The Importance of Sleep for Maintaining Healthy Aging Processes
Snoozefest 101: Make Every Shut-Eye Count
Getting enough zzz's is more than just a recipe for a good mood. It's a vital ingredient in the recipe for a long, healthy life. Here's why slowing down and catching some quality dreamland action is a priority if you want to age gracefully and keep those wrinkles at bay.
Most folks oscillate between seven to nine hours of sleep each night like it's no big deal. But, if you happen to be one of the fairer sex, you might need a few more Z's.
As our bodies wind down for a nightly rest, it cycles through different stages of sleep around five times. Each stage is like a piece of the sleep puzzle – essential for the body's various repair and rejuvenation processes. Skipping out or interrupting these crucial zammbies can lead to some nasty health consequences.
One such consequence is the disruption of the glymphatic system, a magical waste-removing system in our noggin that gets up to speed during those deep, peaceful sleeps. This cleaner-in-chief flushes toxins and goo from the brain, keeping our cognitive functions humming along. But, when the sleep time is slim, this detoxification process goes for a toss, potentially hastening cognitive decline and various neurodegenerative illnesses.
Sleep quality also has a big impact on the hormones governing hunger, satiety, stress, and calorie burning. Here's a quick rundown of how those hormones behave when you've been pulling all-nighters:
Leptin: This heroic hormone helps us to feel full, decreases our appetite, and increases our energy expenditure. When we're sleep deprived, leptin production takes a hit, making it hard to feel satisfied, leading to overeating and weight gain – hello, obesity!
Ghrelin: Dubbed the hunger hormone, ghrelin revs up when we're skimping on sleep, increasing our appetite and making it a struggle to feel full after our meals. Sounds like a cozy night in with a tub of ice cream, right?
These hormonal shenanigans contribute to overeating, making weight gain an all too familiar friend – a major player in age-related diseases like type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Sleep also stirs up more of the stress hormone, cortisol. Elevated cortisol encourages our bodies to store fat, particularly around the midsection. But that's not all – it cranks up chronic stress, which is underlying cause of many age-related diseases and speeds up the aging process by boosting inflammation and oxidative stress. It even messes with insulin levels, triggering cravings for sugary and carb-rich foods.
Poor sleep also gives our blood sugar regulation a not-so-friendly boot, bumping up blood sugar levels and decreasing insulin sensitivity, putting us at a higher risk for developing type 2 diabetes, chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, and cardiovascular disease.
As if that's not enough, skimping on proper sleep sets off a domino effect of other health woes: increased cortisol levels can lead to chronic inflammation, negatively affecting liver and gut health, disrupting the balance of gut bacteria, leading to dysbiosis, and causing gastrointestinal issues.
To top it off, that disruption stirs up a storm in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, creating a feedback loop that fuels stress and poor sleep due to the high cortisol levels and chronic stress that keep you wide awake between 2-4am.
But don't throw in the towel just yet. Prioritizing good sleep hygiene can significantly improve how you age and how you feel daily. So, embrace the relaxation routine and reap the rewards of restorative slumber!
Top Tips for Dreamy Sleep
- Stop staring at screens with blue light after 7pm. Opt for blue light filtering glasses or the night shift mode on your devices.
- Get your daily dose of sunshine in the morning to help regulate melatonin (sleep hormone) production.
- Work on managing stress and controlling those cortisol levels through rest, relaxation, spending time in nature, and protein-rich meals.
- Say no to coffee on an empty stomach or after 11am.
- Consult a naturopath to get to the root causes of those sleep issues.
Written by Michaela Sparrow, founder of The Longevity Remedy.
Did You Know?
Hormonal imbalances caused by poor sleep can disrupt sleep quality, leading to a vicious cycle of increased hormone disruption and poor sleep. Evidence even suggests that one night of poor sleep can impair hormonal balances the same way as a week of chronic sleep loss would.
Sleep apnea can affect hormonal homeostasis, impairing sleep quality and increasing the risk of various health issues such as diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.
Progesterone, known for its role in supporting pregnancy, also serves as a crucial regulator of GABA receptors, promoting relaxation and sleep. Fluctuations in progesterone levels can negatively impact sleep quality, particularly in the perimenopausal and menopausal phases.
Estrogen levels also play a role in determining sleep quality, with decreased estrogen levels during menopause leading to fragmented sleep and increased wakefulness periods.
- Prioritizing good sleep hygiene, including avoiding blue light from screens after 7pm, getting morning sunlight, managing stress, avoiding caffeine on an empty stomach or after 11am, and considering consulting a naturopath for sleep issues, can help preserve health-and-wellness and potentially slow down aging, particularly in women.
- Hormonal imbalances caused by poor sleep can have a vicious circle effect, disrupting sleep quality and exacerbating the consequences of sleep deprivation. For instance, progesterone, a hormone important in supporting pregnancy and promoting relaxation, can affect sleep quality in women during perimenopausal and menopausal phases.
