Sweet Treats and Halloween Sleep

Sheesh guys, it’s almost Halloween already! Ready for the unofficial start to the holiday season? Because ready or not, it’s upon us!

Since we are in the season of excessive sweets (I mean, let’s be honest, Halloween being just the beginning, amiright?), I thought I’d do a quick post about the impact of sugar on sleep. We’ve all heard the old adage about the initial sugar rush and subsequent sugar crash. But have you ever noticed how the sugar crash doesn’t lead to some deep, dream-state of restorative sleep. What’s that about?

Well, it’s quite simple really. When we have a typical day of eating meals low in added sugars and stay away from the sweet treats, our blood sugar and metabolism stay pretty constant throughout the day. This then promotes a healthy circadian rhythm and healthy sleep cycles while we snooze.

But if we add treats that are high in sugars, we get a blood sugar spike, which can lead to peaks and dips in our metabolism. This results in lower quality sleep, and especially so if we eat candy or ice cream or 1 gazillion Fun Size Snickers bars just before bed. These ups and downs can pull you out of deep sleep, leading you to not feeling restored the next day.

The best way to figure out the impact of sugar on your sleep is to set up a test! Keep a sleep log and for 5 days avoid any sugar for about 8 hours before bed. In the morning rate the quality of your sleep from 1 (low quality, restless sleep) to 5 (high quality, restorative sleep). Then repeat the process for another 5 days, but add in eating something with refined sugar in it the hour or two before bed. Compare your rating of the quality of your sleep and your total sleep quantity for the non-sugar week and the sugar week. Then you’ll know how sensitive your body is (or is not) to this phenomenon.

And if you think you have a more enduring sleep problem (beyond sugary sweet dreams knocking you awake on Halloween), check out this post to learn more about an awesome approach to get your sleep back on track.