How Keto Improves Your Sleep
Have you noticed big changes in your sleep since you started Keto? Did daylight savings throw you for a loop this month? Have you been experiencing insomnia or restlessness?
The relationship between Keto and Sleep is extremely interesting to me. Switching to a Keto Lifestyle is essentially just about retraining your body to burn your own fat for energy instead of carbs/sugar. One of the best side effects of this is also better quality sleep. When you are a sugar burner your body is always going up and down between sugar highs and crashes, when you are in ketosis your body stays steady and therefore allows you fall asleep faster and stay asleep.
I believe the sleep benefits really begin once you are fat adapted, which generally takes anywhere from a few weeks to a couple months. One of the biggest and most immediate improvements I experienced when I became fat adapted was my sleep. I was sleeping more soundly than I had in years and waking up full of energy. And it's not just me, studies have shown that the Keto Diet improves REM cycle sleep and significantly improves the quality of sleep in people suffering from Narcolepsy, Sleep Apnea, and other disorders. Losing weight also increases sleep quality, so keto is a win/win.
As always if you are just starting keto, make sure you are managing your electrolytes so you don’t experience foot cramps, headaches or any of the other side effects people can experience while they are trying to get fat adapted. This is the dreaded Keto Flu and it is completely avoidable. Here is a video with some tips to get those under control so you can fully enjoy your more restful sleep.
There is also a great blog post on the Perfect Keto site that discusses sleep in depth. This chart also shows how important is is to get enough sleep for the sake of your health. Click HERE to read the whole article.
If you need extra help with electrolytes, Perfect Keto makes a great product that I use to supplement the electrolytes I consume.