Have you tried following all the sleep advice you hear about everywhere: follow a bedtime routine, stop drinking caffeine at 2pm, don’t watch TV before bed… I know it’s frustrating when these things don’t work. But just because they haven’t worked doesn’t mean you can’t sleep well!


In this episode I’m going to explain why what you’ve tried so far hasn’t worked and share 5 unconventional sleep tips that you haven’t heard anywhere else.


You’ll learn:

  • what really causes sleep issues (it’s not because you’re watching Netflix before bed or your bedtime routine isn’t long enough)
  • why melatonin, magnesium, CBD, etc. aren’t solving the problem (and what will)
  • why the medical system can’t help with chronic sleep issues (and what can)
  • certain “healthy” habits that could be harming your sleep instead of helping
  • The simple formula to consistently get 7-9 hours of restful sleep


Sign up for a free Sleep Breakthrough call that will be aired on this podcast! You’ll fill out an assessment and then we’ll meet on Zoom and I’ll tell you 3 things to do right now that will have the biggest impact on your health and sleep. Schedule your call here.


Schedule a consultation to get started with the Complete Sleep Solution program so you can consistently sleep 7+ hours uninterrupted, naturally and permanently. 


00:00 Introduction to the Sleep Detective Podcast

00:27 Client Case Study: Chronic Sleep Issues

02:24 Tip 1: Health Imbalances and Sleep

04:25 Tip 2: Why Supplements Alone Aren't Enough

06:32 Tip 3: Limitations of the Medical System

11:15 Tip 4: Healthy Habits That May Harm Sleep

15:20 Tip 5: The Mind-Body Connection

17:01 Client Case Study Conclusion

18:31 Summary and Invitation for Sleep Breakthrough Call


Episode Transcript


Have you tried following all the sleep advice you hear about everywhere? Follow a bedtime routine. Stop drinking caffeine at 2 p. m. Don't watch TV before bed, blah, blah, blah. I know it's so frustrating when these things don't work and that's all you ever hear about. But just because they haven't worked doesn't mean you can't sleep well.


In this episode, I'm going to explain why what you've tried so far hasn't worked and share five unconventional sleep tips that you haven't heard anywhere else that you need to know. In 2025, you'll learn what really causes sleep issues. It's not because you're watching Netflix before bed or your bedtime routine isn't long enough.


Why supplements like melatonin, magnesium, CBD, and more aren't solving the problem. and what actually will, why the medical system can't help with chronic sleep issues, and what can, certain quote healthy habits that could actually be harming your sleep instead of helping, and the simple formula to consistently get seven to nine hours of restful sleep.


You're listening to the sleep detective podcast to help you finally understand why you don't sleep well and how to fix it. So you can consistently sleep seven to nine hours uninterrupted without drugs. My name is Martha Lewis, and I'm a certified functional health and sleep coach. I've helped myself and over 200 clients overcome their sleep problems and restore their health.


Even if they've tried what seems like everything. Before I get into the episode, I want to talk about one of my clients in the Sleep Insight program. So he is in his 30s. He's engaged and has a young toddler son, about a year and a half old. And he's a railroad worker in Canada. Now he's had chronic sleep issues for years for about five years.


So if he's not taking medication, he'll only get two to four hours of sleep. If he takes medication, he can get five to six hours of sleep. And so he's tired. He's not, he doesn't have a lot of energy. His mood has been very low for a long time and he's having digestive issues as well. So he has tried medication.


So he's taking, a drug to sleep, which he doesn't want to be. He's done blood work with his doctor and he's seen countless naturopath doctors. He's also tried supplements and has only had minor success with all of these approaches. He's on his own. He also tried the carnivore diet. He tried having a consistent bedtime, doing breath work before bed.


He was trying supplements. Like theanine, and he was intermittent fasting to try and be healthy. Now, he also had a lot of mindset things to work on. He felt really anxious about sleep. He complained about sleep all the time. He tells himself how tired he is all the time. He dreads bedtime, and he believes that not sleeping well is going to ruin his next day.


So what he wants is to sleep well, to have energy. to feel confident and to be the best version of himself so that he can help others. So I will finish his story at the end, but first I want to get into the five tips that I want to share with you and then I'll show you how those applied to him, um, at the end.


So the first tip I want to tell you is that The real reason why you're having trouble sleeping is because your body isn't healthy. So not being able to sleep normally is just a sign that your body is out of balance, that there are underlying health issues that are telling you they're there through your sleep.


And maybe if you have other symptoms as well, like headaches or skin issues or digestive issues or, um, aches and pains, fatigue, things like that. Like all of those are symptoms of a bigger problem. And so when your body is healthy and in balance, then you're able to sleep well. And so that's why the sleep tips don't work, right?


Because Some of the things I look for that I commonly see in my clients are there's hormone imbalance with the sex hormones, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone. Usually cortisol is really out of whack. So it's high at night and low during the day when it should be the opposite way, right? Because we want to be tired at night and have energy during the day.


And so the whole circadian rhythm and cortisol and melatonin are messed up. I see neurotransmitter deficiencies. I see Um, gut health issues, liver detox issues, mineral imbalances and deficiencies and toxins like heavy metals, um, mold and more that all cause inflammation in the body. So those are the common things that I see in a lot of my clients and they're the reason why they aren't able to sleep normally.


So that is the first thing that I want you to know is that. Not being able to sleep at least seven hours through the night, for the most part, and waking up feeling rested is a sign that there are imbalances in your body that need to be addressed. Now, the second tip I want to share is that it's going to take more than melatonin or magnesium or CBD to be able to overcome this.


And the reason is, so let's say, You try melatonin. Melatonin supplement is only going to work if the reason you aren't sleeping is because you're deficient in melatonin. Same with magnesium. If you try magnesium, it's only going to help if the only reason you aren't sleeping is because you're deficient in magnesium.


Now, a lot of my clients are deficient in magnesium, but they also Artificial and other minerals and their minerals are out of balance and they need certain vitamins to absorb minerals and they need a healthy gut to absorb the magnesium, whether it's from supplements or from diet. So by the time you have any sort of symptom, such as sleep issues, it's going to take more than just one supplement to fix it.


And then there's a reason why those things are deficient anyway, like melatonin, um, usually has to do with gut health because 90 percent of melatonin is made in the gut by the good bacteria in the gut. So, and then it takes more than a probiotic to fix gut health. So if there are pathogens, if your immune system is really shot, if there's a lot of inflammation in your gut, if you're reacting to certain foods, again, it's going to take more to fix melatonin than just taking probiotics.


And then CBD can help with inflammation, but it's not addressing melatonin. where that inflammation is coming from. So you're either going to have to take it forever, or it's probably not enough to help you, you know, deal with all the inflammation that's happening from the imbalances in your body. So this is why those, you know, those basic supplements aren't working.


And I'm sure you've probably tried them. And when you tell anyone that you have sleep issues, you're probably like, Oh, have you tried magnesium? Like, Yes, I've tried magnesium, right? But I want you to understand why that hasn't worked. All right. The third tip I want to give you is that unfortunately the medical system cannot help with sleep issues.


So, and that's because not being able to sleep normally is a health issue. It's not a medical issue and doctors have been. I am trained to diagnose diseases and prescribe drugs. Unfortunately, it is not their job to teach us how to be healthy. They help us once we're already healthy, they help us. You know, try to deal with the symptoms or maybe treat the disease, but it is usually with medication.


So, what you need to do is actually work on restoring your health. And so this is why, if you've gone to your doctor and, you know, your blood work has come back normal, it doesn't mean that things aren't out of balance. It actually, blood work is meant to diagnose something major. And so all my clients have done blood work.


I did blood work every year. Everything was always great, but yet I wasn't sleeping well. And when I did functional lab testing, I found out, oh, there were things going on in my body, but blood work isn't catching them. And even some of the things I test for are looked for in blood work, like minerals, for example.

But your body is always trying to keep minerals. In balance in the blood, so it will pull from other places to keep in a balance in the blood. So once minerals show up out of balance in blood work, it means that things have been out of balance for a really long time. And your body's been trying to correct it and trying to correct it.


And then finally, it's not even able to keep it in balance in your blood. And so doing a hair test like I do to look at mineral balance is going to show what's what's out of balance Years before it shows up on blood work and same with like liver health, like supposedly blood work can see if there are liver issues.


Well, it's going to show if something is major, like you've already developed fatty liver disease or something like that. It's not going to show if your body's having trouble detoxing. before it gets to the point where it's become something major. So functional lab testing shows how the different systems in your body are working so we can see what's out of balance before it turns into something that you're gonna, you know, get diagnosed with and then possibly need medication.


Now, you've probably been to your doctor about your sleep issues, and maybe he said, Um, you know, he's done blood work, nothing's wrong. So okay, follow the sleep hygiene, follow the sleep rules. You might, maybe he'll recommend doing cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, which can help with the mental part, but it's not going to help with the things going on in your body.


He also might prescribe a sleeping pill, which is really just a bandaid. It's covering up the symptom. It's not addressing the root of why you aren't sleeping well. And as you probably know, I mean, Sleeping pills can be addictive, they have side effects, and they don't actually produce natural sleep. So I'm not judging anyone who's gotten on a sleeping pill at all.


I know how hard it is to not be sleeping and to just be desperate for sleep. But, you know, all of my clients know that it's not good for them and they want to get off of them. And so that's how I can help. The other thing that might has been recommended to you is to do a sleep study. Many of my clients have done sleep studies and I can't tell you how frustrated every single one of them has been that it's like, yes, it showed nothing or it showed mild apnea.


They recommended a CPAP. I don't really think that's my issue. And I'm not saying that you shouldn't address sleep apnea if you have it, but there's, there's usually more going on. And there's a difference between apnea and. What's called insomnia or trouble sleeping, right? So trouble sleeping is you're having trouble falling asleep.


You're being woken up in the night and having a really hard time going back to sleep. You're maybe like restlessly sleep all night, especially the second half of the night. It's like you're in and out of sleep. A sleep study might show that that's what's going on. But it's not going to tell you why a sleep study is meant to look for apnea and recommend a CPAP machine and maybe screen for a very rare sleep disorder that you 99.

999 percent likely don't have. So, unfortunately, it's not going to help you get to the root of your sleep issues.


Now, the fourth tip I want to give you is that there are actually certain quote unquote healthy habits that could be ruining your sleep. So things like intermittent fasting, cold plunges are all the rave on Instagram.

I see them myself and I think they can be great for someone who is healthy and being healthy by the way, means not having any symptoms. There's more to it than just, you know, eating well and exercising. It's also actually being in health, which is probably what you're trying to do if you're listening to this podcast.


So. Fasting, cold plunges, things like that, they can be good stress for an already healthy body, but for someone who isn't sleeping well, your body is already stressed. It's already producing a lot of cortisol, both from not sleeping well and from the imbalances in your body. That are also that are affecting your sleep and causing inflammation in your body are also making your body release cortisol.


So doing those things is adding more stress to an already stressed body. Same with strenuous exercise. So I live in Jackson Hole, which is a mountain town where people are very active. And I have a history of that myself. But many of my clients are trying to exert themselves so much so that They are tired at night and it's having the opposite effect, which doesn't make sense, right?


You think that the more you do, the more tired you're going to be, the better you're going to be able to sleep. And that's true again, when your body's in balance, but when it's not, when you're already not sleeping well, that is adding way too much stress to an already stress body. So I don't recommend that my clients intermittent fast.


And I think it's great to regulate blood sugar. There are a lot of benefits of intermittent fasting. Same with cold plunging and same with more strenuous exercise. But while you're dealing with sleep issues, I recommend not exercising strenuously more than 30 minutes a day, just a few days a week, because after 30 minutes, your body starts releasing cortisol.


It starts getting really stressed. And the other healthy quote unquote habit that I see people trying is going plant based. And And I've done an entire podcast episode about this. Um, I was vegetarian for seven years, so I know where a lot of people are coming from. But in a plant based diet, it's hard to get enough protein to regulate blood sugar.


It's also hard to get enough fat soluble vitamins, A, D, E, and K, and cholesterol that we get from animal fats to make our neurotransmitters and hormones. So a lot of times. And people realize that it is their plant based diet that has actually been making things worse. And it's hard to see this because it can feel really great to start doing this, to eat more plant based.


And any kind of diet, if you start some, you know, special diet, the reason you're feeling better is because you're eliminating processed foods, most likely. It's not what you're putting in. It's like what you've gotten rid of. And a plant based vegetarian vegan diet, it does help cleanse. So it kind of breaks the body down and get, gets things out, helps you detox.


But again, when you're experiencing any kind of symptoms, such as sleep issues, we need to build the body up. Likely you're deficient in a lot of things, especially like I said, neurotransmitters and hormones. That we need those nutrients, especially from animal foods to eat. So that's just another thing that I want to point out.


And I know some people are plant based for spiritual reasons and ethical reasons. And I get that, but if you're doing it for health reasons, then I suggest stopping and incorporating more. Animal protein and fats into your diet. All right, the last tip I want to tell you is that while I've talked a lot about imbalances in the body and underlying health issues that affect sleep, not sleeping well is a body and a mind issue.


And so there's a very simple formula to great sleep. And that is a healthy body and a calm mind equals great sleep. So while I do functional lab testing in my programs to find the physical imbalances, I also help our clients with worry about sleep, with anxiety about sleep, with dreading bedtime, with being so frustrated in the middle of the night when you're awake.


And with stress in your life in general, because if you're constantly feeling stressed about whether, you know, you're kind of in the thick of life of like being super busy with kids and a family and work and all the things we, I can help you manage that stress better, how you perceive that stress, we can't get rid of all of our stressors, right?


But we can do certain things to lower stress and deal with stress better. So that your mind is a lot calmer. And so one of the things too, I help my clients with is calming the nervous system. A lot of times people aren't sleeping. You might feel like you're stuck in fight or flight and like you just feel wired all the time.


And you, even though you're tired, you can't get out of that wired feeling. And so that's one of the first things we start working on is this mental part of it and the nervous system, because we need both the healthy body. And the calm mind to have great sleep. Now to get back to my client who I was telling you about earlier, the lab testing showed the imbalances in his body that were affecting his sleep.


So he was depleted in neurotransmitters and it's interesting because he was already supplementing for that, but it wasn't enough because he also had mineral imbalances. He had heavy metals. He had H. pylori in his gut. His immune function in his gut was really depleted. He had a lot of inflammation in the gut and he also had mold toxicity, which had been overlooked.


So that's why just supplementing for neurotransmitters wasn't enough. That's why we needed to look at everything that was affecting his sleep. And I recommended that he stopped the intermittent fasting for now. I helped him balance his diet to get enough sleep. fat protein and carbs for his body. We worked on his mindset.


He had the tools to do that and recommended supplements to help his body get back in balance. And his sleep improved really quickly to where he was sleeping seven hours a night, but he was still on medication. So over the holidays, about four and a half months into the program, he weaned himself off the sleep meds and now he's sleeping seven hours a night.


Consistently. Most nights. without any kind of medication. I am so happy for him and he is so thankful and I'm hoping to have him on the podcast soon so that you can meet him and hear his story and his words. So to summarize, the five tips that I gave are there are imbalances in your body that are causing your sleep issues even if blood work isn't finding them.


Simple supplements like melatonin or magnesium or CBD aren't enough to help as you've probably already experienced. The medical system isn't going to be able to help you with this because it's a health problem, not a medical problem. There are habits that are ruining your sleep, things like intermittent fasting, cold water plunges, strenuous exercise, plant based diet, and The formula to great sleep is a healthy body and a calm mind.


Now, before you go, I also want to invite you to a sleep breakthrough call. So this, in this call, you can sign up at the link in the show notes. I'll review your case and tell you three things you can do right away to to help you sleep better and optimize your health. And you can also ask me any questions you have about your sleep and health.


So here's how it works. You can schedule your call with the link in the show notes. I'll send you an assessment to fill out. So I learned everything I need to know about your sleep, health, habits, diet, and more. We'll meet on video on zoom to go over the three things I recommend for you that will have the biggest impact on your sleep and health that you can start right away.


Our session will then be aired on Monday. On video on this podcast, this is a no sales, no strings attached free call. So if this is something you're interested in, I would love to meet you. Please sign up at the link in the show notes and I hope to meet you soon and help you, um, help pinpoint what needs to happen for you to get your body back in balance so you can sleep well.


All right, everyone. Thanks for listening. And I will talk to you next week.

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