The piercing sound of my alarm clock leaves little choice as to what the next few hours are going to bring. It won’t be more sweet sleep, that’s for sure. Dusty and disorientated, I stumble toward the bathroom, squinting my eyes just enough to see my reflection. Makeup is thrown on around the vicinity of my face, rather than applied, and luckily I’ve saved some morning minutes by sleeping in a majority of my clothes.
The air is filled with the smell of freshly brewed green tea, and daylight skimming on the horizon. The day has begun-sleep just a memory. I’ll think about sweet slumber all day, only to repeat the same mistakes that made me this tired in the first place.
I’m sure many of you can relate to the rushed chaos of the morning “routine”. Preferring to stay up late and waking too soon, we often find ourselves in a pattern of sleep deprivation. It’s little wonder then as to why we are constantly playing catch up- whether it be in our relationships, social life, work, or most importantly our health.
More Sleep, Less Stress
The mounting evidence regarding the importance of both quality and quantity of sleep is growing. The medical community, both Eastern and Western, can agree that how much sleep we get contributes to our long term health; from fighting chronic diseases such as cancer, autoimmune and neurodegenerative disorders, sleep is at the top of the list for combating these world-wide epidemics.
We all know intuitively that sleep makes us feel a whole lot better; when rested, we can thrive, whether it’s in the workplace or home. Sleep allows our bodies to tap into the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS), shutting down areas of our body to help rebuild and replenish. One important aspect of sleep is the effect it has on our stress levels. Don’t think you’re any different than a grumpy toddler who’s missed their nap.
Wicked Stress Hormones and Their Impact on Your Sleep
Cortisol, our main stress hormone, should run high in the mornings and low in the evenings, as it is in charge of our ‘fight or flight’ response. When high, it fills our body with energy, leading to a constructive day, and when low it allows our system to wind down and sleep peacefully. That was the plan, anyway.
When our cortisol is out of rhythm, so too is our natural sleep cycle. Often when our body lacks balance via nutrition, cortisol will be sent to our cells as nourishment in place of better options. Much like going through the drive through on the way home because your pantry is empty; it’ll do the job, but not very well.
Sneaky Blood Sugar and Its Role in Sleep Disturbance
Glucose, generally speaking, is our primary fuel source. However when food is scarce (i.e. calorie restriction), or even if too much sugar has been consumed throughout the day, at some point our blood sugar levels will start swinging. Also known as sugar spikes and drops, this can take place while sleeping.
When this happens, our body sends cortisol into the cells in order to nourish them, and hence we wake up during the night.
In saying that, as with most things biological, there are many reasons as to why restless sleep can happen: GABA deficiency, kidney stress, melatonin deficiency and magnesium deficiency among them, which we will discuss in other posts.
If you have trouble sleeping, whether that’s not being able to switch off before bed, or waking up throughout the night, cortisol is likely a large contributor.
Our stress will most definitely impact our sleep, and when this happens, lack of sleep then fuels the stress further… you can see where we’re going with this.
Sleep it off
Cortisol management is not an overnight fix. It takes a lifestyle change, however there are something’s you can add into your daily routine to help dampen the onslaught of stress on the body and in turn receive better sleep:
- Take a good quality magnesium supplement at night – we like to use magnesium glycinate
- Use botanicals that are calming – lavender and chamomile are our favorites
- Eat resistant starch with dinner to help with serotonin production
- Find a yin based exercise such as yoga, meditation, or an infrared sauna to minimise the stress of the day
Sleep is crucial to long-term health. It allows our bodies to metabolise food better, have clearer brain function, and minimise muscle breakdown. It’s truly the most under utilised, free supplement available. If you’re struggling with any disease, or simply body composition results, find yourself a bed and enjoy the benefits!
If you’d like any more advice about getting better sleep, click here to have a consultation with us and we’ll get you back on track to waking up happy, healthy and facing the day with a smile.
