Hormones and Sleep Problems

Man sleeping

Important Healthy Habits

 

Sleep is one of the most important healthy habits you can develop or maintain as part of your lifestyle. Hormones and sleep problems tend to affect women more than men, especially as women approach menopause. What you may not know is that sleep impacts your hormones, and your hormones impact your sleep. With this vicious cycle, how do you manage both? 

 

Let’s start by understanding what sleep does for you. 

 

Benefits of Good Sleep

 

Good sleep has a direct impact on your brain, your mood, immune system, blood sugar, and weight control, to name a few important correlations. 

 

See if this scenario is familiar: 

 

After hitting the snooze button for the last possible time, you roll out of bed, already looking forward to climbing back in that night. Even your second cup of coffee is no match for the fatigue you feel after a night of tossing and turning. Your body is going to do whatever it can to survive and will often tell you it’s craving sugar and carbs as it looks for a boost. And good luck focusing on work for the day – poor sleep makes it tough to concentrate and stay sharp. Now you’re headed home and you’re irritable as you make dinner, help with homework and hear about your partner’s day. 

 

Unfortunately, this is a common scenario and most of us have been here to one degree or another. 

 

According to Healthline, these are 10 benefits of sleep: 

  • May help you lose weight 
  • Can improve productivity 
  • Maximize athletic performance 
  • May strengthen your heart 
  • Affect sugar metabolism 
  • Poor sleep is linked to depression 
  • Supports a healthy immune system 
  • Poor sleep is linked to increased inflammation 
  • Affects your emotions 
  • Lack of sleep can be dangerous for you and others 

 

Your hormones are tied to so many functions in the body and if you aren’t sleeping well, your body isn’t able to produce what it needs to thrive. Hormones and sleep are intricately connected, it’s a yin and yang sort of thing. 

 

How Hormones Affect Your Sleep

 

Getting adequate sleep helps your body produce and manage hormones such as cortisol, estrogen, and melatonin, and others. At the same time, a hormone like melatonin helps you control sleep patterns and tell your body when to sleep and when to wake up. 

 

Cortisol is a hormone that depends on your sleep to release appropriately into your body. If you are struggling with duration and quality of sleep, you may not be able to get the full release of cortisol. Without enough cortisol, you could have a difficult time managing your stress, which can lead to overeating, anxiety and other health problems. 

 

Beating the Cycle of Poor Sleep

 

Environmental factors that affect sleep should be given attention. Turn off electronics a few hours before going to bed. Give your body time to digest food before going to sleep. Implement breathing exercises or use essential oils such as lavender to relax. 

 

You may also need to have your hormone levels evaluated. The key to optimizing your hormones and sleep is to discover what your body is lacking and supplement with natural therapy. 

 

Based on blood tests for accurate understanding of your hormone levels we can customize the exact mix of hormones you need to get better sleep and actually wake up feeling rested and refreshed. 

 

Bio-identical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) provides men and women to feel like themselves again and reclaim energy and enjoyment. Sleep is a huge part of that wholeness, and we want to help you get the zzzzz’s you need to breeze through your day. 

 

Feel your best and experience what BHRT can do for you. Start your journey by downloading our free e-book and scheduling a free consultation to meet our team and ask your questions. 

 

Other Resources:
Sleep Health for Women

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