A doctor has revealed the ‘real reason’ why some people repeatedly wake up between 2-3am at night and what you can do to address it.
Not only is Dr Eri Berg DC a doctor, but he also had insomnia himself for a decade so it’s fair to say he knows a thing or two about troubled sleep and has since weighed in on the reasons you may be waking up regularly between two and three AM.
In a video shared to his YouTube earlier this month, Dr Berg – who no longer practices but shares health tips online – explains ‘what’s unique about 2am is something called the Circadian Rhythm with cortisol’.
Cortisol is a stress hormone which ‘should be at the lowest point in this rhythm at 2.00am and the highest point at 8.00am’.
In Dr Berg’s case, this pattern was reversed – the doctor most awake at 2.00am and his most tired at 8.00am.
But what causes someone’s cortisol level to become so out of sorts in this way?
Well, if you’re waking up regularly around two or three AM, this could be a sign you’re deficient in magnesium.
“Your cortisol can actually go up if you’re deficient in magnesium,” Dr Berg notes.
The doctor says if you ‘have any tightness in your muscle and your upper back, lower back or if you point your toe and it cramps,’ it could be a sign you’re deficient in magnesium.
Twitching – in your eye or arm – can also suggest you’re deficient in magnesium.
“Magnesium controls calcium and when you don’t have enough magnesium you get more calcium and calcium causes cramping in other areas of the body,” he adds.
The doctor advises taking magnesium glycinate, however, it’s always best to check with a medical professional if you’re wanting to add a supplement into your diet and how to do it safely.
Another reason you may be waking up at that hour every night could be down to low blood sugar.
If your diet is ‘heavy in the carbohydrates,’ Dr Berg explains this raises your blood sugar and then when you go to sleep at night, your blood sugar ‘goes down’ and if it goes too low, your body will try and raise it with cortisol.
‘Eating a lot of carbohydrates and starches’ can ‘create a magnesium deficiency too’.
“But if you’re just eating sugar in general, you’re going to have a blood sugar issue that’s going to effect cortisol and wake you up in the middle of the night,” he adds.
So, if you’re getting up at 2.00am, take a look at what you ate the day before – sugar, carbs, MSG, alcohol, snacking at night, all of these will impact your sleep.
Eating too much protein late at night can also interrupt your sleep.
Instead, Dr Berg advises trying to eat your final meal late in the afternoon if possible.
Sodium can help lower cortisol and if you find yourself craving salty snacks like chips, this may mean your body is trying to tell you you’re deficient – so add more sea salt into your meals during the day.
Watching a suspense or action movie is also a no-go – watch something boring. Blue light doesn’t exactly help either as it interferes with melatonin which helps you wind down.
Sun exposure during the day helps you sleep at night – or light from a candle or fire – can help increase your melatonin too.
Regular exercise to tire yourself out helps too.
And your liver also detoxifies between 1-3am – so any medication or alcohol you have in your system can ‘throw off your sleep’.
Reading a book can also help ease you into sleep or get you back into it if you wake up during the night.