Does anyone know why it is that you often can’t sleep when you are fasting? I know from experience that you need less sleep overall and I also know why that is. But I don’t understand why I just don’t fall asleep on the third day of fasting.
Fasting is a huge stress on the body. As a result, the body dumps cortisol into the blood stream.
To get rid of the cortisol, you might try intense exercise or a cold shower or a hot sauna. Something to create a strong body response to deactivate the cortisol.
Cortisol causes adrenaline to be released.
It’s a survival mechanism the human body has developed. Whenever you go days without eating or drinking your body secretes chemicals like adrenaline in an attempt to keep you awake so you can go find food and water.
Someone already said it, but after fasting for years with mixed results I recently got a small portable sauna for $179 due to a recommendation from a fellow redditor and it has absolutely changed my life. Every single night, even though it’s been hot AF where I live, I get in the sauna for as long as I can bare it; usually about 35 minutes. I sleep like a baby every night now. What you’re describing was ruining my life because low sleep and fasting means high cortisol and if you can’t rest it just gets worse and worse. I’m now losing tons of weight, but it also has so many other benefits, like increased autophagy and HGH, that people are already trying to achieve through fasting. When I get a house soon I’m gonna get a full size multi person sauna, but what I have now gives the health benefits I need.
My understanding is that digestion of any kind takes such a massive energy debt from the body that it’s become part of regular sleep. When the body isn’t focused on digesting anything, all that spare energy goes elsewhere…usually in the form of not being able to fall asleep OR (depending on how you view it) a surplus of energy from which you can draw in order to accomplish all the things you normally wouldn’t be able to in the same time period.
I have no problems sleeping while fasting. My body works really hard while DF and I rest a lot and sleep fine. But I like the sauna idea in general bc when I’m NOT fasting I can have trouble sleeping sometimes if I haven’t exerted enough energy during the day.
Dry fasting makes me feel real alive, awake, alert, its like im not wasting my life away on eating and over-digesting foods.
Have you seen people nap or fall sleep after eating a meal, specially a large meal? Thats why.
Its midnight and im awake and i love it, but yet can choose to sleep and have vivid enjoyable dreams.
Embrace and enjoy whats happening to you, good luck!
I generally find it’s from overheating.
I will wait up all night, entertaining myself, because after the sun comes up I will pass out like a charm. Once I fall asleep I may wake up prematurely but find it’s always from overheating. I turn up my AC or put on my fan and I’m able to pass out again for a few hours.
I also sometimes need a heavy duvet or blanket on me (you could also use extra pillows). The extra weight helps with the restless legs that come from our blood being so thin and poorly circulating.
This could also explain the sauna replies. After being in a sauna you WOULD feel cooler being back in normal temperature, by comparison :)
Also, do you experience headaches or body aches at this time?