How to Avoid Nap Time & Get Better Sleep

Do you have trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or waking up because you finally fell asleep?!

As a stressed out Super WoMOM, it’s difficult to shut down the brain. All you want to do is sleep, but your body refuses to get into the Zen Zone. You toss and turn, annoy the hell out of your spouse, or sometimes rack 3,000 steps while under the covers!

Most of us rely on over-the-counter melatonin to catch our Zzzz’s, so much that our society is immune to its effectiveness.

Melatonin is a hormone in your body that is responsible for regulating your sleep cycles and helping your sleep wake cycle. Your pineal gland and gut are responsible for producing that melatonin. The gut contains at least 400 times more melatonin than the pineal gland. (1) When I see low melatonin levels on a client’s stress hormone panel test it’s an immediate clue about their gut health as deficiency in melatonin have been linked to increase permeability of the gut.  

Fun fact: You are a diurnal animal. When the sun starts to set melatonin is released because it’s time for bed!  

You can help regulate your sleep, avoid the day time naps and promote more relaxed, restful sleep by helping your body produce melatonin when you need it. If you are having trouble sleeping, try a few of these tips before you turn to medication.

• Test don’t guess. What’s the state of your gut health? Find out by taking a Stress & Hormone panel or GI Map test. Contact me for more details.
• Say “no” to electronic devices and gadgets in bed. Make your bed a sacred space. The blue light produced by our phones, laptops, TVs, and tablets may be counteracting your body’s attempts to produce melatonin. When in bed read, journal, color, or have sex.
• Drink chamomile tea. Chamomile tea has melatonin in it. Drink a warm cup of it in the evening to help your body relax, de-stress, and prepare for restful sleep.
• Shower or take a relaxing bath. Warm water relaxes tense muscles and restores your mind. According to research by Loughborough University in Leicester, the relaxing effect of taking a bath before going to bed helps increase the production of melatonin in your body. This is because taking baths and showers reduces the level of the stress hormone cortisol in your body, allowing your body to produce melatonin instead.
• Choose your late-night snacks appropriately. You wake in the middle of the night from a blood sugar dip. Maintain healthy blood sugar by swapping a high sugar snack or alcoholic beverage with a snack high in protein and health fat. It is also helpful to avoid trying to sleep on an empty or full stomach; both can leave your body focused on processes other than sleep.

Schedule a Break thru the Gut Rut strategy call with me today to start understanding your reactive foods and how to balance your system to start feeling good. Schedule your session here-> BREAK THRU

Be Gutsy as a Mother,

-Mary