How Stress Affects Sleep

I’m at a conference about genetics and health, and what do we talk about? Sleep and Stress.

That’s because stress and lack of sleep are two of the biggest reasons why pathways determined by genes stop working well.

We all know that dreaded scenario when we are super stressed out and trying to fall asleep… it just doesn't happen. What might not be apparent is that so much more is involved in that night of restless sleep.

Our capability to deal with life’s daily stressors is regulated by the body’s endogenous stress hormone, called cortisol.

Cortisol has an effect on:

* hormones

* digestion

* blood sugar

* weight

* neurotransmitters

* sleep

In the digestion, stress causes Leaky gut. With leaky gut, the body is in a constant state of inflammation, which undoubtedly raises your cortisol more. This body-wide inflammation affects your nervous system as well. This leads to what I refer to as “an inflamed brain.”

Increased cortisol throws off blood sugar. Dysregulated blood sugar spikes and drops throughout the day and especially in the middle of the night, can wake you up. This easily avoidable pattern of night-time waking prevents you from getting the adequate/necessary rest.

Cortisol can be to blame for extra belly fat, that no matter how much exercise and dieting a person implements, does not seem to decrease or go away. Excess weight disrupts sleep.

Cortisol has a profound effect on neurotransmitter function.

High cortisol can increase the presence of excitatory neurotransmitters: glutamate, histamine, and dopamine, norepinephrine, epinephrine (adrenaline). When these levels are high, you experience anxiety, irritability, racing thoughts, and allergic reactions, and of course more sleep issues.

High cortisol can also exhaust and overtax the inhibitory neurotransmitters: serotonin and GABA, which are calming to the nervous system. Without them, sleep is more difficult.

As you can tell, cortisol truly does run the show. We are all exposed to stress and that makes it all the more reason to address it. But don’t just guess your levels – have your cortisol and neurotransmitter levels tested. And then learn to address the imbalances with diet changes, herbs, nutrients, exercise, and other lifestyle modifications.

By supporting your body with stress and helping yourself to get better sleep, you’ll be preventing genetically determined predispositions.

For help with addressing your sleep, check out how I support patients here: https://doctordoni.com/pdfs/Dr-Doni-Wilson_Natural-Sleep-Solutions-Package.pdf

#sleepyhead #sleepy #cortisol #stressed #stress #stressedout