The result of not sleeping is much more serious than you think. Yes, you can wake up overtired, moody, mentally foggy, having poor energy levels without the alertness to handle tasks as you should. There are alarming things that happen when you do not sleep consistently. Chronic sleep deprivation can lead to depression, weight gain, premature aging by a major reduction in growth hormone which is released during sleep, increased inflammation, decreased immune function and many dysfunctions in the body. More importantly, if you do not get good quality sleep or enough sleep it can take years off your life. It is important as a goal to get a minimum of 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night. There is a study by the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine that showed a 400% increase in cancer for those who sleep less than 6 hours a night. Lack of sleep actually triples your chance of these conditions. It seems to be one of the first things people decide they can disregard in terms of health. People think if they work out and eat somewhat healthy that is the end all. Your sleep cycle is so important for your long-term health.
Our sleep is critical for repairing and rejuvenating our bodies in many ways. This is when your body has its major detoxification process.
Sleep is also a hormone-dependent process, and with all the variables in our lives that can affect proper hormone balance (processed foods, chemicals, toxins, artificial light, stress, medications) it makes sense that many people struggle with sleep. A powerful hormone called cortisol controls the normal rhythm of sleep and when cortisol becomes unbalanced so does your sleep and your health. Your adrenal glands work hard to keep you in balance they are responsible for maintaining your body weight, moderating your stress response, regulating blood sugar, controlling inflammation and most importantly regulating sleep and wake cycles.
Nutrition is a major key to balancing blood sugar and hormones to fill in the gaps and get things realigned from a lifetime of deficiencies.
Sleep actually helps you hit the ‘Save’ button on all the learning and memories you make during the day so that you can retain information. There is a huge difference between “being used to not sleeping” being able to function on less than 5 hours of sleep and truly thriving on 7 or 8 hours.
There are strategic nutrition and organic supplementations that can give your body the nutrients and precursors it needs to sleep. When you eat is as important as what you are eating.
Nutrition and Supplementation increase optimal health and vitality without the side effects and problems of prescription medications. Understandably, sometimes medications are needed for short-term use, however, when we use medications, we are not actually in a natural sleep but rather, simulated sleep. Together, let’s get to the root cause of the issue doing some detective work to find out why you have sleep issues, rather than masking the symptoms.
If you’re interested in sleeping more, sleeping better, and feeling better, contact me at 919-382-0288 or kim@bullcitypsychotherapy.com. I am a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, Certified GAPS and Restorative Wellness Practitioner. I can develop bio individual nutrition and supplementation protocols to support your optimal health, weight loss and deficiencies that create symptoms, mood imbalances, and disease. I also utilize a natural foundational approach to rebuilding health, which includes high-performance foods and resources to fuel a sustainable shift in your life for permanent results.
Her focus is on providing whole, nutrient dense foods as the key elements for more energy, to stabilize sugar cravings, to reduce inflammation, balance hormones, improved sleep, reduce allergies, be less symptomatic, reduce body fat and continue down the path of anti-aging and optimizing health.