Cortisol levels can also be affected by low sodium, so adding a bit of sea salt during the day might help. Dr. Berg also noted that the liver is most active between 1 and 3 a.m., so waking then could suggest liver strain, with milk thistle sometimes offering support. In that sense, sleep may be sending important signals about what’s going on in the body.
When it comes to people over 60 especially, waking up at this time during the night can signal underlying health issues.
1. A natural drop in melatonin
When people who reach certain age start waking up at 3 a.m., it doesn’t necessarily mean they experience issues with stress or poor sleep habit. On the contrary, one of the main reasons for waking up at this time, is the natural reduction of melatonin, which is the hormone that regulates your sleep-wake cycle.
When you are younger, your melatonin levels remain high throughout the night, which helps you sleep deep. However, as you age, your body produces less melatonin. By the early morning hours, your melatonin levels may be low enough to trigger your brain to wake up, even if you have not slept as long as you wanted or needed.
In short, your body may no longer be receiving the hormonal “stay asleep” call like it used to.
This is often made even worse with light exposure. We also become more sensitive to subtle environmental cues that tell our brain that morning is approaching. This cues include the light reaching to your room from the street lights, the screen of your phone, the lights of the clock, and similar, which further supress melatonin and stimulates your brain into the wake-up mode.
The outcome is that you will be sleeping lighter and shorter, and it’s not because anything is “wrong” with you but simply because your sleep biology has changed over time.
2. Shifts in the internal clock (circadian rhythm)
Another reason for waking up early might be simply because there is a change in your body’s internal clock. This can be seen in the need of going to bed early with age. So when a person goes to bed at around 9 p.m. it’s not unusual for their body to finish its sleep cycle at 3 a.m.
This doesn’t mean you are suffering from insomnia,but it’s your body merely adapting to its internal clock.
The issue is that internal clock doesn’t always match your expectation of how long you should sleep during the night.
This change can especially be felt during the process of certain life transitions, such as when a person retires and is no longer that active during the day, has less social activities, fewer responsibilities, or quieter evenings than before.
