Does honey help you sleep? Here’s some sweet truth | Optimal Circadian Health
If you’re like many folks struggling with sleep, honey before bed can sometimes be a sweet addition to your nighttime routine (pun intended). It’s pretty straightforward: you pop some honey in your mouth for a good night’s sleep.
Let’s discuss how this works and if you should consider this.
How does honey help you sleep?
Here’s how it works: Honey contains carbohydrates. So eating honey at bedtime, leads to a slow release of nutrients into your bloodstream
Most importantly, this glucose goes into your brain to power your neurons.
Essentially, good sleep depends on properly functioning neurons.
As a carbohydrate, honey is an easy source of energy for cells that can be quickly used by the brain.
When your brain cells (neurons) get enough fuel for energy, this helps them stay calm and able to maintain their functions for sleep.
When you’re not having honey, Your body uses glycogen from your liver as a fuel source. This “sugar store” runs low in the middle of the night. Thus, when your liver runs out (when you’re not able to use that fuel efficiently), then your neurons don’t have the fuel they need.
When people don’t have enough energy production, stress hormones and the sympathetic fight-or-flight nervous system can kick in and they can wake up. Remember, the mitochondria make energy and melatonin. So if energy production isn’t up to par, melatonin the sleep hormone isn’t either.
Some people know this intuitively and others even notice that they’re hungry. Hunger may come too early in the morning, in the middle of the night, or even start in the evening beforehand. That’s where the honey before bed an come in for the short term until energy becomes more efficient.
Should it be raw honey?
Raw honey is the ideal choice here. Raw honey contains enzymes that can help improve digestion allowing more glucose to reach your brain and body.
And, one study found it can ward off upper respiratory tract infections in children.
How much should you have?
A small amount of honey like a teaspoon or two of honey is enough of an energy boost for a restful night’s sleep. For those counting, that’s a paltry 6-12 grams of sugar.
Warm Milk?
Another version of getting blood glucose is warm milk or a milk honey mixture. (Thinking of these two ingredients together is… interesting)
Warm milk works because the mixture of lactose, protein, and fat provide a steady release of nutrients to your central nervous system at night as well as the easier to process sugars (carbohydrate). (And warmer milk is absorbed faster in case you were wondering…)
And, the protein here is rich in tryptophan. Tryptophan is an amino acid used in the synthesis of serotonin. Hence, when you spike insulin and eat tryptophan, this could lead to more serotonin and, ultimately, more melatonin at night.
Researchers found clear evidence that the group drinking this wonderful concoction experienced improved sleep as compared to the control group.
Adding honey into the milk can enhance the effect, but you may start to run into an issue that is worse (and less obvious) than spilling this drink in your bed.
And it doesn’t hurt to choose grass fed, A2/A2, organic milk options whenever possible to maximize potential benefits and minimize potential downsides. Keep in mind though that even with these precautions, different people will have different tolerances whether that’s related to lactose intolerane, shifts in gut microbiome, etc. that prevent them from having milk as an option for a net benefit for sleep.
The effect of elevated blood glucose on sleep
So, yes, honey and/or milk helps you sleep, but there is a consequence.
When you consume honey (or milk) your blood sugar goes up. When blood sugar is elevated, then insulin goes up.
When you are raising insulin levels that ultimately lower your secretion of melatonin at night (melatonin is the “hormone” that helps you sleep at night).
As a result, your natural sleep gets worse long term. To minimize this effect, you’d want to have your sleep honey hours before bed. However, this greatly reduces its effectiveness.
So most people will do what they need in the short term to support better sleep, even if that means having honey before bed and then working to incorporate other opportunities to support sleep in the long term. If that’s you, then take a look at our book, programs, or other resources to keep learning!
Sleep quality – an underlying issue
Ideally, at night, your neurons use other fuel sources like ketones, fatty acids, and lactate.
However, when your sleep starts to fall apart, then your neurons can’t handle those fuels and/or they’re not enough.
So, if honey can help you sleep, then that’s when people know that their neurons’ mitochondria need help, pronto.
When mitochondrial energy production is not sufficient, then cells like neurons in the brain need extra fuel like honey to support normal functions.
You may get better sleep from honey, but that means you have important sleep issues to address.
What are the benefits of honey for sleep?
Now, don’t get me wrong. Using honey can help you fall asleep more easily. And, honey can be used as a short-term measure or as a bridge to repairing your sleep issues.
Overall, the health benefits of getting sleep outweigh the negative effects of honey. But, if you need honey to relax and rest, then that’s not a brain or body that an operate optimally, without crutches. People tend to start to require one tablespoon of honey or “crutch” and then more with time.
Why doesn’t honey always work for sleep?
If honey isn’t helping you sleep, then that can mean for people that there are many mitochondrial metablic troubles that need attention.
Essentially sugar is the easiest fuel for your neurons to burn.
When your neurons can’t burn sugar as well; then they aren’t burning ANY fuel very well. This also may be why you have brain fog during the day or feel like you need a nap in the afternoon.
The other consideration is that you may not have metabolic issues with sleep. Instead you could have issues with your hormones (like cortisol being high at the wrong time), breathing, with your nervous system (you’re “tired and wired” at night), stress (limbic system), etc. So if you haven’t already, make sure you check with your doctor about some of the things they can help identify like sleep apnea.
Either way, you need to start asking yourself “why do my neurons need to rely on honey in the first place?” or even “why am I reading this stranger’s blog on honey in my free time?” Either way, there’s a good reason worth pursuing and learning more.
What are alternatives to honey before bed?
The two top focuses you need to have on getting to the core of your sleep issues are your mitochondria and your circadian rhythms.
Check out our book or programs to learn more about these two critical components of your sleep!