What’s behind 3 a.m. wake-ups in older people — and should you worry?

Dr. Eric Berg DC, who is very popular on the social media, sharing advice on nutrition and healthy habits, admitted that the pattern of waking up in the middle of the night during this window once almost “wrecked” his own life.

In a recent video he posted on YouTube, Dr. Berg explained that cortisol, the stress hormone, should be lowest between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. However, at those people who wake up at this hour, cortisol in fact spikes, and that not only affects their sleep but also their daily functioning.

According to him, one way of trying to regulate cortisol levels is taking magnesium, since cortisol spikes in the middle of the night could be triggered by deficiency of this mineral.

Of course, he says that if you struggle with waking up in the middle of the night it would be best to consult your GP.

Further, Dr. Berg, who considers himself an “insomnia expert,” shared his personal experience of battling insomnia for a number of years.

“How do you fall back asleep if you wake up between 2 and 3 a.m.? I dealt with this for more than a decade, and it was destroying my life,” he said.