The quality of our sleep is deeply rooted in our biology. The nutrients we eat, the way we regulate blood sugar and how our hormones and neurotransmitters communicate, all contribute to sleep quality. When these systems are out of sync we can find ourselves lying awake for hours or waking at 3 am. Supporting your body’s hormones and neurotransmitters can help restore natural and restorative sleep patterns.
Poor sleep can affect your mood, increase anxiety and lower your ability to cope with stress. In clinic, I often see disrupted sleep contributing significantly to both mental and physical issues. Just one week of shortened sleep can raise inflammation, blunt insulin sensitivity and disturb cortisol balance. Without deep, restorative sleep, the body misses its nightly reset. Cortisol stays high, your body clock drifts, and motivation, focus and emotional balance start to suffer.
Sleep should feel effortless, yet many people find themselves restless or wide awake at 3 a.m. In functional nutrition, sleep patterns mirror what’s happening with hormones and neurotransmitters. During deep sleep, the brain clears waste through the glymphatic system, this is its built-in detox network. Plaque-forming compounds are flushed away, mood and memory are consolidated, and the nervous system resets. Supporting this process helps both body and mind recover naturally.
Why You Might Struggle to Fall Asleep
Falling asleep depends on converting serotonin into melatonin. This process relies on:
- Tryptophan-rich foods, like eggs, chicken, turkey and seeds
- Key nutrients like vitamin B6, folate, zinc and magnesium
- Darkness, as light exposure at night suppresses melatonin release
- Stable blood sugar, because late-evening dips can raise cortisol and keep you wired
Low serotonin is often linked to poor nutrient status, gut inflammation or low protein intake. This not only affects mood but also limits melatonin production, making it harder to drift off to sleep.
If falling asleep is a struggle, support serotonin production through balanced, nutrient-dense meals, regular protein and additional magnesium and B6. An organic acid test can measure metabolites of serotonin to help you understand the cause of your sleep issues.
Why You Might Wake in the Middle of the Night
Blood Sugar Dips
When glucose drops overnight, adrenaline rises to correct it. This process will usually wake you up. A small protein-based bedtime snack can help with this, but good blood sugar balance starts much earlier in the day. Keeping daytime meals regular and protein-rich also reduces overnight blood sugar crashes.
Overactive Stress Response
Chronic stress can keep cortisol high at night, leading to early-morning waking. Calming nutrients and adaptogens like glycine, L-theanine and hydrolysed milk peptides can support adrenal rhythm and help retrain your sleep–wake cycle.
Hormonal Issues
Hot flushes or night sweats commonly disturb sleep, especially when blood sugar or stress hormones are unsteady. Supporting healthy oestrogen metabolism through methylation and liver support can reduce these episodes. You can investigate both stress and sex hormones using the DUTCH Complete functional lab test. If you’re using hormone therapy, review the balance with your GP.
Night-time Toilet Trips
Frequent urination can result from bladder irritation, blood sugar imbalance or mild dehydration. In men, an enlarged prostate can also contribute. Gentle hydration through the day and maintaining consistent mineral intake can be supportive. Food intolerances can also contribute to bladder irritation.
Natural Sleep Support
If you’ve already worked on bedtime habits but still struggle with sleep, then natural sleep support can make a difference. Magnesium remains a trusted choice for relaxation and nervous system balance, but beyond this, other gentle options include:
- Botanicals such as Montmorency cherry, lavender or chamomile for increasing calming neurotransmitters
- Nutrients that calm the nervous system like glycine, B6, B12 and omega 3
- Amino acids like tryptophan or 5-HTP to aid serotonin and melatonin production (avoid if using SSRIs) or L-theanine to increase GABA levels
- Niacin (vitamin B3) to help convert tryptophan into sleep-supportive neurotransmitters
Reset Your Body Clock
- Light exposure powerfully regulates the circadian rhythm. Aim for at least 10 minutes of natural daylight soon after waking to boost daytime alertness. In the evening, dim the lights and limit screens to allow melatonin to rise naturally.
When to Investigate Further
If you still wake unrefreshed or experience persistent insomnia, it may be worth checking your cortisol rhythm, hormones, or blood sugar regulation. Discuss fasting glucose or HbA1c testing with your GP, or explore functional testing to uncover deeper patterns.
If sleep has become a nightly battle, take a closer look at your biological sleep cues to help understand what’s really going on. Working with a practitioner helps you identify these underlying patterns and rebuild the foundation for deep, restorative rest.
If you would like support with sleep or other health concerns, get in touch.
L.C
I have complicated health issues and really only looked for a nutritionist near me as a last resort. Sarah was able to consider all of my seemingly unrelated complaints and explained how the diet changes were going to help me. She was able to tell me which supplements would be helpful to take and advised me on tests that could be useful. I didn’t need to run tests because the diet and supplements helped me to feel better quickly.
A.D
Bloating and cramps are now non-existent. After eating discomfort is gone. I have been sleeping well and have had a lot more energy overall.
C.W
The best Nutritionist in Birmingham! Sarah gave great advice and helped me with my IBS which I’d struggled with for so many years. I wish I’d not left it so long.
B.W
The protocol has changed us as a family! My 13 month old granddaughter is now thriving! We are all doing so much better!
V.C
It was great to consult with you again. Huge thank you for your continuing support and professional advice and help. H has 3 stone weight loss. B has had so many positives and myself …. 1 stone weight loss and coping so much more than ever. Thank you.
C.W
Sarah showed courage to take on a difficult case with my two boys. She has been professional and compassionate to their needs throughout tough times. I can say her knowledge and expertise has been just right at the right time. When we needed her most she was there with strong but gentle advice. I know the boys accept what she says with authority so it’s easy to give them what is asked when Sarah says it will help. This trust, she gently, calmly and expertly gained during our first interview with us. An huge thank you to you for what we have achieved. You have achieved more in only a few months and I wish I had known about you 8 years ago. As a mum I can’t tell you how grateful we are to you. The boys are eating healthy food and we look forward to being able to eat a Christmas dinner for the first time as a family rather than very restricted food. I have two healthy boys. For the first time they are getting stronger, growing, assimilating and digesting real food. We could not have done this without you. It is astonishing how much healthy food they eat now when they were extremely fussy eaters before.
G.R
I feel as though I am ‘cured’. I have had no digestive issues or side effects, my blood pressure is normal and I look and feel much better.
A.H
I do feel pretty good, my mental state is really good most importantly, so I’ve been able to reduce my medication. I wanted to thank you for all your support and help through this process. I truly feel it has helped me get to a better place health-wise …. so much so that I have just found out I’m pregnant!
I.K
Our daughter was suffering with alopecia (hair loss). This was very distressing for us as she had huge bald patches on her head which where getting progressively worse. We had been referred to a dermatologist by our local GP who then examined the hair to the roots. The dermatologist was unsure of the cause of the hair loss but said the hair roots were still visible and the hair should return but no timescale as to when. Over the next few months there was no improvement and we requested a blood test at the surgery to check for an iron defiency. It was established Safiya was lacking in iron. She was supplemented with iron for around 3 months but with no improvement to the hair condition. We went back to our GP and requested to be referred back to the dermatologist. In the meantime we heard about Sarah via a health conference I attended. I contacted Sarah and an appointment was made to see her. My wife was very impressed with her care, Safiya’s full history was given to Sarah and Sarah then went on time write a diet plan. Safiya had been suffering with some slight irritation/rashes on the skin and Sarah suggested it may be linked to the cows milk which she was having. Sarah wrote a full diet plan for Safiya which basically contained foods and a few supplements to help strengthen her immune system. We stuck by this plan and still follow it up to this day. After a few months results were seen. Amazingly Safiya’s hair started to show signs of improvement, her rashes cleared up and she was also suffering with on/off constipation and this too cleared. The hair continued to grow and now Safiya has around 95% of her hair back !! and she has had her first hair cut today !!!!!.We were very impressed with the plan set by Sarah who showed a lot of care and provided us with explanation of the plan. I would certainly recommend Sarah to anybody as she works with a high level of care and takes a natural safe approach to acheiving good health and combating illness.
K.A
After being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease and rare blistering skin condition when I was 15 I was exposed to a cocktail of Immunosuppressants, antibiotics and steroids to help manage my conditions…..then Sarah was like the light at the end of a very long tunnel. She made sure to clearly understand my circumstances and listened to my issues (unlike some of the specialists I had seen) and seemed incredibly knowledgeable. Just 1 week after meeting Sarah I started to see changes and then proceeded to check my progress and tweak my programme every few months, now a year down the line I am the healthiest I have ever been. I can now walk up a flight of stairs without getting cramp and out of breath, I can stay awake past 9pm and spring out of bed in the morning. Sarah gave me my life back!
M.H
I have suffered for many years with severe IBS. I came to accept it as a part of my life…..this was having a debilitating effect on me and was affecting every aspect of my life …. my general well being was suffering. I was glad I found Sarah. Within a week my symptoms improved dramatically and have continued to improve since.
A.J
We consulted Sarah to help with my autistic son’s digestive and behaviour problems. Sarah was extremely knowledgeable and full of interesting ideas which will benefit us.
J.B
I thought Sarah was excellent from my first contact with her. I sent a lengthy quite detailed email which she answered fully and very promptly and kept in contact with me until my consultation. During my consultation I felt Sarah was completely engaged and really listened. I found her very easy and open which in turn made me feel at ease and meant I could be open and feel that I was in a supportive environment. What I found very useful and unexpected was that Sarah took detailed notes of what we had discussed and emailed them to me along with her recommendations within a day of our meeting. This meant I hadn’t had to make notes and could fully benefit from the consultation and obviously hadn’t had to remember it all. I had a point of reference which I have been using regularly and has been massively helpful in my journey to getting well again. Thank you!
M.S
Sarah has enormous knowledge and understanding of physiology and how nutrition affects the body. She has worked with me to find benefits that fit into my lifestyle and within my personal constraints. She listens, is non-judgemental, encouraging and supportive. I derived huge benefits even after one session with her. I thoroughly recommend her.
S.J
Brilliant! I loved the one to one service and the expert information and advice. My daughters have benefited 100%. I have also referred friends and family.
J.W
Knowledgeable, practical, really listened to my symptoms and provided thoughtful advice. Already I’m feeling better. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend.
A.S
I can’t believe how less anxious I feel! My stomach is back to normal and I’ve more energy than before but most of all I’m loving this new sense of calm I have now.
