Sleep And Your Gut

 

Sleep And Your Gut

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Ever had a decision you had to make and you said to yourself  “I should have gone with my gut.”?

Like when you ordered that dish at a restaurant and then when it arrived you second-guessed yourself? Why do we say that? Was there more to the decision-making process than what’s located between our ears?

The term “Going with your gut” may have more weight to it than we originally had thought!

More and more research is coming out about the gut and the effects it has on overall health.

In this post, we are going to explore how your gut can be affecting your sleep.

People are now calling your gut “the second brain”

Why?

  • The gut has its own nervous system: Called “Enteric Nervous System” ENS

  • Contains (ready for this) over 500 million neurons

  • Just for reference: spinal cord has about 100 million

  • So 5x more nerves in your gut than in your spinal cord? They must be there for a reason

Why so many nerves in the gut?

  • Gut creates 90% of the serotonin in the body

  • Serotonin is a precursor to melatonin

  • SEROTONIN is an appetite suppressant (the more we have/produce the less we want to eat and vice-versa), BONUS!

  • It regulates mood (the more we have, the happier we tend to be) 

  • Also if we are backed up or ate the wrong foods =  release is INHIBITED and puts us in a bad mood

  • Healthy gut...good foods….good mood...good sleep

  • It's a one-way communication to the brain: The gut is connected to the brain via the vagus nerve and it's almost a one-way street. About 90% of the information is traveling from your gut to your brain!

Listen to this: research article

Role of the Gut Microbiome in Obstructive Sleep Apnea-Induced Hypertension

  • In the American Heart Association “AHA Hypertension Edition” journal

  • So we know people with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are at increased risk for systemic hypertension.

  • What we didn’t know...poor gut health “gut dysbiosis”  (bacteria) makes your HTN WORSE!

  • How did they find that out: 2 ways

    • 1) Rats were fed a very poor diet and simulated to have apnea (balloon around airway)  and blood pressure went up

    • 2) Fecal transplant from unhealthy and hypertensive rats into healthy rats elevated their blood pressure as well

Signs of an “unhealthy gut”

  • Upset stomach: gas, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, and reflux/heartburn 

  • Mood disorders: Depression, anxiety, poor sleep

  • abdominal pain.

  • Cramps.

  • nausea (with or without vomiting)

  • Headaches

  • body aches.

  • chills (with or without fever)

How do we get “gut dysbiosis”

  • High-sugar diet: processed foods added sugars can decrease the amount of good bacteria in your gut. This imbalance can cause increased sugar cravings, which can damage your gut still further. 

  • High amounts of refined sugars, particularly high-fructose corn syrup, have been linked to increased inflammation in the body. 

  • Inflammation can be the precursor to a number of diseases and even cancers.

Ways To Start Improving Your Gut Health Today

  • Eat your veggies (eat the rainbow)

    • Added bonus is fiber

  • Eat plenty of prebiotic-rich foods

    • Pre-biotics = not probiotics (bacteria)

    • Pre-biotics = non-digestible fiber that provides food = energy for probiotics bacteria

    • bananas, onion, garlic, veggies (brussels sprouts and broccoli) (cruciferous vegetables)

  • Eat more natural probiotics (not supplements)

    • Yogurt and fermented foods (kimchi, kombucha, miso sauerkraut)

  • Lot’s of water...minimal alcohol consumption

  • Avoid processed foods = inflammatory

  • Try to eat organic as much as possible

    • Glyphosate (aka roundup) = weed killer and sprayed on GMO crops to kill weeds but keep the crop alive

    • Monsanto made $4.8 Billion just in 2015

    • Research has shown it can lead to leaky gut syndrome

    • Intestinal wall breakdown

    • Glyphosate is most heavily used weed killer in history

      • Since 1974 = 18.9 BILLION pounds have been used around the world.

      • ⅔’s of that has been in last 10 years

      • Big problem

What does all this have to do with sleep?

  • Gut in distress is like anxiety in your brain

  • Distress (aka inflammation) over long enough time will become DIS-EASE

  • Chronic disease will kill your sleep and will ruin your overall quality of life.

So next time you are about to shove some junk food into your mouth, especially close to bedtime, you may want to think twice!

And don’t just listen to your brain….Trust Your Gut!

Jay Khorsandi