Why is Sleep so important to our overall well being?

Do you ever find yourself pooping out at parties! Remember when we went to parties?? In all seriousness, there is nothing funny about not getting enough sleep. There is an estimated 35% of Americans who do not get enough sleep. I am one of them.

Sleep affects all aspects of our being, systems, organs, tissues, and minds, which are supported or compromised by how much and how well we sleep.

As we work to count calories and steps logged, we might want to think about counting sheep to bring our wellness into balance.

Here’s why:

Did you know sleep helps manage our appetite and metabolism too!

There is an intricate web woven between your gut and your sleep. For those of us who constantly struggle with weight gain and a metabolism that goes backward, read on.

Lack of sleep not only affects your ability to concentrate, learn and remember, but also affects your mood swings, creating a fear-based mindset, among many other things.

Two hormones, Ghrelin and Leptin are the two strongest influencers of our gut microbiome. When they are balanced, you have a nighttime healing process that is optimal. They turn on and off your appetite, promote the release of growth hormone, help regulate long term energy, and promote the slow waves of NREM (that’s non REM sleep). The imbalance of the two hormones leads to cravings, stimulates hunger, increases fat storage, and slows metabolism. Sabotaging a healthy weight management plan.

These two are not the only hormones involved and I am greatly oversimplifying the whole process in order to catch your attention before you scroll on.

Sleep deprivation looks to play a key role in metabolism, which is something that many of us, as we age, wonder how we can increase. More sleep may be the answer.

Next week will explore what sort of dietary habits can help improve your gut and get you back to better sleep patterns.

Here are a few links if you wish to explore more!

Sweet dreams!

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6267703/

https://www.ideafit.com/mind-body-recovery/the-gut-sleep-connection/

https://www.sleepfoundation.org/articles/connection-between-sleep-and-overeating

If you would like to check out my first post on sleep you can find it right here: https://rippedgrandma.com/sleep-the-final-frontier/