Tried everything to sleep better? I'm not going to tell you to get blue light blocking glasses or create a fancy bedtime routine. Instead, I'm sharing strategies you might not realize are connected to sleep—but they can make a real difference.


As a functional health coach who's helped almost 300 clients overcome chronic sleep issues, I've discovered that the typical sleep advice often misses the mark. Here are five game-changing hacks that address the root causes of poor sleep.


1. Balance Your Blood Sugar (Even If You're Already Healthy)


This one surprises people, especially those who are fit and eat healthy. But balancing blood sugar can be a game changer for sleep.


Here's why: When blood sugar drops too low during the night, your body releases cortisol to raise it back up. That cortisol release? It wakes you up. We definitely don't want stress hormones flooding our system at 3 AM.


What worked for one of my clients: He was having a "healthy" protein smoothie for breakfast, but when he switched to a savory breakfast—meat, vegetables, and complex carbs like sweet potatoes—he started sleeping through the night.


The key is eating breakfast within an hour of waking up and making sure it doesn't spike your blood sugar. This sets the tone for the entire day and affects how you sleep that night.


2. Stop These "Healthy" Habits (If You're Not Sleeping Well)


If you follow health influencers on Instagram, you've probably been told to try intermittent fasting, cold plunges, or fasted workouts. These can be great for healthy people, but if you're not sleeping well, they're actually making things worse.


Here's the thing: When you're not sleeping, your body is already stressed and releasing excess cortisol. Adding more stress through fasting or cold exposure is like pouring gasoline on a fire.


I don't recommend these practices for my clients until they're sleeping better:

- Intermittent fasting or skipping meals

- Working out fasted

- Cold plunging


Once you're sleeping well again? Go for it. But give your body a break while it's already struggling.


3. Get Out of Constant Fight-or-Flight Mode


Many of my clients are ambitious, busy, and always on the go. They're juggling stressful jobs, families, aging parents, and constant travel. Sound familiar?


When we're young, we can handle this lifestyle. But after years or decades of go-go-go, our bodies get stuck in fight-or-flight mode.


One powerful practice: Create boundaries between work and non-work time. This means when you're at work, focus on work. When you're not working, stop thinking about work.


I know this is easier said than done. Sometimes I'll have a great idea while mountain biking and I'll stop to jot it down—then let it go. This is a practice, and you'll catch yourself thinking about work at 7 PM during dinner. When that happens, write it down if needed, then consciously shift your focus back to the present moment.


4. Lower Your Total Stress Load (Not Just Work Stress)


Here's what my clients find really relieving: It's not just work stress affecting your sleep.


Think of your body as having a stress bucket. It can handle a full bucket, but anything more overflows. Your bucket might already be pretty full from work and family obligations. But there are also hidden stressors you don't even know about:


- Pathogens in your gut

- Poor liver detoxification

- Depleted neurotransmitters

- Mineral deficiencies


These physical imbalances add to your total stress load. When we identify and address them through functional lab testing, your bucket stops overflowing—and you can sleep normally again.


The good news? You don't have to quit your job or wait until retirement to sleep better. You can address these underlying issues now.


5. Try These Sleep-Specific Supplements


There's no magic pill for permanent sleep improvement—you need to address the underlying imbalances. But I've found four supplements that really help my clients, especially while we're working on root causes:


Liposomal GABA with L-Theanine

L-theanine is a precursor to GABA, our anti-anxiety neurotransmitter. Taking this before bed helps you feel calm and relaxed.


Gaia Herbs Nighttime HPA

This contains adaptogenic herbs like ashwagandha and relaxing herbs like lemon balm and magnolia bark. It supports the entire stress response system (hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis), not just your adrenals.


Beam Minerals

Most of us are deficient in trace minerals because our soils are depleted and our gut health isn't optimal. These minerals help balance your body's mineral levels and even support detoxification. One person wrote to me saying they slept through the night for the first time in months after starting Beam Minerals.


Troches by Proscriptions

This is the closest thing I've found to a magic pill that's not a drug. It's a troche (dissolves in your mouth) containing melatonin, CBD, and apigenin. One client went from barely sleeping to getting nine hours a night. Another replaced his Xanax with this supplement.


Important note: I see these supplements as a bridge while we address what's actually going on in your body. The goal is to fix the root causes so you don't need anything long-term.


Ready to Find Your Root Causes?


If you're tired of trying every sleep hack without lasting results, it might be time to look deeper. Through functional lab testing and customized protocols, we can identify the specific imbalances keeping you awake and address them at the root.


Book a free consultation to learn more about the Complete Sleep Solution Program and how we can get you sleeping peacefully again—without waiting for retirement or a less stressful life phase.