Seth Roberts, a fun blogger/author/professor and champion of self-experimentation, theorizes that animal fat may help him sleep. Funny coincidence- since I've upped my beef intake over the last few weeks, my insomnia issues has been nonexistent. Two data points don't make a scientific study, but I'd be interested to see some research on this. I've got a few theories:
Fat tells your body that you've just made a kill, and hence don't have to stay up all night hunting for sustenance.
The sleep-promoting chemical tryptophan, rather than fat, is the cause- foods containing one tend to contain the other.
Carbohydrate-based meals at night spike insulin, increasing hunger and making sleep more difficult. Substitution of carbohydrates with fats eliminates this.
Fat is yummy, yummy food makes us happy, happy people sleep better.
Roberts also proposed the theory that standing on one foot for a few minutes a day could help your sleep. I tried it, and it did seem to improve things, but separating that effect from expectation bias and dietary change is kind of tough.
