Much like you can feed your hormones through nutrition and good stress management, you can also do a hormone good with sleep!
According to studies, not getting enough sleep is bad news for a whole host of hormones, including the hunger hormones ghrelin and leptin, insulin, cortisol and growth hormones (which would be huge for weight control!).
A study that significantly reduced men’s sleeping hours (but would be similar for women) for just two nights found that leptin levels reduced by almost 20% and at the same time, ghrelin levels jumped up by almost 30%. The combination of these hunger related hormones indicates that poor sleep stops you feeling full and triggers cravings for carb heavy calorific snacks (think Cookie Monster level cravings!).
Quality of sleep is also important as growth hormones are affected if your brain isn’t able to move through all of the sleep cycles during the night. These are at their highest during deep sleep cycles.
So now you know the importance of good sleep, let’s talk briefly about how you can make it happen:
A dark bedroom that is at optimum temperature for good sleep is a must. If any lights shine into your room, try blackout blinds to cut them out.
Switch off devices at least an hour before bed so that “blue light” doesn’t negatively affect your body’s melatonin levels.
Eat foods that get your body ready for sleep in the run up to bedtime.
A warm bath can prep your body for bed.
Will you be making changes to your sleep hygiene to get a better night’s sleep?
Want to create real change? Reach out today!
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