Sleep Hacking Part 3: Fall Asleep Fast with Biochemistry

This is the third article in a series about how to hack your sleep so that you can fall sleep more easily, and recuperate more in less time while staying healthy based on my years of self-experimenting and research.

Sleep hacking – getting more efficient sleep in less time – can be complex, but you don’t need to do everything possible to get a significant improvement in your sleep productivity.  For type A entrepreneurs with too much on their plates (people like me), getting sleepy is a challenge.  If you lie down and you’re not tired, you could waste a half hour or more just falling to sleep. That’s time when you aren’t working, recovering, or spending time with your friends and family. It’s a waste of time.

It used to be one for me. I had less than 5 hours of sleep per night on average for the last 18 months while maintaining my productivity and (mostly) my health.  Many times I cut my sleep to 2-3 hours/night for 4-5 nights in a row.  Part of doing that is simply not wasting time falling asleep.

In this post, we’re going to cover one of the aspects of hacking insomnia – the falling asleep part, leaving the staying asleep tricks for another post. Today’s focus is on foods and supplements to aid in falling asleep.

Sleep supplements that work

Here’s a list of things that will knock out most people, alone or in combination with each other.  I’m specifically avoiding most herbs because the common ones recommended for sleep (like valerian root) have always left me groggy in the morning.  Who wants to go to sleep fast, only to waste your morning in a fog?  All of these are bedtime supplements, do not take them in the morning.

The Best Sleep Supplements and Foods

• Fat – have a high fat snack before bed. My favorite is a tablespoon of this collagen protein mixed in water with 1 tbs. of Brain Octane Oil. Or, you can try this supplement, which contains about 500 mg of Brain Octane in a pill form. You actually need some energy in order to get into a deep, restful sleep. Fat is the best fuel source for your body there is, which is why I recommend a little bit before bed.

• Magnesium – almost everyone is short on it – try up to 400 mg.  Too much will give you disaster pants (i.e. gut discomfort/loose stools), which doesn’t help you sleep! (I have worked up to about 800 mg/day)  You should be taking magnesium if you want to live a long time anyway.  The best forms are the *ates, including malate, citrate, aspartate, and others.

• Potassium – synergistic with magnesium; the combination will remove nighttime leg cramps for most people.  Less cramps equals more sleep. My preferred forms are citrate and the harder to find potassium bicarbonate. The bicarbonate form is a part of the kreb’s energy cycle and can help you make more ATP.  All potassium supplements can conceivably interrupt your heart, so you should not mega-dose. I take 400mg of potassium citrate at bedtime. Start with 100-200 and work your way up from there if you feel you need more. (you very well may)

• L-theanine in capsule form (not tea) helps with relaxation. I use 100mg of SunTheanine at night.

• Chamomile tea actually does help you sleep.  So do many warm drinks except for coffee, black tea, or alcohol. (I find this is a weak effect but some people swear by it. There is science to back this up…)

• GABA is a neuro-inhibitory transmitter.  It’s what your brain uses to shut itself down.  Taken away from any other protein, it will dramatically calm you.  Start with 500mg.  I don’t need this anymore since I hacked my brain with EEG, but I used to swear by it.  I’ve recommended it to stressed out executives for use during the day on days when they were really tweaking. One ex-IBM executive was transformed by 500mg of GABA taken mid-morning during stressful times, for instance.  For most of us, night-time use is best.

• Ornithine is a relaxing amino acid that helps your body to eliminate ammonia in the gut (excess ammonia causes stressful feelings).  Some people sleep MUCH better with ornithine.  Try 1-5 grams.  It may improve growth hormone levels too.  I take a mix of arginine and ornithine at night for growth hormone release.  Arginine is stimulating for some people so be careful.  Arginine also releases nitric oxide to cause capillary dilation, which is why it’s included in “natural enhancement” formulas for men.

• 5-htp is a precursor to serotonin and melatonin, the neurohormones that make you happy and sleep, respectively. 5-HTP is converted from the amino acid tryptophan, then converted into those helpful neurotransmitters. But your body can sometimes struggle with these conversions. Supplementing with 5-HTP — which readily crosses the blood-brain-barrier to create the happy hormone serotonin — is the easiest way to organically support your levels of mood-lifting and sleep-inducing brain chemicals. Basically, you’re giving your body a little break at making the chemical conversions itself. This can be super helpful if you’re having trouble sleeping. Cycle on and off with this one or use as needed.

• L-tryptophan is powerful stuff, especially taken with GABA. People who tell you to eat turkey or milk for the trace amounts of tryptophan in them are doing their best to help you, but it doesn’t work at those concentrations, except maybe as a placebo. There is evidence that a high-tryptophan diet is unhealthy, so only use this stuff if you need it to fall asleep.

Want to learn how Bulletproof can help you get to sleep easier and get more restful sleep? View our Sleep Solutions page to see how we can help.

Next up: electronics for sleep hacking, including the cerebral-electric stimulation, heart rate variability (a la Heart Math Institute), flashing lights, and more.

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