Insomnia caused by eating too much
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I've discovered over the years that I can't sleep a full night if I've eaten too much. I'm naturally thin, and I often try to eat more food in order to gain weight, but when I do, I often either feel too energetic to fall asleep at a reasonable time, or I wake up in the middle of the night or early in the morning, so that I end up with only 5 or 6 hours of sleep. If I cut back on my food intake, my sleep time increases, but I lose weight.
I hypothesize that my brain uses its multiple homeostatic weight-setting pathways to maintain my body weight at my genetic set point, which unfortunately is quite skinny, and any attempt I make to alter my weight makes my brain try anything it can to fight to maintain it. One mechanism is to increase my metabolism. Being awake burns more energy than being asleep, so my brain cuts my sleep time. It also makes my heart beat quickly and my brain think more, which also burns more energy.
I've never heard of this phenomenon, but I've noticed this in myself for years. I suppose it's common. Do any of you who are medical professionals encounter this? Is there any way to counteract it to gain weight, or is it hopeless, and I just must live underweight to avoid unhealthy sleep loss? Do any of you experience this yourself? If so, did you find anything to counteract it, or did you just have to eat less and remain thin?
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