bothers the wife. Might be somethng to that.
This made me curious too. After a bit of digging I found this:
In a long forgotten study from the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1945, a group of patients with insomnia were treated with a severely restricted salt intake. After 4-7 days the majority of individuals began to fall asleep easier. A few weeks later most noticed big differences in their ability to fall asleep.
Low Sodium Chloride intake in the treatment of insomnia and tension states. Journal of the American Medical Association. September 22, 1945: http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=275931
Most people think they follow a low salt intake but in fact are wrong. On average 90% of our salt intake comes from packaged foods, while only 10% comes from the salt shaker. Cutting way back on salt involves not only avoiding the salt shaker but avoiding packaged food and cooking meals from scratch. Check labels of foods to see if they contain salt.
NOTE: Some people feel unwell on a very low salt intake, for example feeling fatigued and light headed. People with CFS and adrenal problems should not attempt a low salt diet.
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The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.
Hmmm interesting study, Martin thanks for that. I never thought of drawing a connection between salt and sleeplessness, might be something in that, because I eat TONNES of salt.
Unfortunately cutting salt back is not an option for me. Chips.. without salt?!? No thank you 😆 unseasoned mashed potatoes? Unseasoned veg?! Noooo arrgh nightmare.
You make a really good point, a lot people cut back on putting salt on/in their food and think great, I've cut back on salt. Then they go eat processed food which often has over 3x the daily recommended amount of salt intake anyway!
Luckily in hindsight my salt intake probably isn't that bad, as I love to cook, so all my meals are fresh from scratch, the only salt that goes in it is what I put in it to season.
I might experiment with this actually one week. Infact, it's Monday today. From today 'til Sunday, I'll put salt in/on all my food, then from next Monday to next Sunday, I'll go without salt for a week and record if I feel any differences in my sleep pattern.
i thought my recent posts were LOST but now i know that they are just showing up under a disguise 😎 :ph34r:
It is an interesting thought, but I have yet to see any correlation in myself. Maybe I'll have to experiment to see what you mean.
-Ollie, AKA iWearAmask
this is really interesting and i may try looking at my diet to see if i can cut out more unneeded salt. molly do you have any updates you can share with us?
Make sure you knock out the artificial sweeteners, too.
—If you are ready to stop struggling with insomnia you can enroll in the online insomnia coaching course right now! If you would prefer ongoing phone or video coaching calls as part of a powerful three month program that will help you reclaim your life from insomnia, consider applying for the Insomnia Mastery program.
The content of this post is provided for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, disorder, or medical condition. It should never replace any advice given to you by your physician or any other licensed healthcare provider. Insomnia Coach LLC offers coaching services only and does not provide therapy, counseling, medical advice, or medical treatment. All content is provided “as is” and without warranties, either express or implied.
I need to cut out the processed foods I am sure they have a lot of salt. We will see how it goes.
It seems to be helping me, have been no / low salt diet for a few days and i sleep deeper and longer, more or less back to normal lke i remeber.
High salt intake has been linked to high blood pressure which can help keep you awake. I was wondering if you monitor your blood pressure and it has come down since you went on a low salt diet?
Also you indicate you have better sleep of 3 hours with low salt. I guess everyone is different, but I find when I get 3 hours I have difficulty getting through the day – I feel like a zombie. I need at least 4 hours and preferably 5 to be able to operate effectively through the day. So you can get through the day OK on 3 hours?
Someone else on this website recently suggested taking raw honey before bedtime to help with sleep; he indicated he got up to 90 minutes of extra sleep since he started taking raw honey and correctly pointed out that there are a number of articles on the web that extoll the benefit of raw honey for getting good sleep. I have taken raw honey for 5 nights and so far have not found any change in my sleep pattern – I have my good nights and my bad nights. I will give it a little more time to see if it has a positive effect. As with low salt, some things work for some people and some do not. Please let the website know if low salt continues to help with your sleep over the next couple of weeks. Thanks.
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