Ray Peat on Insomnia

January 3, 2026

The Role of Parathyroid Hormone and Its Effects in Aging

“Phosphate, which predominates in grains, beans, nuts, meat, and fish, increases our production of parathyroid hormone, while calcium and magnesium inhibit its production. This hormone, which increases with age, suppresses immunity, and in excess causes insomnia, seizures, dementia, psychosis, cancer, heart disease, shortness of breath and pulmonary hypertension, osteoporosis, sarcopenia, histamine release, inflammation, and soft tissue calcification – and many other problems.”

September 2017 – Ray Peat’s Newsletter

The Role of Sodium in Circulatory Inefficiency and Various Complaints

“Building on Brewer’s research, I saw that additional sodium should also help in other situations where circulatory inefficiency plays a role. Premenstrual edema, insomnia, and even high blood pressure often respond very well to it.”

Nutrition For Women

Risks of Long-Term Use of Tryptophan for Insomnia

“Although tryptophan supplements are available for insomnia, I think that long-term use would be just as dangerous as the sedative reserpine, which acts on the same biochemical system and increases the risk of breast cancer.”

Nutrition For Women

The Role of Aspirin and Progesterone in Combating Insomnia

“Using aspirin before bedtime to inhibit prostaglandin synthesis is likely helpful for age-related insomnia. Progesterone and vitamin E work in different ways to prevent excessive stimulation by prostaglandins.”

March 2018 – Ray Peat’s Newsletter

The Untapped Potential of Serotonin Antagonists

“Several serotonin antagonists are increasingly recognized as antidepressants, and also for treating chronic fatigue and insomnia as well as many degenerative diseases. However, since most of these are prescription-only, their use will not be widespread as long as most doctors accept the myth.”

July 2019 – Ray Peat’s Newsletter

The Role of the Thyroid in Sleep and Energy Production

“Since I began taking thyroid hormone and was able to sleep well again, and saw that thyroid alone would cure insomnia in most people (sometimes, as one doctor described his experience, better than morphine), I began to understand that the adrenaline disrupting sleep was a sign of faulty energy production – and that the things restoring sleep, such as thyroid, salt, sugar, protein, and progesterone, acted directly on the cells’ energy production.”

January 2000 – Ray Peat’s Newsletter

The Influence of Diet and Thyroid Preparations on Insomnia

“Over the past 20 years, I have observed that insomnia disappears in almost all people when they correct their hypothyroidism – sometimes just through dietary changes, but more often with a thyroid preparation. Often people have told me they fall asleep within minutes when taking a minimal dose of thyroid before bed. By increasing the rate of energy production,”

April 1994 – Ray Peat’s Newsletter

The Effect of Thyroid Hormone on Sleep, Cramps, and Anxiety

“Many people see thyroid as a kind of stimulant because it can reverse coma or lethargy in myxedema, but that is a very misleading idea. In hypothyroidism, the brain-stimulating hormones adrenaline, estrogen, and cortisol are usually elevated, and the nerve- and muscle-relaxing magnesium is low. Normal, deep sleep is rare in a hypothyroid person. The right dose of triiodothyronine (the active thyroid hormone) together with magnesium is a reliable treatment for insomnia, cramps, and anxiety – whether these symptoms are caused by fatigue, aging, or alcohol withdrawal.”

June 1991 – Ray Peat’s Newsletter

Menopause and Cushing’s Syndrome: Similar Symptoms

“In the mid-1970s, when I pointed out that menopause resembles Cushing’s syndrome, I had not yet studied this disease of cortisol excess enough to know the full extent of the parallels: For example, hot flashes, night sweats, and insomnia – such common menopausal complaints – are also frequent symptoms in Cushing’s syndrome. Estrogen’s tendency to increase cortisol production should be considered in relation to the brain-aging effects of both estrogen and cortisol.”

April 1991 – Ray Peat’s Newsletter

Epilepsy and Insomnia as Low-Energy States in Brain Cells

“Epilepsy is an example of a very low energy state of brain cells. Insomnia is a low-energy state and is usually cured by the right dose of thyroid hormone – along with sufficient glucose and other nutrients.”

February 1986

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