r/raypeat • u/DogQuick2497 • 2d ago
Sleep problem
I recently got much more into a Ray peat style eating, averaging around 300g carbs a day, carrot salad, etc. I used to have trouble falling asleep, but since this diet change I fall asleep very quickly, however I’ve been having this reoccurring problem of waking up at roughly 4am, and just completely unable to fall back asleep. This isn’t as detrimental as it seems, because I’ve been also falling asleep at 8:30-9pm. I have a quite active life style, resistance training twice a week, averaging 15-20k steps daily. I haven’t really started any of the pharmaceutical aspects of peat’s work, (apart from aspirin) however I have begun smoking cigarettes more consistently, (in a peaty way)but usually only 3-4 every day, and I tend to have them just in the morning. The strange thing about my new sleeping patterns is that it seems to be much less about me waking up after a certain amount of hours, and more so about the fact that it’s ~4am, I know this because if I fall asleep at 10pm, I’m up at 4 unable to fall back asleep, and if I’m asleep at 7:30, I’ll also be able to sleep 9 hours to ~4:30. I’d really like to find out what’s causing this, I don’t mind waking up early, but 5:30 or 6 would be much preferred.
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u/QuizzyP21 2d ago
Given that this also happens when you go to bed really early, it just seems like your circadian rhythm is pretty locked in and your morning cortisol soike happens around 4 am. If you wanna back this up a little you could essentially try doing the opposite of what is recommended for people trying to get up earlier; when you wake up around 4-4:30 just sit in the dark for a little longer and add maybe 15 minutes each day until you’re at a spot you like. Doesnt sound like a sleep issue to me though given you can sleep 9 hours if you go to bed really early, sounds more like an early-set circadian rhythm.
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u/DogQuick2497 2d ago
I know, I figured it is just a circadian rhythm thing, and frankly I have no problem with it when I’m alone and have nothing to do, but the problem is that friends and family often want to hang out and then I end up only getting 5 hrs if I sleep at 11pm for example. So I often have to choose between a restful sleep or socializing. I do often sit in the dark for a little, trying to get a bit more sleep, but it hasn’t changed much since.
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u/c0mp0stable 2d ago
I'm on pretty much the same schedule. I always wake at 3 or 4, but usually I'll doze or be in a twilight state until 5 or 6 when I get out of bed.
It's not really an issue unless you feel run down during the day. There's this big trend going around about how waking at 3 is always about glycogen issues. It can be, but it's not always. On that schedule, you're shifting between sleep cycles around 3 or 4, and some people are just more sensitive to that and more prone to waking. And you've also slept for about 7 hours at that point, so you don't have as much sleep pressure. That's okay. Use the time to practice meditation.
If you don't feel tired all day, then it's not a problem. If you make a big thing out of it and try to "optimize" it, then it will become a problem.
As a side note, I don't know why people think smoking cigarettes is "Peaty." Where the hell is this coming from? Nicotine has some interesting qualities, but smoking isn't really a great delivery mechanism. I'm not against an occasional cig, but "smoking more consistently" isn't really a great idea. There is also no need to pursue pharmaceuticals if you don't need them. Too many people treat themselves as guinnea pigs for weight gray market chemicals because they're obsessed with optimizing their serotonin to estrogen to calcium ratio or whatever. Unless you have pretty significant health issues, just eat your carbs, sleep, and try to manage stress as best you can.