The vicious cycle of food and sleep

If you want to look like a feeble elderly that sounds like a good amount for an adult male.

> Research conducted at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health has found that eating even small amounts of red meat—especially processed red meat—on a regular basis is linked to an increased risk of heart disease and stroke, and the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease or any other cause.

Processed meats are defined as:

> Processed meat refers to any meat that has been “transformed through salting, curing, fermentation, smoking, or other processes to enhance flavor or improve preservation.”

So they don't seems to make a distinction between a regular cut of beef and ground beef. I would think this distinction is important, because I believe ground meat often comes in a "whole unhealthy package" (burger, pizza, often it goes with cheese and sauces). But based on that article, there is no way to prove or deny that. Even with all of that they said, it's possible that a subset of what they consider "red meat" could be good for you, and another subset really terrible. The fat percentage and types may have an influence. The animal may have an influence. How the animal was fed may have an influence.

I have a hard time believing that 100g of local, grass fed beef steak is exactly the same as 100g of kebab meat from a low-quality kebab shop. But this article doesn't make a distinction between the two. There is also this statement:

> Plant-based protein sources are more unsaturated, which lowers LDL cholesterol—an established risk factor for heart disease. Also, plant sources contain no cholesterol. Other factors are likely to contribute to the lower risk, but this is a key factor.

I've heard plenty of time that your blood levels of cholesterol are not strongly correlated to the cholesterol you eat. From the same website you linked (https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you...):

> The biggest influence on blood cholesterol level is the mix of fats and carbohydrates in your diet—not the amount of cholesterol you eat from food.

> The discovery half a century ago that high blood cholesterol levels were strongly associated with an increased risk for heart disease triggered numerous warnings to avoid foods that contain cholesterol, especially eggs and liver. However, scientific studies show a weak relationship between the amount of cholesterol a person consumes and his or her blood cholesterol levels

> In studies of more than 80,000 female nurses, Harvard researchers found that consuming about an egg a day was not associated with higher risk of heart disease.

> The body uses cholesterol as the starting point to make estrogen, testosterone, vitamin D, and other vital compounds.

There's a problem here. One article is claiming that you should eat plants because they don't have cholesterol, and cholesterol is an established risk factor for heart disease. The other article says that this makes low to no difference, especially if you don't have heart disease already.

I was claiming that the article is poorly written, not whether red meat is healthy or not.

But even if I was, the article that you link to says nothing about red meat being bad for sleep (the author's claim).

My energy levels are much more constant and I generally feel better and more productive. For instance, I don't get the after lunch drowsiness that forced me to have more coffee in the afternoon.

The downside is that these approaches are either more expensive (processed carbs are by far the cheapest option in any supermarket), more time consuming, or harder to get into (keto flu can be a massive pain in the butt).

However, they are sustainable and that's why I didn't use the word "diet" that for me is something limited in time. In fact, I have been doing some form of fasting since shortly after covid started because being stuck at home I noticed I was snacking way too much out of boredom.

One, exercise seems to keep me on the straight and narrow. I almost never drink, but when I did, running reduced it a ton. Today I find it increases my appetite for all varieties of foods. I still want the biscuits and gravy, but a carrot is super appealing to. As a result I’ll end up filling dietary space with a wider variety of food.

I also find my eyes become more aligned with my stomach. As in my desire for a lot of food reduces and I’ll start eating more sensible amounts.

Otherwise really prioritizing sleep makes a huge difference. In winter I tend to get bored because so little is going on, or so it seems. I can fall into habits of staying up too late trying to find something engaging to do. Of course, I rarely do. The hours fly by and suddenly I’m primed to get a terrible sleep.

I try to make sure I go to bed earlier than I would in summer, then wake up early and experience first light and stuff. Like walk to work as the sun rises, walk to get a coffee outside if I’m already at work. Get fresh air and light nice and early.

Anyway, just sharing in case you hadn’t tried these things and you’re curious about other experiences. I really struggle with eating way too much in winter.

Here's a study, not read this one before, but its not hard to find https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4115565/ "The pineal hormone melatonin was also measured in the present and previous study (11), with significantly increased plasma concentrations being observed during sleep deprivation. Increased tryptophan and taurine could explain the increased melatonin levels, as taurine has been shown to increase pineal melatonin by stimulating the activity of its rate limiting biosynthetic enzyme, N-acetyltransferase (42). "