The Sleep-Food Connection

Today I am reflecting on the relationship between healthy eating and sleep. This morning, I was listening to the audiobook “The Sleep Prescription” by Aric A. Prather, Ph.D. I’ve been slowly working through his sleep “class” in HeadSpace and decided to listen to his audiobook as I work to improve sleep both for myself and for my clients. I’m just on day 2 at the moment, but this quote really struck me.

“Carb lovers, pay attention here: carbs are an interesting case. Studies have unearthed that while most carbohydrates will actually help you fall asleep faster, only certain types will help you stay asleep. Simple and sugary carbs (think pizza, white bread, bagels, pasta) can cause more wake ups throughout the night. In contrast, complex carbs (again, these are the more high-fiber foods like sweet potatoes, oatmeal, and whole grains) can stabilize your sleep patterns—possibly, Dr. St-Onge theorizes, because they also stabilize your blood sugar.[11]” Excerpt From The Sleep Prescription by Aric A. Prather, PhD https://books.apple.com/book/id1608147733 This material may be protected by copyright.

My Own Sleep & Glucose Journey

Lately I have discovered that my waking glucose levels are consistently in the pre-diabetic range. I have been using the Stelo non-prescription continuous glucose monitor and reading books like Good Energy by Dr. Casey Means and The Glucose Revolution by Jessie Inchaupé. And my sister-in-law gave me an extra Oura ring, which connects with the Stelo to give insights between glucose and other biomarkers! (Such an amazing gift… although I warn that there is an ongoing fee to use the Oura ring in addition to the up-front cost of the ring itself but also I think it’s totally worth it!).

Rings say "My needs matter" and "It's safe to go slow" — My rings say “My needs matter” and “It’s safe to go slow”

I am a learner. And what that means to me is that I am always in the process of growing, making mistakes, learning from them, and growing some more.

One of the ways that I support myself in that is that I love to have jewelry that reminds me of what I’m working on. Lately I’ve been making rings. Right now I have a ring that says “My needs matter” and another one that says “It’s safe to go slow.” I have another one arriving today that says “Slow supported noticing” because that’s what I worked on with my somatics coach this week. I have bracelets that say “Water your hormones” and “That felt… Could you rephrase that?” to use in situations where someone offended me or hurt my feelings. I also have one that says the Serenity Prayer: “Give me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”

If you’re interested in trying my jewelry reminder strategy: Here are the rings I’ve been using. I’ve also made some of these bracelets. I find that the rings are harder for my eyes to see as I get older, but even just looking at them reminds me of what they say. Also I try to look carefully at the font choices so that I can see what might be more legible. I find the bracelets easier to read but harder to deal with them being around my wrist while I’m typing. You can fit more on a bracelet, and I've used ChatGPT to try to find phrasing that resonates with the smallest amount of characters. In order to start making rings, first I bought myself one of these ring sizers. Let me know if you decide to try it!

The Sleep-Food Connection

My Own Sleep & Glucose Journey

It’s Safe to Go Slow: Jewelry as a Somatic Practice

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