Ray Peat on Sleep and Insomnia

Short answer: Ray Peat treated insomnia as an energy problem. He wrote that deep sleep needs a warm body, stored glycogen and low adrenaline, and that thyroid function, salt, sugar and gelatin at bedtime are the practical tools.

What Ray Peat wrote about sleep

He wrote that in an energy-deprived person, rising adrenaline blocks the ability to relax and sleep deeply. Source: Thyroid, insomnia, and the insanities: Commonalities in disease

A higher body temperature improves sleep, especially deep slow-wave sleep. A hot bath, or even warming the feet, has the same effect as thyroid. Source: Thyroid, insomnia, and the insanities: Commonalities in disease

Salty and sugary foods at bedtime, or during the night, improve the quality and length of sleep. Source: Thyroid, insomnia, and the insanities: Commonalities in disease

Salt has its own evidence. Old people on low-sodium diets had insomnia and unusually high adrenaline, and both normalized with a normal salt intake. Source: When energy fails: Edema, heart failure, hypertension, sarcopenia, etc, Salt, energy, metabolic rate, and longevity

With aging the brain stores less glycogen, which he connects to insomnia. Thyroid and progesterone help maintain glycogen. Source: Aging, estrogen, and progesterone

He reports that the first time he took several grams of gelatin just before bed, he slept about nine hours without waking, and he recommends gelatinous broth at bedtime to stop the stress of the night. Source: Gelatin, stress, longevity

He saw the night itself as a stress. Darkness raises cortisol, and the blood thickens toward morning. Source: Stem cells, cell culture, and culture: Issues in regeneration, Bleeding, clotting, cancer

Calcium carbonate with vitamins D and K can sometimes relieve insomnia quickly, he wrote, though regular milk and cheese do the long-term work. Source: Milk in context: allergies, ecology, and some myths

What he suggested in practice

• Something salty and sweet before bed.
• Gelatin or broth at bedtime.
• A hot bath, or warm feet.
• Orange juice at bedtime and on waking.
• Check thyroid function if insomnia is chronic.

Where he wrote about it

This topic comes up in 42 of the articles on his site. These are the most relevant ones:

• Thyroid, insomnia, and the insanities: Commonalities in disease · original on raypeat.com ↗
• Aging, estrogen, and progesterone · original on raypeat.com ↗
• Protective CO2 and aging · original on raypeat.com ↗
• Water: swelling, tension, pain, fatigue, aging · original on raypeat.com ↗
• Adaptive substance, creative regeneration: Mainstream science, repression, and creativity · original on raypeat.com ↗
• Alzheimer's: The problem of Alzheimer's disease as a clue to immortality — part 2 · original on raypeat.com ↗
• Gelatin, stress, longevity · original on raypeat.com ↗
• Aging Eyes, Infant Eyes, and Excitable Tissues · original on raypeat.com ↗

My take

If you lie in bed and cannot shut your brain off, adrenaline and cortisol are high. What I use: 400 to 600 g of carbs during the day, warm milk with sugar and 20 g of beef gelatin before bed, magnesium glycinate, and a glass of salted water.

Quick answers

What did Ray Peat say about insomnia?

That it reflects low energy and high adrenaline, and often low thyroid function. He recommended raising body temperature and taking salty and sugary food, or gelatin, at bedtime.

What did Ray Peat suggest eating before bed?

Salty and sugary foods, gelatin or gelatinous broth, and orange juice.

What did Ray Peat say about waking up at night?

He described the night as a stress in which adrenaline and cortisol rise as energy runs short, and wrote that salt and sugar taken during the night improve sleep.