HOW AND WHY TO PRIORITIZE SLEEP

Sleep occupies one third of your life (!!), so there is no doubt that impaired sleep impacts your ability to function the next day. If you’ve experienced difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep and/or getting up in the morning, you’re not alone.

Continue reading to learn more about how sleep is needed for the whole system, tips on how to wind down in the evenings and natural interventions to enhance the onset and maintenance of restorative sleep.

HOW OUR BODY FALLS ASLEEP

Sleep onset involves a number of structures and hormones in the central nervous system. One important hormone that you may already know is melatonin. Fun fact! Melatonin is not just released in your brain (the pineal gland), it is also released in the digestive tract, skin and retina in your eye. Melatonin is produced from the amino acid tryptophan which is converted into serotonin and ultimately melatonin. This processes occurs at night, triggered by darkness.

Melatonin plays an important role in regulating your body’s natural circadian rhythm otherwise known as the sleep/wake cycle. The circadian rhythm sets the tone for the proper release of many of your hormones that are discussed in more detail below. Melatonin is also an antioxidant, plays a role in immune function and blood pressure regulation.

Once asleep, we cycle through REM (rapid eye movements) and NREM (non-rapid eye movements) every 90 minutes. Learn more about the sleep cycles here

WHAT HAPPENS WHILE WE SLEEP?

Your body gets to work at night! Sleep plays a role in:

• Muscle repair

• Memory consolidation

• Immune function

• Lymphatic detoxification of waste materials

• Mood: studies have shown prolonged sleep deprivation increases the risk for mood disturbances including depression and anxiety

• Hormone regulation: hormones also follow a circadian rhythm and imbalances are seen with sleep deprivation. Examples are hormones involved in stress (cortisol), insulin (blood sugar regulation), growth, repair and appetite

  • Sleep is important for the regulation of ghrelin (feeling of hunger) and leptin (feeling of fullness). Shift workers with altered circadian rhythms were shown to have increased ghrelin, leading to increased hunger higher caloric intake.

• Metabolism of glucose and triglycerides (sugar and fat!), lowering blood glucose and improving insulin sensitivity

A note on chronic pain: whether you have sore muscles, joints or other chronic pain, this can impact sleep and alternatively, poor sleep patterns can result in increased pain. Speak with your naturopathic doctor to determine the root cause of the pain and options for how to alleviate this.

WHAT COULD BE CAUSING INSOMNIA?

1. Fluctuating levels of estrogen and progesterone, either throughout your cycle or during peri-menopause/menopause, can impact the onset and maintenance of sleep.

2. Cortisol is the hormone that promotes wakefulness and plays a role in the stress response. It should spike in the morning to wake you up and gradually drop over the day so you feel fatigued at night. In prolonged periods of stress, this curve can be altered and either flip so you’re tired in the morning but wired at night, or even flatline causing fatigue throughout the day. High cortisol has a number of implications on mood, immune function, weight gain, sleep disturbance and more.

3. Thyroid: hyper- and hypothyroid can impact sleep and create feelings of fatigue.

Test, don’t guess! With proper diagnostic testing of the above, you and your doctor can navigate exactly what system needs to be supported and how.

The above sleep hygiene tips are a great starting point to improving the onset and maintenance of sleep. Further testing can target hormonal imbalances and help determine the best course of action for treatments.

START HERE! HOW TO PROMOTE SLEEP

Sleep Hygiene

1. Your body loves routine. Do your best to go to bed and wake up at similar times every day, even on weekends. Your body will adjust favourably to this habit. A regular schedule will optimize the circadian rhythm and improve the rhythmic hormonal release discussed above.

2. Wind down your mind with calming activities to alert your brain that it is getting ready for bed. A regular routine of warm baths, light stretching or yoga, reading a book, journaling and/or drawing is a nice way to finish off the day.

   Racing mind? “Wired but tired”? This could be a sign of an imbalanced cortisol curves, read more about this below under testing hormone levels below

3. Avoid blue light before bed (cell phones, lap tops, late night Netflix). Blue light delays melatonin production, increases alertness and resets the circadian rhythm. Consider using an eye mask or black out blinds to block out any street light. Light (even on the skin!) blocks melatonin production.

4. Try not to eat a large meal too late. Larger meals increase heat production from the body’s metabolic processes. Not a great feeling to be slightly uncomfortable and extra warm when you are trying to drift off! If you need a little snack, grab a light protein or nutrient-rich snack (like a handful of nuts and seeds). Recent studies show that small meals (under 200 calories) of nutrient-dense food may promote protein synthesis, especially when combined with a resistance-training exercise program.

5. Avoid stimulants after noon. Caffeine in coffee, black and green teas and sugar are metabolized at different rates for different people and could be impacting sleep onset.

6. If noise is bothersome for you, use white noise (fan, white noise machine) or ear plugs.

About the author

Dr. Whitney Baxter is a licensed naturopathic physician practicing in Victoria, BC. She graduated from Boucher Institute of Naturopathic Medicine, holds a BSc in Kinesiology and is a Certified Exercise Physiologist (ACSM). She is an avid runner and loves everything to do with mountain life on Vancouver Island, BC.

References

1. Sachdeva, J. (2019). Sleep Disorders in Chronic Pain. Pain

2. https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Education/Understanding-Sleep

3. How Blue Light Affects Kids and Sleep. Sleepfoundation.org

4. Kinsey, A. W., & Ormsbee, M. J. (2015). The health impact of nighttime eating: old and new perspectives. Nutrients, 7(4), 2648–2662. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu7042648

5. Snijders, T., Trommelen, J., Kouw, I., Holwerda, A. M., Verdijk, L. B., & van Loon, L. (2019). The Impact of Pre-sleep Protein Ingestion on the Skeletal Muscle Adaptive Response to Exercise in Humans: An Update. Frontiers in nutrition, 6, 17. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2019.00017

6. Gnocchi, D., & Bruscalupi, G. (2017). Circadian Rhythms and Hormonal Homeostasis: Pathophysiological Implications. Biology, 6(1), 10. https://doi.org/10.3390/biology6010010

7. Verkhratsky A, Nedergaard M, Steardo L, Li B. Editorial: Sleep and Mood Disorders. Front Psychiatry. 2020;10:981. Published 2020 Jan 16. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00981