Is Your Insomnia Caused By A Mineral Deficiency?
Nov 20, 2007 Insomnia
Here's some more interesting research under the Watch What You Eat post.
According to a study done by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, there are several mineral deficiencies which MAY contribute to insomnia and sleeping problems.
Copper Deficiency Contributes To Sleep Problems - in some pre-menopausal women. Generally, those women who had a low copper intake took longer to fall asleep and felt less rested in the morning. Copper? Really? Geez, that's one of the LAST nutrients/minerals I would be thinking about.
So, what do you eat to get more copper? I found this list of Dietary Sources of Copper. Lobster and oysters seem to be high on the list (as evidenced by the little + symbols after them). I wonder how well that would fly next time I'm eating out and insist I have to eat more lobster in order to sleep well.
Of course, if you want a cheaper source of copper, you could go the supplement route. I would check with a doctor first to see if you're actually deficient first. Here's the supplement: Copper Supplement
Iron Deficiency- is another culprit for poor sleeping patterns. There's plenty of women that seem to have a problem in this area. Although I've read that combining iron with your multivitamin is NOT a good thing, here some food sources of iron: Dietary Sources of Iron
Too Much Aluminum - typically not a problem for most people, but if you take quite antacids in the liquid form, you may be getting too much aluminum. Try switching to the tablet kind.
Low Magnesium Levels - can contribute to shallow sleep and waking up more during the night. This can happen if you are on a calorie restricted diet or taking diuretics. Here's some dietary sources of magnesium: Food Sources of Magnesium .
You should definitely check with a doctor before taking magnesium supplements, especially if you have heart or kidney problems.
Here's a supplement source if you have a Magnesium Deficiency: Magnesium Supplement
GiGi
Tags: copper deficiency, Insomnia, magnesium supplements, mineral deficiencies
