Sugar could be stopping your sweet sleep

There are a range of possible reasons for not sleeping well and/or not falling asleep but there is one that we don’t often think of. Sugar. It is certainly not something I’d ever thought of until the day after struggling to get to sleep. By chance I heard an expert talking about her sleep being particularly bad on the days when she’d consumed more sugar than she should have.

When I reflected on my day of the bad night, I’d also had more sugar than I should have and normally would. I’d been travelling a long distance and while driving the car had enjoyed a number of candies. I battle sugar cravings so once I start it is difficult to stop.

Since that incident I have had one other occasion to prove, to me at least — nothing scientific — that consuming sugar will impact my ability to get to sleep that night. I’m talking a couple of hours trying to get to sleep.

There have been some studies in North America on this topic. Those who were drinking significantly more sugary caffeinated sodas, it was shown, were getting only four or five hours of sleep at night. It was not clear whether drinking those sodas triggered less sleep or whether the subjects were drinking the sodas because they wanted to stay awake for whatever reason.

What we do know from research is that people who are not getting enough sleep tend to eat more and crave sugar and fatty foods.

There is an image in my mind related to the impact of sugar and sleep.

I was visiting family and one evening, in a party atmosphere, a toddler in the family was allowed to indulge in a number of candies, unrestricted. As the night wore on his usual bed time passed as he ran around excitedly with seemingly more energy than we’d seen all day.

At first the parents were flummoxed about the possible cause. Then they remembered how much sugar he’d been consuming. It was several hours before he calmed down enough to even consider going to bed.

If you want to check the impact of your sugar consumption, make sure you wean your body off sugar and then have a stable period where you get to experience how your body reacts without that sugar. It may even help to keep a detailed journal. Only after that period will you be able to really grasp how your body will behave when you reintroduce a little sugar one day.

Here’s to coming off the sugar high and getting a good sleep and here’s To Your Health

To Your Health is a weekly column by Gillian Slade, health reporter for the News, bringing you news on health issues and research from around the world. You can reach her at gslade@medicinehatnews.com or 403-528-8635.