3am Insomnia - Liver, orange juice, tartar sauce and salt cocktail ... alternative?

[Bansaw]

I’ve had bouts of insomnia and seem to always wake between 2am-4am which is impacting my health a lot.
I read somewhere that this may be a Liver issue. It need a level of glucose to operate properly. So a cocktail of 1/2 cup of Orange juice, tartar sauce, and salt seems to help a lot of people.
I may well at least try this.

Since the OJ would be 12 carbs, I wonder if there is a replacement for that would do the same job supplying some glucose?

(tspn of honey is 6 carbs I think that might do it…?)

[JustMo]

Sure. 12 grams of carbs from any acceptable keto carbs. Strawberries, raspberries…even broccoli.

That said, I think that before jumping to eat-carbs-to-sleep, it’s important to make sure you have no underlying issues. From example, not eating enough protein, not eating enough in general, gut issues preventing nutrient absorption, stress, poor sleeping habits, overexposure to screens, blood sugar problem etc can all give rise to insomnia.

That said, for some people, zero carb affects their sleep and going back to keto (which allows 20g net carbs) helps resolve this.

I recommend keeping within your keto carb limit but consuming your carbs separately and as far away as possible from your proteins&fats .

In the end, your body will probably adapt and correct the insomnia but doing the above may help in the meantime.

[CrackerJax]

I’m not too sure why you think it is a liver issue, but to be honest, slamming your liver with a hit of fructose seems like a bad idea. Orange juice is a really bad thing for liver health and that is basic keto knowledge.
I’m not sure if you are having a laff or being serious
TBH you would be better off with a tequilla slammer, which would be much more fun and pretty much 0 carbs😎

[PrimalBrian]

I’m not too sure why you think it is a liver issue, TBH you would be better off with a tequilla slammer, which would be much more fun and pretty much 0 carbs

Actually, not really. Fun fact. Whenever I used to drink alcohol moderately or more, I would be wide awake between 2am and 4am. I could never figure it out, until boom:

Let’s take a look at the liver . According to the Organ Clock it is the most busy during 1-3am at night . (Assuming you go to bed around 10-11pm.) If things are running smooth in the liver, you will never notice that it is working at all. However, if the liver is a bit backed up from too much stuff it has to detox, (ex:pesticides, pollution, medication, hormones, alcohol) the cleaning process will not be smooth. You might wake up during this time at night and feel very warm , and not feel very well. The liver can raise body temperature quite a bit as it is trying to burn through our garbage. Maybe you know the feeling of having been out partying and waking up really hot and sweaty in the middle of the night. It most likely is your liver trying to get rid of all that alcohol.

It's 2am. Do you know what your liver is up to? - Tigersports.eu

Who knew…

[CrackerJax]

I’m so sorry - just my British sense of humour
Often falls a bit flat on this site!
But thanks for taking the trouble with the interesting info.

[PrimalBrian]

I’m so sorry - just my British sense of humour

Ha, that’s OK. I knew it was a cheeky joke. I just wanted to share this odd/unusual 2am/liver thing which I discovered a few years ago myself. It’s an interesting phenomenon and really hit home for me when I couldn’t figure out why I was wide awake at 2:00am every time I drank alcohol.

[CrackerJax]

Yes, I will often be awake at 4am if I have had a drink. Very interesting thank you.
I meant what I said about the fructose though

[David_Stilley]

I just wanted to share this odd/unusual 2am/liver thing which I discovered a few years ago myself. It’s an interesting phenomenon and really hit home for me when I couldn’t figure out why I was wide awake at 2:00am

Thanks for that interesting chart and post Brian. You know I rarely drink, I eat pretty clean, right now ZC/Carnivore and I am pretty tight with it using nothing plant except coffee. There’s always stories popping up about the “meat sweats”. I had them early in my Atkins/KETO starting point 16 months ago. I cut back a bit on protein and volume of food I started with and I didn’t get them again till recently during my start with Carnivore Jan. 1. I must add that I have had that icky virus that’s going around now and I also am on a steroid (prednisone) probably been detoxing a bit while adapting too. But the sweats have lessened and the awake at 2am has been eternal it seems. Years… I wake up at 1:30ish for a while or at least become restless and half awake rolling. I never thought that it might be related to liver functions. I was stopping all food by 3:00pm for months and that had zero effect on time, except improvements over all because of the shift to sleeping on an empty stomach. ??

[David_Stilley]

Yeah, I left out that I have definitely upped my meat intake! So I don’t know which of the things brought back night sweats. But yesterday I ate a 700g Ribeye for OMAD and sweating was barely there. There was a thermal effect happening though. Probably breaking down protein into amino acids and glucose.