5 Surprising Benefits of Sleep for Peri-menopausal Women
My clients get sick of hearing me say this but I’m going to say it again…getting enough sleep is crucial for our physical and mental health. And in peri menopause and menopause it becomes even more crucial to balance those hormones and lose that weight.
Oh I hear you! ‘But how?’ you are screaming at me!
Here’s what you need to know about the importance of sleep for your hormones and your weight!
1. A good night’s sleep is essential for hormonal regulation. Hormones have a role beyond reproduction and control our appetite, stress response and metabolism. A good night sleep helps smooth the hormonal transition.
2. Sleeping helps maintain good mental health. A lack of sleep is linked to anxiety, depression and other mood disorders. We’re way more susceptible in peri menopause because of the hormonal shifts so lets not make it worse!
3. When we sleep we consolidate memories and strengthen our neural connections for memory and learning. Got brain fog and can’t remember where the car is? Get some sleep! It’s not all the fault of peri menopause!
4. A good night sleep regulates cortisol. If cortisol becomes raised from lack of our body is encouraged to put weight on and hold onto what we already have as well as crave high carb foods that are easy energy in that fight and flight state. At this age we are super busy, super stressed and hormonal shifts make us more susceptible to higher levels of cortisol so turn off Netflix, the washing will still be there tomorrow, and go get some sleep.
5. Sleep has been linked to heart health. Menopausal women have a greater risk of heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure so reduce the risk go and get some sleep.
What can we do to help get the sleep we need? Here’s 5 tips to get you snoozing!
Wake up at the same time everyday! Research shows that it’s not just the time we go to bed that is important but when we wake up to ensure we finish our last 90min sleep cycle. Waking before the last sleep cycle has finished can leave us feeling even more exhausted. Check out https://sleepcalculator.com/ to see when to get to bed!
Cut out tea/coffee/caffeinated drinks after 12pm. This may seem obvious but how many of us resort to an afternoon cuppa to get through the afternoon slump? Have a cup of chamomile or a mix with passionflower in it instead.
Skip the alcohol. Anyone else get ‘the red wines’? It’s that anxiety riddled waking at about 3am after a glass or 3 of alcohol. This is your liver getting extra active trying to process the alcohol. If your liver is busy with alcohol it’s also too busy to metabolise your hormones leaving them even more imbalanced. Alcohol also results in a much lighter, more disturbed sleep.
Turn off the screens at least 30min before bed or at the very least put a blue light filter on. We’re very basic creatures. Our bodies respond to daylight by waking up. The blue light emitted from our screens mimics daylight. Put a filter on it, or better still turn it off!
And on that note get early morning and early evening light. It helps reset your circadian rhythm by regulating melatonin. Go for a walk or do some yoga in the morning light or just have a cuppa. And in the evening have a long gulp of water or a stroll with a loved one while you bask in the last light of the day. Awesome way to reduce cortisol as well that can plague our sleep when it’s dysregulated.
Build a sleep routine! Follow it religiously so your body trusts that when you start this routine you are going to bed and to sleep. Here’s an example: have a warm shower or bath, brush your teeth, put on some nice face or hand cream, read a few pages of a book, put your head on the pillow and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz………….simple huh?
For more tips on having a smooth and sparkly transition to menopause come follow me on instagram at @thehormonenutrtionist or Facebook @thehormonenutritionistwithsimplyhealing
Have a wonderful, sparkly day!