Do you find yourself waking up in the middle of the night? Are you following a certain diet? Trying to lose weight? You may be restricting your carbohydrates too much!
Let’s begin with glycogen… what is glycogen?
- “Carbohydrate stores” in the body
- Stores are very limited
- Reserves are smaller than protein and fat stores
- Stores are located primarily in the liver and muscle
So how does glycogen impact your sleep?
- Liver glycogen can maintain its stores to keep your blood glucose (blood sugars) normalized through the night
- A morning meal will refuel and replace these stores used up overnight while sleeping
HOWEVER,
If you’re not consuming enough carbohydrate = drop in blood glucose = hunger = waking up in the middle of the night!
Make sure to choose the right carbohydrates to fuel your body and replenish those glycogen stores throughout the day.
Foods such as: sweet potatoes, berries, vegetables, root vegetables, apples, beans, oats, nuts, ancient grains (e.g. quinoa), large flake oats, etc. These carbohydrates are the best source of fuel that are high in fibre and nutrients.
BBLISS Yoga 