You've enjoyed a family bucket of fried chicken with friends and family while watching a hockey game and now wondering why you toss and turn in your bed struggling to fall asleep at 2 am?
Insomnia affects the life of many people, and when this problem becomes chronic, it lowers the quality of life. According to the Chinese medicine concept, internal heat or, in severe cases, inner fire plays a significant role in causing insomnia. Heat can disturb "Shen," which refers to the whole mind, spirit, and emotions. In the case of insomnia, two vital organs affected by this heat are the heart and liver. There are two main factors in creating internal heat—stagnation of liver qi (energy) and heat-generating diet.
Stress, anger, sadness, and emotional upset can cause the first one. Alcohol, greasy and spicy foods can cause the second one. Eating fatty food, especially at night, impairs the function of the gallbladder and liver. Remember that these two are considered a pair, and they have a close connection. The heat in the gallbladder and liver disturb your deep and pleasant sleep. Many times it causes dream-disturbed sleep. If you wake up at 5 or 6 am and can't fall back asleep, most probably, it's related to the problems related to your gall bladder.
Avoiding alcohol, adding lime and lemon to your diet, along with eating more cooked broccoli, carrot, asparagus, artichoke, and barley, can reduce the heat-related problems in the liver and gallbladder. Meditation, Yoga, deep diaphragmatic breathing, and regular moderate-intensity exercising can remove the stagnation of liver qi(energy) and help you with a night of more excellent and deeper sleep. Acupuncture and herbal medicine are very effective in treating difficulties related to your sleep. Before any treatment, the practitioners need a thorough assessment to determine the problematic imbalances inside your body.