Anyone who wakes up between 2-3am urged to see doctor for important reason

Irish Daily Mirror

17-05-2025

A health guru has sounded the alarm for those who find themselves waking up between 2-3am - suggesting it's time to see a GP as it might indicate an underlying health issue.
Dr Eric Berg DC, who has a whopping 13 million followers on his YouTube channel, issued the warning in his video titled: "This Was DESTROYING My Life".
Dr Berg, a proponent of healthy ketosis and intermittent fasting, penned the popular The Healthy Keto Plan and runs Dr Berg Nutritionals. He's hung up his practitioner hat to dedicate himself to educating people on wellness via social media.
According to the expert, if you're tossing and turning at 2am, your cortisol levels could be out of control. Cortisol, the body's stress-response hormone, should be hitting its lowest levels around that time, but for some, it's peaking instead, leading to disrupted sleep.
He recommends that people get checked by a doctor if they have low levels of magnesium, as a deficiency can cause issues with cortisol and sleep. Sharing his own health battle with poor sleep, he said: "How do you go back to sleep if for some reason you wake up between 2-3am in the middle of the night?
"I would consider myself an expert in insomnia because I had this for over a decade and it was destroying my life. It was not just getting up at 2-3am in the morning, sometimes I wouldn't even sleep for one minute the entire night, I would lay there. It was basically torture.
"What's unique about 2am is something called the circadian rhythm with cortisol. Cortisol should be at the lowest point in this rhythm at 2am and the highest point at 8am. For me everything was backwards I was very awake at 2am, but I was extremely tired at 8am in the morning.
"I tried everything, I even tried prescription medications, it didn't work. In fact what I didn't know at the time was those medications actually worsen and raise your cortisol."
Poor sleep can lead to a host of health issues including cardiac problems, dementia, and diabetes. Sharing some tips on how to tackle high cortisol levels, Dr Berg remarked: "One big one is magnesium. Magnesium has the ability to lower cortisol and your cortisol can actually go up if you're deficient in magnesium."
Studies suggest that magnesium may be effective in reducing cortisol levels. Being deficient in magnesium can cause an increase in cortisol levels, which is the primary stress hormone in the body.
Lack of magnesium can exacerbate your stress response, yet scientific findings are somewhat varied and more research is necessary for a conclusive understanding of these effects.
Magnesium is often depleted during stress, making it difficult to handle stress efficiently. Crucial in muscle relaxation, magnesium's function can be hindered by excessive cortisol. The regulation of the nervous system by magnesium aids in a more composed reaction to stress.
If you're feeling anxious or irritable, it might be down to low magnesium levels which can cause cortisol to spike, according to studies.
Dr Berg has some advice for those experiencing muscle tightness or cramps: "If you're watching right now and you have any tightness in your muscles - your upper back, lower back or if you point your toe and it cramps - that's a sure sign that you are deficient in magnesium. The type of magnesium that I would recommend taking is something called magnesium glycinate. It can help relax your muscles and reduce cortisol."
He also suggests the best time to take this supplement: "You want to take it at night before you go to bed. Towards the later part of the morning, right around 6am, is when you have the least amount of magnesium in your tissues, this is also probably why a lot of health problems occur in the early morning - like heart attacks, stroke restless leg syndrome, because a lot of these things are influenced by magnesium."
Dr Berg also points out another symptom to watch for: "One last indication of magnesium deficiency is twitching, so if you're getting this twitch underneath your eye or your arm that's a sure sign that you are deficient in magnesium. Magnesium controls calcium and when you don't have enough magnesium you get more calcium and the calcium just causes cramping in different areas of the body."
Magnesium is a vital mineral that aids in metabolism, energy utilisation, muscle function, and protein usage. Although it's rare to have a magnesium deficiency, it can occur in individuals who struggle to absorb magnesium due to factors such as surgery, severe burns, malabsorption issues, certain medications, or low calcium levels in the blood.
Foods rich in magnesium include:
Low magnesium levels can result in sleep problems, including insomnia and various sleep disruptions. This essential mineral plays a crucial role in managing the body's biochemical processes and circadian rhythms, helping you fall asleep and maintain restful sleep.
Magnesium promotes relaxation by inhibiting certain neurotransmitters that activate the body while boosting those that have a calming effect.
Those with digestive diseases, diabetes, alcohol dependence, and older adults are most at risk of magnesium deficiency. Symptoms of magnesium deficiency can include low mood, fatigue, headaches, constipation, heart palpitations, numbness, anxiety, irritability, nausea, weakness, twitching, cramping, or cardiac arrhythmia. If you experience any of these symptoms, you should consult your doctor.
Taking magnesium supplements may alleviate symptoms of insomnia. Research indicates that magnesium glycinate can help reduce anxiety, insomnia, and stress, while magnesium chloride may calm the nervous system.
Studies suggest that magnesium supplements could decrease the time it takes to fall asleep, improve sleep quality, and reduce symptoms of insomnia, particularly in older adults with low magnesium levels.
If you've been diagnosed with a magnesium deficiency, consult your doctor about taking magnesium supplements. If you frequently experience poor sleep, inform your GP as soon as possible to rule out any underlying medical conditions.
Dr Berg added: "Low blood sugar can increase cortisol and cause you to wake up at night. If your diet is high in carbs, your blood sugar may decrease while sleeping, and your body will increase cortisol levels to normalize your blood sugar.
"If you're waking up at 2am, evaluate what you ate the day before. Refined starches, MSG, alcohol, snacking, and eating late can disturb sleep. Salt cravings can signify a sodium deficiency. Sodium helps lower cortisol, so add more sea salt to your meals throughout the day if you're having salt cravings."
Here are a few additional sleep tips to help improve your sleep at night:
The health guru highlighted: "The liver detoxifies the body between 1am and 3am. Night waking during this time frame could signify a problem with the liver. Milk thistle before bed can help.
"Restless legs syndrome can be related to a B1 or magnesium deficiency. Lower your carb intake and increase your consumption of these nutrients. A high pulse rate could signify a potassium deficiency, which can also interfere with sleep. Apple cider vinegar before bed can help stabilise blood sugar for better sleep, but make sure it's diluted."