Okay . . . so what should we talk about today???
How about . . . why is it so hard to fall asleep . . . or why do we wake in the middle of the night, only to not be able to get back to sleep???
This seems to be the question that so many of us have and want an answer to!
Well . . .the National Institute of Health estimates that 30% of the general population complains of sleep disruption and approximately 10% have associated symptoms of daytime functional impairment consistent with the diagnosis of insomnia.
That's more than 50 million Americans already suffer from over 80 different sleep disorders and another 20 to 30 million suffer intermittent sleep problems each year.
That's a ton of people out there that aren't sleeping well . . . are you one of them???
So let's try to figure this out and get you a good night's rest . . .
Okay . . . so we all know we need a good night sleep.
But . . . did you know . . . when the body becomes compromised, meaning a lack of "good" bacteria in our body . . . we find our sleep pattern leaves a lot to be desired. And this takes its toll on the mind, body, and overall health in ways you can't even imagine.
Research shows that chronic lack of sleep is linked to colds and flu, diabetes, heart disease, mental health and even obesity. Not only do we feel terrible in the morning . . . lack of sleep has a negative impact on our hormones. and we all know how important it is to keep our hormones healthy.
For example . . . the appetite-"suppressing" hormone called "leptin", has been found to be "decreased" after several nights of sleep deprivation. The appetite-"stimulating" hormone called "ghrelin" has been found to be "increased" after lack of sleep.
And what do these two hormones do to the body?
Simply said . . . when they are faced with lack of sleep, they encourage us to eat extra calories during the daytime hours. And if the wasn't bad enough . . . the more sleep deprived we are . . . the higher the level of the stress hormone called "cortisol" goes, "increasing" our appetite, stress, and BELLY FAT.
And you thought you were just tired. Little did you know that lack of sleep was a cause of weight issues and food cravings.
And we now know it can cause a fluctuation in the thyroid, testosterone, cortisol, progesterone, melatonin and/or growth hormones.
You know this sleep thing is kind of like, what came first? The chicken or the egg?
Because hormone imbalance causes sleep problems . . . and sleep problems causes hormone imbalance.
So what really triggers this whole ball rolling in the first place???
Well . . . tomorrow we'll figure that out.
As always, feel free to contact me here