Is It Possible?? Is a Modified Carnivore Diet THE Secret Cure for Insomnia???
SHORT ANSWER:
No.
SLIGHTLY LONGER ANSWER
Yes, temporarily — as a placebo.
Recently, I came across a YouTube video in which the influencer said that after being on the Carnivore Diet for some time, she found she was having trouble sleeping. And she “discovered” that by modifying the diet a bit (frozen peaches at night was one of her modifications) she “cured” her insomnia.
Well, actually, a modified Carnivore diet is NOT the answer, but perhaps to your surprise (and the surprise of anyone who knows a lot about the science of insomnia treatment), it may actually be very helpful in the short term . . . as a placebo.
Here are some other insomnia treatments that could work as short-term placebo treatments:
(1) Eating 4 seeds from a fresh pomegranate 1 hour before bedtime — slowly, at an interval of approximately 1 seed every 30 seconds. And making sure it’s just 4 seeds (3 won’t help and 5 may make you more wide awake).
(2) Standing next to your bed, facing North, slowly doing small knees bends (about 2” up and down) while speaking — in a very clear voice: “Don’t Worry Be Happy” (it’s even more effective if you can whistle the opening tune as Bobby McFerrin does). Repeat the phrase exactly 15 times, then lying down for the best sleep of your life.
(3) Going to your local drug store, buying $20 worth of supplements for sleep, and after purchasing them, going to the trash bin and as you drop them in the trash one-by-one, saying in a loud voice, “I don’t need no stinkin’ supplements.” Repeat that phrase until you’ve trashed all the supplements.
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Seriously though, extensive research has shown that placebo treatments for insomnia (treatments for which research shows no long-term effectiveness) do provide significant temporary relief —but only for a few months at the most.
This explains why people may try dozens of different methods for curing insomnia that have no scientific backing and yet, find enormous relief in the short term. They may even write articles or make videos to share their miraculous discovery with others. Then, after a few days or few months, when the effectiveness wears off, they look for another anecdotal remedy, and when it works they may share how the first solution turned out to be no good but this new one is the cure everyone’s been looking for.
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There is something very helpful in understanding how placeboes work, and why the modified Carnivore diet, eating pomegranate seeds, saying “Don’t Worry Be Happy” or throwing away sleep supplements can, temporarily, be so effective.
In a previous article, I shared the secret of effortless sleep:
LETTING GO OF CONTROL
If you can truly let go of all efforts to control your body, your mind, and your emotions, and just completely let go — this will, whenever you do it, let you drift effortlessly into a deep, restorative sleep.
So what’s really going on when you have full confidence in one of the placebo cures? When you put your trust so completely in a diet, some kind of ritual, or whatever, what’s happening is that you’ve temporarily let go of worrying about falling sleep.
And what happens when you completely (100%) let go of worrying — about your busy mind, your stressful day, your “need” to fall asleep?
Your body relaxes, your breathing automatically slows down, your mind becomes calm, and you fall asleep.
WHAT CBT-I, EFFORTLESS MINDFULNESS AND YOGA NIDRA ALL HAVE IN COMMON IS THAT THEY HELP YOU TO LET GO OF ALL EFFORT TO FALL ASLEEP.
For folks who value scientific research, it can be helpful to know that the science on insomnia has been clear for well over 20 years. The single most effective intervention for insomnia has been shown to be CBT-I — Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia. And for nearly 15 years, the research has also shown that when CBT-I is combined with mindfulness, it’s even more effective. If you’ve tried CBT-I in the past and it hasn’t worked for you, odds are you’ve not gone through a CBT-I program that was based on the best scientific research — and/or you didn’t receive sufficient guidance about how to tailor it to your unique needs (I’ll be writing more about this soon).
If you’ve struggled with sleep for a long time, and are tired of thinking you’ve found a cure only to discover its effectiveness didn’t last, please take a look at the description of our online sleep course. It combines CBT-I, Effortless Mindfulness and Yoga Nidra within the context of a supportive community, where I am present every day, to support you and help you tailor what you’re learning to your own unique needs.
Click here to learn more about our online sleep course, From Restless Nights to Effortless Sleep.