We all have the occasional sleepless night. The pressures of work, family and the state of the world are enough to keep even the most laissez-faire of us tossing and turning from time to time. But if one night of poor sleep can turn you into an exhausted, irritable, sugar-craving beast the next day, what happens to your body when sleepless nights become the norm? The latest research tells us that chronic, ongoing sleep loss may be a contributing factor that starts us on a slippery slope towards weight gain, hormone imbalance, immune dysfunction and more. To better understand what’s going on, we’ll look at what’s going on in your body when you sleep, the relationship between sleep loss and certain health conditions, and the steps you can take towards better sleep.
Why Does Your Body Need to Sleep?
Imagine a city at night. Businesses are being deep cleaned, roads and transit lines are being repaired, garbage and recycling is being picked up…
If these activities took place in the hustle and bustle of the day, they would get in the way. Restaurant kitchens wouldn’t be able to operate effectively, traffic would become gridlocked. When morning comes, the city has been cleaned and repaired, and is ready for another full day of operations.
Some Functions only Happen at Night
Inside your sleeping body, a similar set of jobs is being carried out that are vital to supporting your health.
These are your body’s nighttime routines that need to happen in order to keep things running smoothly 24 hours a day:
- Repair damage to muscles, organs and DNA
- Hormone production and release
- Process toxins for removal
- Process the day’s events emotionally
- Store long-term emotional and immune memories
The Physical Toll of a Poor Night’s Sleep
What happens if these functions aren’t carried out regularly or completely? Cellular repairs fall behind, hormones fall out of balance, toxins build up, emotions and memories aren’t completely processed, and immune information isn’t properly stored for the future.
Sleep and Poor Immune Health, A Vicious Cycle
Sleep loss can impact your immune system’s lines of defence by disrupting the chain of immune response functions and feedback loops that are designed to protect the body from future infection and disease.
Less Sleep, More Susceptibility to Infection
Research points to sleep loss having the strongest impact on targeted antibody resistance. This immune system function entails learning and remembering and only happens while you sleep. If you’re not getting good quality sleep on a regular basis, your immune system’s ability to produce some antibodies may be diminished, potentially making you more susceptible if that pathogen visits you again in the future. Several studies show that sleep loss increases the risk of an infection taking hold.
Sleep Loss and Menopause
Studies show that almost 70% of women in perimenopause and menopause regularly experience sleep loss. Why is that? Waking up restless and dripping with sweat in the middle of night doesn’t make for a good night’s sleep. And the less sleep you get, the worse the menopause-induced night sweats can get, leading to a cycle of menopause symptoms and sleeplessness.
Anxiety
Research also tells us that increased anxiety and depression, common symptoms of perimenopause, contribute significantly to many aspects of poor sleep including waking up often during the night, less time spent asleep and waking due to troubling dreams.
Inflammation Worsened by Sleeplessness
We have also learned that too little sleep, or a lack of quality sleep, results in increased levels of inflammatory markers and signs of cellular aging. Research tells us that ongoing poor quality sleep can trigger the type of low-grade, chronic inflammation that is characteristic of a wide range of lifestyle diseases such as heart disease, metabolism disorders, chronic pain, and even some cancers and neurodegenerative diseases.
Poor Sleep and Extra Pounds
Have you ever noticed looking slimmer after a period of regularly getting proper sleep? It seems too good to be true – lose weight by spending more time being sedentary? There are several reasons for this phenomenon.
Fat Stores Toxins
Did you know that fat cells store toxins? When your body is having trouble getting unknown toxins out of your system, it does the next best thing it can to protect itself: it imprisons them in fat so the toxins can’t damage the rest of your cells.
Nocturnal Satiety Hormones
Also, many hormones are produced and distributed through the body when we sleep, and that includes satiety hormones such as Ghrelin, which increases in the early hours in spite of the lack of food intake. Without this hormone’s effect it would not be unexpected to wake up with sugar and carb cravings that are in fact due to poor sleep quality.
When satiety hormones aren’t completing the cycles they should be throughout the day and night, you’re more likely to eat more and make poor food choices.
5 Steps to Better Sleep
“Sleep hygiene” isn’t just about a clean bedroom. It’s all the little things you can do to improve your chances of sleeping better and longer every night. Here are some of our best tips for a good night’s sleep:
1 – Don’t Eat Too Late
Digesting food is a huge task, using over 80% of the body’s energy. Ask your body to do this while you’re sleeping, and it won’t have the energy left to carry out that long list of overnight cleansing and healing functions. Even worse, digestion slows down at night, so it is best all round to avoid eating meals after 8pm.
2 – Work Out in the Morning, Yoga at Night
Resistance exercise does contribute to great sleep at night, but not when it’s done within an hour or two of bedtime. Doing gentler forms of exercise (like yoga) right before bed promotes longer, deeper sleep.
3 – Create a Consistent Sleep Routine
Our bodies love routine. Get up at the same time every morning, and your body will find it easier to wake up. Over time you will adapt and find yourself feeling sleepy even before you hit the sheets in the evening.
4 – Switch off Screens Before Bed
Research tells us that the blue light emitted by digital screens has a deep negative impact on your brain’s ability to switch off and sleep. Try to create a screen-free routine for the final hour leading up to your ideal bedtime.
5 – Fix Your Bedroom Environment
The environment you create in your bedroom can enable deep sleep, or it can be the biggest obstacle. Try to keep your bedroom as quiet as possible (invest in some ear plugs if necessary). Make sure you’re going to bed in the dark, as that is one of the main cues your brain is looking for to switch into sleep mode. And finally, research indicates that it’s much easier to get good quality sleep in a room that is a little cooler. Experiment with different temperatures to see what feels right for you.
Still Not Sleeping Properly? Marsden Centre Can Help!
The one-third of your life that you spend asleep directly sets you up for success and wellness in the other two-thirds of your life. If you are not feeling your best and suspect a poor night’s sleep may be to blame, our Naturopathic Doctors are here to help you uncover and address the root causes.
Let’s work together to design a personalized treatment plan with calming nutrients and effective lifestyle changes that will work for you. We can run tests to check your hormone and immune system function and see if chronic inflammation is present.
Give us a call to get started!
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