food for falling asleep (esp. bananas)

[Guest guest]

Laree,

Are you sure it is because of the sugar? Bananas are a good source of B6

when consumed raw and B6 (along with magnesium) is a cofactor in the

conversion of serotonin into melatonin.

-Lana

On 5/14/08, Laree Kline <lareekline@...> wrote:

>

>

> Bananas make me fall asleep too. Or maybe I should say, they knock me

> out! They have one of the highest glycemic indexes of any food. Those of

> us who are insulin resistant can experience a banana as a sugar surge, then

> insulin surge, then a crash --- thus the falling asleep. So it's not a good

> sleep inducer for everyone --- can do some real damage for some of us!

> Laree

[Guest guest]

Laree,

> Bananas make me fall asleep too. Or maybe I should say, they knock me out!

> They have one of the highest glycemic indexes of any food. Those of us who

> are insulin resistant can experience a banana as a sugar surge, then insulin

> surge, then a crash --- thus the falling asleep. So it's not a good sleep

> inducer for everyone --- can do some real damage for some of us!

Bananas don't knock me out -- if I have them in the morning, I don't

get sleepy at all. The glycemic index data is so inconsistent as to

be more or less worthless and I would ignore it. However, if you get

bad effects from eating bananas then that's as good a data point as

any.

Chris

[Guest guest]

Lana,

> Are you sure it is because of the sugar? Bananas are a good source of B6

> when consumed raw and B6 (along with magnesium) is a cofactor in the

> conversion of serotonin into melatonin.

That is another good point. It's best to withold making claims about

blood sugar unless one actually measures one's blood sugar. People

who have done so generally report that their blood sugar is high when

they feel like it's low!

Chris

[Guest guest]

There's a book, " Potatoes Not Prozac " that says that the best food

before bed is a potato, because it binds up the amino acids except

tryptophan so it's like there's more circulating. I think it works

best if you have a protein dinner a few hours before.

BTW, graham crackers knock my kids out. I have no clue why but it's

nice to have something to quiet them down once in awhile!

>

> Laree,

>

> > Bananas make me fall asleep too. Or maybe I should say, they

knock me out!

> > They have one of the highest glycemic indexes of any food. Those

of us who

> > are insulin resistant can experience a banana as a sugar surge,

then insulin

> > surge, then a crash --- thus the falling asleep. So it's not a

good sleep

> > inducer for everyone --- can do some real damage for some of us!

>

> Bananas don't knock me out -- if I have them in the morning, I don't

> get sleepy at all. The glycemic index data is so inconsistent as to

> be more or less worthless and I would ignore it. However, if you

get

> bad effects from eating bananas then that's as good a data point as

> any.

>

> Chris

>

[Guest guest]

On 5/14/08, haecklers <haecklers@...> wrote:

> There's a book, " Potatoes Not Prozac " that says that the best food

> before bed is a potato, because it binds up the amino acids except

> tryptophan so it's like there's more circulating. I think it works

> best if you have a protein dinner a few hours before.

It doesn't bind them up. Carbs stimulate insulin, which brings amino

acids into the muscle cells. These would otherwise compete with

tryptophan for crossing the blood brain barrier, so since there is

less competition, more tryptophan makes it across. Bananas and any

other carbs will do the same thing, but bananas are better because

they supply lots of B6 to make the conversion of tryptophan to

melatonin.

Chris

[Guest guest]

Hi,

Just an FYI. Dr. Sylvester Graham was a natural hygienist back in the 1800's

who invented the original cracker & coined the term as well.

Jim

haecklers <haecklers@...> wrote:

There's a book, " Potatoes Not Prozac " that says that the best food

before bed is a potato, because it binds up the amino acids except

tryptophan so it's like there's more circulating. I think it works

best if you have a protein dinner a few hours before.

BTW, graham crackers knock my kids out. I have no clue why but it's

nice to have something to quiet them down once in awhile!

>

> Laree,

>

> > Bananas make me fall asleep too. Or maybe I should say, they

knock me out!

> > They have one of the highest glycemic indexes of any food. Those

of us who

> > are insulin resistant can experience a banana as a sugar surge,

then insulin

> > surge, then a crash --- thus the falling asleep. So it's not a

good sleep

> > inducer for everyone --- can do some real damage for some of us!

>

> Bananas don't knock me out -- if I have them in the morning, I don't

> get sleepy at all. The glycemic index data is so inconsistent as to

> be more or less worthless and I would ignore it. However, if you

get

> bad effects from eating bananas then that's as good a data point as

> any.

>

> Chris

>

Well done is better than well said..., Jim Igo

[Guest guest]

And starches also encourage microbes in the intestine to convert serotonin

to melatonin when the appropriate cofactors are available. This conversion

is a good thing, because you want the gut to turn off after it is done being

used - it basically puts the microbes down there into stasis and stops

peristalsis. People with chronic intestinal cramps don't have enough

melatonin in their intestines.

-Lana

It doesn't bind them up. Carbs stimulate insulin, which brings amino

> acids into the muscle cells. These would otherwise compete with

> tryptophan for crossing the blood brain barrier, so since there is

> less competition, more tryptophan makes it across. Bananas and any

> other carbs will do the same thing, but bananas are better because

> they supply lots of B6 to make the conversion of tryptophan to

> melatonin.

[Guest guest]

Small correction: Microbes in the SMALL intestine - as ideally starch

doesn't make it to the large intestine.

On 5/14/08, Lana Gibbons <lana.m.gibbons@...> wrote:

>

> And starches also encourage microbes in the intestine to convert serotonin

> to melatonin when the appropriate cofactors are available. This conversion

> is a good thing, because you want the gut to turn off after it is done being

> used - it basically puts the microbes down there into stasis and stops

> peristalsis. People with chronic intestinal cramps don't have enough

> melatonin in their intestines.

>

> -Lana

>

[Guest guest]

Yes, I'm sure it's the sugar and not the melatonin. This is not a nice

melatonin sleep. This is a middle-of-the-day can't get off the sofa for 2 hours

and feel like crap upon waking that results in a wasting of the rest of the day

kind of sleep. I've had hypoglycemia and worse most of my life and have done

glucose testing. And I definitely would be careful about giving kids a food

that " knocks them out " as I've described, as opposed to calming them down and

putting them into a nice restful sleep.

Anyway, I wish it were not the case as I LOVE bananas!

Laree

Are you sure it is because of the sugar? Bananas are a good source of B6 when

consumed raw and B6 (along with magnesium) is a cofactor in the conversion of

serotonin into melatonin.-Lana