Saving the world one sleep-rich person at time

It's an epidemic. Society as a whole is under-slept. We're all walking around as stressed out zombies counting the hours of sleep we had on one hand. Not good.

Proper DEEP and 7-8 hour sleep is what allows our body to heal and rejuvenate on a nightly basis.

That's right. You have the ability to heal every single night. But! Only if you're actually sleeping.

Tell me if this sounds like you?

You come home from work after picking up the kids from dance-soccer-karate-choir practice. You eat dinner, something quick, from a box. You're knackered. EXHAUSTED.

In fact, you could probably sleep right then and there. On the couch while watching your favorite prime-time sitcom-drama-sports-news show.

But you don't sleep then. Nope. You wait. You push through. So valiant of you. Then 10 pm makes its way around. And POOF! You get a second wind. And you stay up even later. Sometimes past midnight.

At this point in this article, I recognize the limits of the magic of the internet. You can's see me doing it, but I'm shaking my head, friend. But only because I love you and want the best for you.

It's a classic story. One that writes you, our heroine, as living crabbily and sickly ever after.

Or perhaps this one is more you?

10 pm rolls around and you start making your way towards bed. You brush your teeth, let the dog out one last time. You check your email just in case there is anything you need to know right before bed. You watch the odd cat video or two, slip in to bed to read and you finally turn the light out at 11:30.

Regardless of actual bed time you wake up between 1:00 am and 4:00 am. You stay up for an hour or more. Sometimes in bed. Sometimes not. You might make it back to sleep by the early morning and squeeze in another hour before it's time to get up and do it all over again.

I'm here to break the cycle for you. I'm here to tell you that it doesn't have to be that way. I'm here to connect two dots that you likely have not connected. Trust me... if you already know what I'm about to tell you then you wouldn't be on the edge of your seat eagerly anticipating this article's big reveal.

My top secret for helping my patients sleep soundly through the night?

Are you ready to know?

Tonia! Gah! Come on already!!

Okay. It's all about discovering and eliminating food allergies. SURPRISE!

You heard me.

Food allergies.

For serious.

Confession time!

Now, I don't have any randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled...blah blah blah... trials. But what I do have is clinical proof.

Years and years of clinical proof.

Hundreds of patients who sleep better after starting what we, in my biz, call an "elimination diet." This is when we remove food allergies / sensitivities / intolerances from the diet for a period of several days to several months.

My theory?

Stress.

Wait. You thought I was talking about food. And I was. And I am. And I'm also talking about stress. Stress and food. Food and stress.

Eating foods that your body finds offensive is like self-inflicting stress on your system three or more times per day. Everyday.

It's a physical stress. Remember? I mentioned that over here.

Truth be told we need to decrease our stress level to sleep better so we can in turn handle our stress better. You see?

Removing food allergies improves sleep time, increases deep restorative sleep, eliminates nightmares (not that I'm talking from personal experience here, hehem) and decreases nighttime urination. Maybe that's you. Getting up 4-5 times per night to pee?

My recommendation moving forward is to get tested for mean, allergenic foods. You can do that through me, or your local naturopathic doctor. You can also drag up lists of commonly offensive foods on the interwebs, but they will be general, not specific to you.

My favorite way to find your specific problem foods? The Plan with Lyn-Genet Recitas.

Here's to your healthy, thriving, delightful life,