Sleep - Part 2
Sleep Hormones
Cortisol & Melatonin
Melatonin plays an important role in our sleep. We only usually think about it helping with sleep, but that’s actually a minor role in our body. Melatonin’s main job is as an antioxidant and cleans up any stray free radicals that have accumulated throughout the day. Sleep is a potent time for rejuvenation, detoxification, and “cleaning up” the body.
Our pineal gland starts producing more melatonin throughout the evening, and peaks production between 10pm – midnight.
Cortisol plays an inverse role with melatonin. Cortisol, our wake up and stress hormone, peaks at noon and heads down throughout the afternoon. Its lowest point is at midnight, when melatonin is at it’s highest.
The dance between cortisol and melatonin is crucial!
If your cortisol levels are low, then you may not get the right trigger to make melatonin. If you go to bed too late and lose out on some melatonin, then you might not make as much cortisol the next day…making you more sleepy through the day.
Nutritional deficiencies & Melatonin
Common nutritional deficiencies can play a role in melatonin production. Specifically, B vitamins, which are usually known for boosting energy, indirectly help your sleep by helping your body produce more melatonin.
Hint: During stressful times, your body gobbles up huge amounts of B Vitamins to keep you going. Taking a B complex (a very inexpensive supplement) can be helpful for both your energy during the day and your sleep at night.
This pathway is very complex and really shows how interrelated everything is. A healthy diet, full of whole foods, will cover all of these nutrients. And/but - sometimes digestive issues, like low stomach acid, can throw a wrench into everything. Everything is related, so helping your digestion might just help you get more Zzzzzzzs.
This is a common theme in my work as a nutritionist - everything is related. When a core issue is resolved, so many seemingly unrelated things resolve too. It often feels magical :).
Hormones & Sleep
Yes. The hormone changes in perimenopause and menopause DO affect your sleep. But you already knew that (since you’re probably not sleeping very well right now…)
That’s why this updated version of your Sleep Masterclass includes an entire Part on Peri- & Menopause and Sleep. Head over to Part 3 now :)
Do you have any questions? If so, jump onto our private Facebook group :)