GB11: 3 Sneaky Habits Wrecking Your Sleep in Midlife (and How to Fix Them)

In this week's Glow Bite, Alicia and Nicole discuss three unexpected factors that might be affecting sleep in midlife: blood sugar crashes, caffeine and alcohol consumption, and blue light exposure. They explain how each disrupts sleep and offer practical solutions—like balancing blood sugar with diet changes, adjusting caffeine and alcohol timing, and managing blue light exposure—to improve sleep quality. The episode concludes with a 'glow reflection' prompt, encouraging viewers to make one small change to support better sleep.

00:00 Introduction to Sleep Disruptors
00:29 Blood Sugar Crashes and Sleep
01:32 Impact of Caffeine and Alcohol
04:02 Screens and Blue Light
04:59 Recap and Final Tips
05:34 Glow Reflection and Conclusion

📌 Resources:
💤 Sleep Tips for Midlife Women That Actually Work → https://dailyglowlife.com/sleep-tips-for-midlife-women-that-actually-work/
🧘‍♀️ Radiant Rest Yoga Nidra Sessions → https://stan.store/thedailyglowlife/p/radiant-rest-yoga-nidra-sessions
📥 Free Daily Glow Rituals Guide → https://stan.store/thedailyglowlife/p/daily-glow-rituals-guide

Transcript

Alicia : 0:00

Hey there. Welcome to this week's Glow Bite. I'm Alicia

Nicole: 0:03

and I'm Nicole, and today we're sharing three sneaky things that may be wrecking your sleep in midlife. And what you can do about them.

Alicia : 0:11

Because we know how frustrating it is to want to sleep, but be wide awake at 3:00 AM tossing and turning or waking up feeling like you didn't sleep at all.

Nicole: 0:21

And here's the thing, it's not just stress or hormones. Sometimes it's small habits that are messing with your sleep without you realizing it. Let's get into it. Number one, blood sugar crashes. This is a big one. In perimenopause, we become more insulin resistant, which means your body doesn't regulate blood sugar as smoothly as it used to.

Alicia : 0:41

So what does that have to do with sleep?

Nicole: 0:43

So if your blood sugar drops too low in the middle of the night, your body sees it as a stress signal and that can trigger your stress hormones, cortisol and adrenaline to be released, which wakes you up, often between 2:00 and 4:00 AM with a racing heart or anxious mind, and you just feel wide awake. Your body does that to help boost your blood sugar levels.

Alicia : 1:04

Yeah, I've definitely been there. So what can we do to fix that?

Nicole: 1:08

So the fix is focusing on stabilizing blood sugar, and that means prioritizing protein with every meal and snack, adding healthy fats and fiber to slow down digestion, and then avoiding sugary foods, especially late in the day to prevent those blood sugar spikes and crashes. This helps you stay stable and calm and avoids those spikes and crashes that can disrupt sleep.

Alicia : 1:32

all right. The next one we have to talk about is caffeine and alcohol.

Nicole: 1:36

Yeah, so caffeine has a half-life of five to eight hours. So even if you're drinking it at 2:00 PM it can still be in your system when you're trying to sleep. If you're sensitive and many of us become more sensitive in midlife, it can wreck your ability to fall into deep sleep. So it's best to avoid caffeine after noon to really prevent it from impacting your sleep.

Alicia : 1:59

Yes. I will say that back when I was drinking caffeine, that was my cutoff time. Noon was my cutoff time because otherwise I noticed that it would definitely impair my sleep and, um, you know, I'd be laying there trying to fall asleep and, you know, I just couldn't, and then I'd be able to track it back to, oh, I had caffeine later in the day that day. Now I've been caffeine free since January. And I have to say that it's nice not being reliant on getting that hit of caffeine first thing in the morning. I was definitely one that was like, do not talk to me before I've had my caffeine. You know, like I did not feel right until I had caffeine, so, it's nice to not be reliant on this. I can get up and I enjoy a cup of decaf now, but it's not something I have to have immediately upon opening my eyes like I did before.

Nicole: 2:52

Right, right. I'm with you on that. I've always, always loved coffee, so I feel like I've always like needed it, but thankfully I don't need the caffeine. I'm somebody that I'll get like really jittery from too much caffeine and same, I really like not having that jittery feeling or not having to be dependent on, you know, like in order to wake up, must have coffee kind of thing. So I totally understand. Okay, but let's talk about alcohol. So it might make you fall asleep faster. I know a lot of people will do like a nightcap because they think it helps them get to sleep, and it might do that, but it destroys your sleep quality. It actually disrupts REM sleep. It dehydrates you and it causes your blood sugar to drop. So that could actually also trigger the cortisol and adrenaline release too. So there's a couple different factors and ways that alcohol can impact your sleep. It can also trigger hot flashes, so the fix is if you can avoid having alcohol within three hours of bedtime, that's best. And if you can have it even earlier in the day, if you're going to drink, that's even better. Keep it minimal and your sleep will thank you.

Alicia : 4:01

Okay. Number three. Screens and blue light. This one's huge with so many of us being attached to our devices. So I would say it's probably easy to overlook as being a factor in a sleep disruptor.

Nicole: 4:14

Yeah, totally. Blue light from your phone, tablet, or even overhead lights suppresses melatonin, which is the hormone that tells your brain it's time to sleep.

Alicia : 4:22

So, even if you feel tired, your brain's like, Nope, it's still daytime.

Nicole: 4:26

Yes, exactly. So the fix is to put your phone or your tablet on night shift mode so that it's emitting orange hues of light instead of blue. Use blue light blocking glasses after sunset. I'm a big fan of that one because even if you're putting your phone or your tablet on night shift mode, you might be exposed to other sources of blue light. So blue light blocking glasses are great'cause they block it all out, Swap out bright overhead lights for amber lamps or dimmers. And put screens away 30 to 60 minutes before bed whenever possible. All right. So to recap, number one, balance your blood sugar. This will help you fall asleep and prevent those blood sugar crashes from waking you up. Number two, rethink your caffeine and alcohol timing. No caffeine after noon, and if you're gonna do alcohol, keep it minimal and at no closer than three hours to bedtime. And then number three, soften your light environment at night, blocking out any of that blue light exposure so that your body is able to produce melatonin when you need it.

Alicia : 5:28

These little changes can make a huge difference in how you fall asleep and how rested you feel when you wake up.

Nicole: 5:34

And here's your glow reflection for today. What's one small shift I can make tonight to support better sleep?

Alicia : 5:41

Start there. Don't feel like you need to overhaul everything all at once. Just tweak one thing and your body will notice.

Nicole: 5:49

Thanks so much for joining us today. Make sure to share this episode with a friend that could use a little sleep support. We'll see you next time.