Difficulty Sleeping?

As a Naturopathic Doctor in Mississauga, I commonly work with patients on sleep issues, including difficulty sleeping and insomnia.

Counting sheep not working? Having difficulty sleeping? Try these sleep tips

Poor sleep or insomnia can lead to poor energy, poor memory and performance at work.

Avoiding stimulants such as chocolate, caffeine and energy drinks (containing ephedra) can help, but sometimes this is just not enough to get out of the rhythm of poor sleep.

An easy and cheap fix is sometimes all one needs — here is a short video on how to do alternate nostril breathing. This type of breathing helps to boost melatonin (sleep hormone) and decrease cortisol (stress hormone). Doing this short exercise before bed can help to relax you into a peaceful slumber.

Forget counting sheep and check this out

Who here could get some more Z’s? Have a longer session with the “Sand man”?

Sleep is foundational to our mood, energy and hormone balance. If you are feeling tired or moody during the day and have    less-than-best waistline, improving your sleep quality could be the magic link to all of these. When we feel better, we can be more patient parents and have better performance at work.

To keep things simple, consider that cortisol is the ‘bad guy’ and melatonin is the ‘good guy’ when it comes to sleep quality. If you eat sugar late at night (after dinner) this stimulates an elevation in cortisol –> this in turn triggers a ‘wake up’ signal in the area of the brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (drop that word in a sentence at your next cocktail party). This area is in charge of your circadian rhythm (managing day and night time rhythms). As many of you know or have learned from previous sleep blogs, cortisol and melatonin cannot be elevated at the same time. 

So what is the take home message? Eating sugar at night leads to more wake-ups which leads to poor hormonal balance and more fatigue during the day.

What’s a better option? Fortify your dinner with more complex carbohydrates (root veggies, brown rice) good fats (avocado, evoo, grassfed butter) and healthy proteins so that you go into the evening feeling comfortably satiated. This way, your cortisol can naturally decrease after the sunsets and give you the deep, restful snoozing that you deserve.

Pass this hot tip along to any one you know who is having sleep woes…

For more information on how Naturopathic medicine can help if you are having difficulty sleeping come in for an appointment today

-Dr. Kirsten Almon Naturopathic Doctor in Mississauga at Erin Mills Optimum Health

Other blogs on sleep include:

what to do if pain is preventing you from sleeping

Having difficulty sleeping?

Worst sleeping postures