The Sleep Detective podcast: why you can't sleep and how to fix it

Julia has been getting 3-5 hours of sleep a night for years now. She feels anxious before bed, complains about her sleep and spends a lot of time lying in bed worrying and not sleeping.  She wakes up at 3am every night. This sucks! I know because this used to happen to me, too.  In this episode, I give Julia 3 things to focus on to help with her sleep. And I tell her what else could be causing her...

Some of my clients have high histamine that is contributing to their sleep issues.  In this episode, you'll learn all about histamine:  -how it affects sleep  -symptoms of high histamine -what causes excess histamine  -what to do about high histamines -how anti-histamines make the problem worse  The key is to find out why your histamine levels are high and correct those things.  It's the s...

Andrea came to me with poor sleep but also fatigue, joint pain and anxiety.  She went to her doctor after working together for 6 months and realized she had zero health complaints!  In her own words: “I have a new found look on life now and I’m very lucky that I don’t have to continue with the joint pain, and the fatigue, and the anxiety, and the INSOMNIA!  I feel like a brand new woman!” Hear her...

I've had my own experiences with cannabis that make me question if it's actually helpful, or if it could possibly hurt sleep. So I did some research and asked some questions to get to the bottom of this topic. In this episode, you'll find out all about cannabis and sleep, including: -What the research shows -The side effects of cannabis for sleep -The differences between THC and CBD fo...

One of the most common causes of insomnia is high cortisol.  Cortisol should be low at night so you can fall asleep easily and stay asleep all night.  But if you can’t sleep, cortisol and other stress hormones are probably high at night.  In this episode, you'll find out:  what hidden health imbalances can make your body release cortisol at night  which tests identify what's causing high c...

In this Sleep Breakthrough session I chatted with Joseph about his sleep struggles, what he’s tried so far, and the top 3 things that are getting in the way of good sleep for him. He’s been doing all the “right” things to get better : going to functional medicine doctors; working on gut health, detox and hormones; and eating an anti-inflammatory diet. But his sleep hasn’t improved.  One reason he...

My insomnia started in late pregnancy and didn’t go away after my son was born. So I know what triggered my sleep issues.  But not everyone has a known trigger.  Sleep issues can happen gradually and get worse over time.  Or your sleep can ebb and flow and be unpredictable.  In this episode, I explain what can trigger insomnia and how sleep issues happen even if you don’t know what triggers it. My...

Both your mind AND your body contribute to your sleep issues. Cognitive behavioral therapy helps with the mental part.  Doctors may try to help with the physical part but they usually end up prescribing sleeping pills or anti-anxiety medication which isn’t getting to the root of the problem. The only way to truly get over your insomnia is to find out what's going on in both your body and your...

My awesome client Wes came to me after trying many different things. In this episode, he shares his story: How he was sleeping before All the things he tried What his test results showed The changes he made What he learned on his journey to better sleep and health! If it’s possible for Wes, it’s possible for you, too! Even if you’ve tried so many things. Gone to alternative practitioners and couns...

If you can't sleep, you know all the sleep rules: avoid screens before bed, don't drink caffeine past 2pm, exercise every day, etc. If those things don't help, you have something deeper going on in your body that's keeping you awake at night.  In this episode, you'll learn the top 5 hidden health issues that are disturbing your sleep and how to fix them. Want to find out why yo...

In this Sleep Breakthrough session with Arefaine, I gave him my top 3 things to work on to improve his sleep, looking at habits, helping with thinking about sleep all the time, and what to look for in his body that could be affecting his sleep. Listen in for all the details Click here to sign up for the ⁠Insomnia Insight program⁠ . You'll know exactly what's causing your sleep issues and h...

If you can't sleep, your brain isn’t healthy.  For a healthy brain, sleep is effortless. A healthy brain remembers things, thinks clearly and is excited about life. When there’s inflammation in your brain, it doesn’t function as it should. And you can't sleep. normally.  In this episode, you'll learn:  -symptoms of inflammation in the brain  -what causes poor brain health  -what part o...

Everything you do during the day determines how you'll sleep at night.  If you're having trouble sleeping, either falling asleep or staying asleep, make sure you're doing all the right things to support a good night's rest.  I'm giving you 10 tips (plus 5 extra bonuses) to do during the day so you sleep better tonight. I also made a spreadsheet to track these habits so you can...

The worst part of not sleeping is how you feel the next day!  In this episode, I give you some tips to take care of yourself after a bad night of sleep so that you set yourself up for better sleep the next night.  Other episodes mentioned:  Episode 67: 7 ways to calm your nervous system  Episode 13: How to nap without ruining your sleep  This is a bonus episode celebrating the new name of the podc...

The Insomnia Fix is now The Sleep Detective podcast! If you can’t sleep, your body is in chaos!  Your body wants to be in balance, but when it can’t handle all the stress it’s under, it gets completely out of balance and all the systems stop working optimally.  In this episode, I explain the concept of "metabolic chaos" and why it is the sole, overarching reason why you can't sleep. ...

If you can't sleep, your gut isn't healthy. None of my clients I've worked with have a healthy gut, even if they don't have digestive symptoms. So looking at gut health is an important part of solving your insomnia.  This Jumpstart program will give unique insight to help us pinpoint at least 1 component that is affecting your sleep.  The Sleep Better Jumpstart program is a 6-week...

I know how hard it is when you've been sleeping better and then, BAM, you have a night of poor sleep. This still happens to me every once in a while.  In this episode I tell you what you can do so that one or a few nights of bad sleep doesn't turn into weeks and months of insomnia.  This is a bonus episode celebrating the new name of the podcast. The Insomnia Fix is now The Sleep Detective...

This is a bonus episode celebrating the new name of the podcast. The Insomnia Fix is now The Sleep Detective podcast!  To celebrate, I've also created a new, lower-cost, introductory offer that looks specifically at gut health and sleep. It includes a GI Map test, 6 weeks of support, a customized supplement and lifestyle plan and many bonuses so you start sleeping better asap. Find out more in...

Nutrition information is so confusing and contradictory! It's hard to know what we should be eating.  As a nutritionist and functional health coach, I've figured out a simple way to find the diet that works best for each of my clients. It's based on my masters in nutrition, my understanding of Dr. Weston A Price's findings in the 1930's, and my experience working on an organic,...

Your blood sugar could be affecting your sleep! Even if you are a healthy weight and eat healthy. Keeping my blood sugar levels steady was a big piece of the puzzle for me. And it is for many of my clients, too. I talked about how blood sugar affects our sleep and the signs of low blood sugar and insulin resistance in episode 46 so you want to listen to that episode, too. In this episode, you’ll l...

If you can’t sleep, there are likely imbalances in your body that are keeping you awake ( see episode 94 ). I use 4 different functional lab tests to find these imbalances in my clients. In this episode, you’ll learn: What I look for in the 4 lab tests How these tests show why you can’t sleep How these tests show much more than typical blood work (which usually comes back “normal”) These tests tog...

People wonder if their sleep issues are genetic because their mom or dad or sister or brother also has insomnia. While your genes can make you more susceptible to poor sleep, luckily your genes are not your destiny. What you eat, how much you move, how much stress you have and more determines whether your genes turn off or on. Your genetics determine what diet is right for you, what exercise your...

Your mind is playing a part in your sleep issues. Maybe it's a small part or maybe it's a large part-it's different for everyone. But no matter what, if you've struggled to sleep for any period of time, it's part of the puzzle. This episode is part 2 of the series The 3 Keys To Improve Your Sleep. In this episode, I talk about the many different ways your mind can affect your s...

If you can't sleep and nothing you've tried so far has helped, don't lose hope! It's because both your body and your mind are playing a role and nothing addresses both of them...until now! In the next 3 episodes, I'll be talking about 3 key things you need to look at if you can't sleep. In this episode, you'll learn the first key: the body. You'll see the many diffe...

If you’ve tried what seems like everything and you haven't gotten better, it's not your fault. There are reasons why you can’t sleep that I'm going to talk about in the next few episodes. If you feel like you have to live with insomnia forever, I want to put those fears to rest. You can sleep normally. You just need to get to the root cause of why you weren't sleeping. That's w...