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My sleep patterns get completely messed up on my fasts. I'll sleep for 4 hours and then wide-awake. I switch back to normal eating and I get a full 8hrs sleep t

My sleep patterns get completely messed up on my fasts. I'll sleep for 4 hours and then wide-awake. I switch back to normal eating and I get a full 8hrs sleep that night. It made me think I was doing something wrong but then the more I thought about it, maybe I just don't need more than those 4hrs of sleep when I'm fasting.

creaghpatr 8y ago
I have noticed this as well.
goda90 8y ago
I wonder, is it that your body is worried about getting food and will cut off sleep to give you more time to find it, or is it that the build up of chemicals like adenosine(which seems to play a role in sleepiness, and gets cleared out during sleep.) in the body has slowed so that less sleep is required?
- _up 8y ago
  It's HGH. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC329619/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC329619/
- sametmax 8y ago
  My guess is mostly increased hormone production and energy saved from the digestive process.
geoka9 8y ago
Same here, I sleep less when I eat little. But I don't feel any downsides to sleeping less that way, so I suspect it's normal.
zip1234 8y ago
This was mentioned in Matthew Walker's book "Why We Sleep." Ghrelin and dopamine levels are high which keep you awake. It is suspected to be an evolutionary boost that you are alert more in order to find food.
astura 8y ago
A lot of people can't sleep when hungry, that's not uncommon.
- crescentfresh 8y ago
  I do not awaken hungry.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  - StavrosK 8y ago
    Do you usually wake up hungry when not fasting?
- newnewpdro 8y ago
  The actual feeling of being hungry doesn't persist when fasting. There's a phase, but it passes. It's fairly well known that operating in fat-burning mode puts one in a different head space. It's one of the features commonly touted by advocates of the ketogenic diet, which experientially is very similar. There's a mental alertness and clarity, in my experience it's accompanied by elevated energy levels as well. It seems to me that it arguably benefits the species to fire on all cylinders in periods of scarcity, as it improves chances of locating food before starvation. In periods of plenty, there's no urgent need, so a more conservative baseline mode of operating is advantageous as it saves fuel as fat for the scarcity periods. Humans didn't evolve with grocery stores and refrigeration, scarcity was a regular and mortal issue, our bodies evolved to address it. Whenever I fast it feels like I'm on a sustained upper of sorts, once the hunger phase passes. It's kind of like being permanently wired, keyed up, sometimes a little over eager. And yeah it can interfere with going to sleep, similar to drinking coffee late in the day. It's not a problem in my experience if the day is spent being physically active though. Which I think makes perfect sense if we accept that this is an evolutionary trait improving odds of finding/killing a meal. We're supposed to be actively locating next meals when awake in this mode, not sedentary. I've found it to be a valuable life hack and would argue everyone should at least be familiar with the experience enough to know the initial hunger phase is short-lived and what follows afterwards isn't unpleasant at all, and actually advantageous in some aspects. There are many activities where not having to bother with food/cooking/eating for a few days is game-changing, this combined with elevated energy levels and alertness as well? It's like magic. I never take food on day hikes anymore for instance. Instead I don't eat for the 24-hours prior and just bring water. I'm well clear of the hangry phase, and feel like running the entire thing (and if I'm alone, often do), it's unreal. There's plenty of fat on my person to last weeks of fasting.
doe88 8y ago
Same here. Worse, I've even observed my body has difficulty producing enough heat to warm my bed. Also, when I do an important sport effort I often have troubles sleeping the next night.
kilroy123 8y ago
Glad to know I'm not the only one.
chimpburger 8y ago
What time did you fast? Shift the eating window to later in the day. Eat a few hours before sleep.
- crescentfresh 8y ago
  Not sure what you mean. I do 62+ hours for the most part, each fast.
  - chimpburger 8y ago
    I assumed you were intermittent fasting (16 - 20 hours per day). 62+ hours is extreme.

creaghpatr 8y ago

I have noticed this as well.

goda90 8y ago

I wonder, is it that your body is worried about getting food and will cut off sleep to give you more time to find it, or is it that the build up of chemicals like adenosine(which seems to play a role in sleepiness, and gets cleared out during sleep.) in the body has slowed so that less sleep is required?

_up 8y ago
It's HGH. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC329619/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC329619/
sametmax 8y ago
My guess is mostly increased hormone production and energy saved from the digestive process.

geoka9 8y ago

Same here, I sleep less when I eat little. But I don't feel any downsides to sleeping less that way, so I suspect it's normal.

zip1234 8y ago

This was mentioned in Matthew Walker's book "Why We Sleep." Ghrelin and dopamine levels are high which keep you awake. It is suspected to be an evolutionary boost that you are alert more in order to find food.

astura 8y ago

A lot of people can't sleep when hungry, that's not uncommon.

crescentfresh 8y ago
I do not awaken hungry.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- StavrosK 8y ago
  Do you usually wake up hungry when not fasting?
newnewpdro 8y ago
The actual feeling of being hungry doesn't persist when fasting. There's a phase, but it passes. It's fairly well known that operating in fat-burning mode puts one in a different head space. It's one of the features commonly touted by advocates of the ketogenic diet, which experientially is very similar. There's a mental alertness and clarity, in my experience it's accompanied by elevated energy levels as well. It seems to me that it arguably benefits the species to fire on all cylinders in periods of scarcity, as it improves chances of locating food before starvation. In periods of plenty, there's no urgent need, so a more conservative baseline mode of operating is advantageous as it saves fuel as fat for the scarcity periods. Humans didn't evolve with grocery stores and refrigeration, scarcity was a regular and mortal issue, our bodies evolved to address it. Whenever I fast it feels like I'm on a sustained upper of sorts, once the hunger phase passes. It's kind of like being permanently wired, keyed up, sometimes a little over eager. And yeah it can interfere with going to sleep, similar to drinking coffee late in the day. It's not a problem in my experience if the day is spent being physically active though. Which I think makes perfect sense if we accept that this is an evolutionary trait improving odds of finding/killing a meal. We're supposed to be actively locating next meals when awake in this mode, not sedentary. I've found it to be a valuable life hack and would argue everyone should at least be familiar with the experience enough to know the initial hunger phase is short-lived and what follows afterwards isn't unpleasant at all, and actually advantageous in some aspects. There are many activities where not having to bother with food/cooking/eating for a few days is game-changing, this combined with elevated energy levels and alertness as well? It's like magic. I never take food on day hikes anymore for instance. Instead I don't eat for the 24-hours prior and just bring water. I'm well clear of the hangry phase, and feel like running the entire thing (and if I'm alone, often do), it's unreal. There's plenty of fat on my person to last weeks of fasting.

doe88 8y ago

Same here. Worse, I've even observed my body has difficulty producing enough heat to warm my bed. Also, when I do an important sport effort I often have troubles sleeping the next night.

kilroy123 8y ago

Glad to know I'm not the only one.

chimpburger 8y ago

What time did you fast? Shift the eating window to later in the day. Eat a few hours before sleep.

crescentfresh 8y ago
Not sure what you mean. I do 62+ hours for the most part, each fast.
- chimpburger 8y ago
  I assumed you were intermittent fasting (16 - 20 hours per day). 62+ hours is extreme.