Anyone who suffers from insomnia and has trouble sleeping well should do everything in their power to achieve uninterrupted sleep and enjoy a restful night’s sleep. Online, you can find numerous guides that offer natural remedies to help you peacefully fall asleep and sleep well. You can also consult excerpts from theses and scientific articles that address the issue in great detail. In this short article, we’ll discuss the sleep hormone and explore the relationship between hormones and good sleep.
Not being able to sleep well
Sooner or later, we all face minor sleep-related issues. When an important life event occurs, we may experience mixed emotions. Sudden changes at work (whether positive or negative), shifting schedules, relationships that begin or end. Situations that are hard to make sense of or involve a high degree of uncertainty can temporarily disrupt our balance and undermine our ability to sleep well. Anxiety, fear, distress, a lack of confidence in the future, and a reluctance to trust others are all emotions and states of mind that can keep us awake for hours and deprive us of restful sleep at night.
Poor sleep: performance anxiety
Those who are light sleepers or have trouble falling asleep are even more affected by these kinds of issues. So, every night, it becomes a real adventure filled with expectations and tension. This is also because, over time, additional anxiety builds up around the issue. It’s not just the fear of not getting enough rest that creeps in—with all that entails for the success of the next day’s tasks—but also the dread of having to face too many hours before dawn breaks. The night is long for those who can’t sleep well, and the hours spent tossing and turning in bed are a real nightmare. Hours during which our body keeps asking us to enter a rest phase. But, despite physical and mental fatigue, we can’t fall asleep.
Performance anxiety begins to affect people even in the hours leading up to their usual bedtime. Tossing and turning under the covers all night long becomes a real source of stress. Even if you try to find some relief by changing positions, in reality, excessive movement under the covers is a real warning sign. The stress generated by hope—by the failed attempt to sleep well—is a real enemy to the mental and physical health of any individual, but especially of those who are more sensitive.
What are hormones and what do they do?
We don’t usually associate sleep with hormone production. But a closer look can help us understand a great deal about this connection. Hormones are molecules released by glands in the endocrine system into our bloodstream. Hormones act like messengers: they carry information from one tissue to another, enabling different cells to communicate with one another. Many of the processes and functions we consider vital are regulated by hormones. These include individual growth, sexual development and reproduction, metabolic functions, mood, and our mental state. Another example? While you sleep, the pituitary gland releases growth hormone, which helps your body grow and repair itself.
Hormones and Sleep
The sleep hormone par excellence is melatonin—the most important one, but not the only one. Sex hormone levels, which vary with age, can significantly influence how we sleep. Many of the activities we engage in during the day—going to work, jogging, making love with a partner, using a tablet in bed at night, taking the train—can directly influence our hormone levels and thus affect the quality of our sleep.
Understanding how the sleep hormone works and visualizing the connections between good sleep and overall hormone production can help us improve our well-being between the sheets.
A proper balance between hormones and sleep is, in fact, an indicator of good sleep quality and, consequently, of well-being in terms of vital functions. It has been found that a lack of sufficient sleep leads to spikes in ghrelin levels and a decrease in leptin levels.
Hormones and Sleep: Ghrelin
Ghrelin is a hormone produced in the stomach, small intestine, pancreas, and brain. It is also called the hunger hormone because of its role in stimulating appetite, increasing food intake, and promoting fat storage. How does ghrelin affect our ability to sleep well? Increased feelings of hunger—or even just the activation of appetite during the night—can disrupt sleep. So, when you don’t sleep, you’re more likely to indulge in some guilty pleasures, not to mention actual late-night snacks and meals that can throw our metabolism off balance.
Here are some tips for keeping ghrelin in check:
01. Aerobic exercise
Outdoor sports, stationary bikes, spinning, and treadmill running can block the production of ghrelin and the resulting onset of hunger for up to two hours.
02. High-Protein Diet and Healthy Fats
Foods that are low in saturated fat and high in protein help reduce ghrelin production. But let’s not forget the healthy fats found in fish, meat, and eggs.
03. Active metabolism
Don’t cram all your nutrition into just two or three meals. Try to spread out your calorie intake by eating more frequently throughout the day. How? By eating smaller meals, which helps keep your metabolism fast and active while reducing feelings of hunger.
04. Anticipating Stress
Stress is often accompanied by a feeling of hunger. But when it comes to stress, you can stay one step ahead. You work for hours, weeks, and months to reduce the stress of a potentially chaotic day at the office. That way, when everything seems to be falling apart and stress gets the better of you, you’ll always have a little extra energy left to take long, deep, and life-saving breaths.
The Sleep Hormone: Let’s Learn About Melatonin
Many of you have surely heard of the sleep hormone, melatonin. Melatonin is released by the pineal gland and is the hormone that regulates sleep patterns. Levels of the sleep hormone rise during the night, making you feel sleepy. Production peaks between 2:00 and 4:00 a.m.
Melatonin is produced by the pineal gland, located in the brain. This endocrine gland secretes the sleep hormone in a continuous cycle. It acts as a sort of perpetual source, with its output regulated based on the type of light exposure. The darker it is, the more melatonin is produced; the more light there is, the less melatonin is produced.
Supplementing the sleep hormone
Many of us like to fall asleep while watching TV, which is why we keep one in our bedroom. The truth is that light sources interfere with sleep and reduce the chances of getting a good night’s rest. That’s why there’s an option to adjust the screen settings on smartphones and tablets. At a certain time, as the sun sets, the screen will gently begin to dim, switching to a more relaxing and less visually stimulating mode.
Melatonin production is influenced not only by light or the lack of light, but also by subjective factors. This may help explain, at least in part, why some people are able to sleep well and others are not. Older adults, for example, who produce less melatonin, are known to tend to wake up very early in the morning.
Is it possible to supplement the sleep hormone that the body cannot produce on its own?
The earth provides many products that naturally contain melatonin, such as certain fruits, extra virgin olive oil, and rice bran oil. There are also dietary supplements available that can help balance low levels of this sleep-regulating hormone. These tablets are widely available and easily found on the shelves of most supermarkets in the supplements section.
The good news is that these products are not habit-forming and have few contraindications. In any case, it’s always a good idea to discuss your sleep and any potential medication with your doctor. Professional advice regarding dosage and how to take the supplements is always necessary before starting any treatment.
Who takes a melatonin-based dietary supplement and why?
Anyone who has trouble sleeping well can take a supplement containing the hormone that regulates sleep by taking melatonin before bed. The important thing is not to take it in the middle of the day—when you have a lot to do and risk falling asleep. Hormonal balance is essential not only for sleeping soundly and restfully, but also for navigating the various challenges of daily life.
Lack of sleep and a tendency to gain weight
There are many problems associated with a lack of sleep and the absence of deep sleep, not least of which is a tendency to gain weight. How many people who suffer from insomnia get out of bed and give in to hunger pangs?
It has been scientifically proven that hormones and sleep go hand in hand. This dynamic duo also affects our sense of appetite.
Ghrelin is a direct consequence of not being able to sleep. It’s a sort of “gift” from the body, which tries to compensate for the lack of sleep by stimulating appetite. The picture is complete when you consider that, at the same time, lack of sleep lowers the production of leptin, the hormone responsible for the feeling of fullness. Increased appetite and reduced satiety are simply the direct consequences of not getting enough sleep.
Is there, then, a light at the end of this dead-end tunnel? Not without first considering another hormone. Although not directly considered responsible for the sleep cycle, it can be produced as a result of sleep deprivation: cortisol.
Cortisol is known as the stress hormone. When you start to worry or feel the intense frustration caused by not being able to sleep, cortisol production may increase and begin to enter the bloodstream. What does this lead to?
To fat accumulation.
So, if our bodies are a whirlwind of hormones ready to kick into action and stimulate us, why not put them to work for us once we understand how they work?
Adopting a healthy lifestyle is the first step toward understanding the relationship between sleep and hormones.
What are the most common sleep disorders besides classic insomnia?
Some people have trouble falling asleep. Once they do fall asleep, however, they don’t wake up again—at least not until the end of their sleep cycle. In some cases, this can become a problem because they tend to wake up late, given the time lost trying to fall asleep. Jet lag is another factor to consider; if not properly managed, it can lead to persistent difficulty concentrating.
What tips can you follow to help you fall asleep?
The way people’s lives are organized today doesn’t make it easy to fall asleep peacefully. There’s always one more worry, something that takes priority. Whether it’s work or family responsibilities, illness, or vague concerns. In today’s world, insomnia is almost the norm—it’s extremely common and even socially accepted.
The endless list of obstacles that prevent sleep isn’t something that can be easily resolved. With some personal issues, you learn to live with them for months or even years. In doing so, you learn that it’s possible to make personal changes to adopt a new approach to sleep. In general, here are a few simple tips:
• Go to bed at a set time.
• Try to get the same amount of sleep every night.
Because sleeping well is all about rhythm, just like dancing well. This consistency should be maintained even on weekends, because what we’re really after is the power of consistency itself—as a benefit for the body.
What to do if you can't sleep
Many people keep trying to sleep even when it’s clear they’ll never fall asleep.
If, after fifteen minutes—or half an hour at most—you realize you can’t fall asleep, it’s best to get out of bed. Change your surroundings and start doing a quiet activity that can help you relax. And you should only go back to bed when you’re truly very tired and feeling sleepy.
When to see a specialist
When sleep deprivation has persisted for some time and is affecting your quality of life, you should consult a specialist. This will allow for a more in-depth investigation into any potential causes of insomnia that may not yet have been considered. These could be psychological in nature, or related to a lack of physical activity or diet.
The role of food in this context should not be underestimated. It is impossible to sleep well without making wise choices. Leading a healthy lifestyle, in every single aspect, will directly result in an optimization of your sleep patterns.