Want to Sleep Better?

Start Waking Up Better.
BayouHealth by Shannon Dahlum

One of the foundational elements for maintaining wellness is healthy, consistent sleep.  Unfortunately, it’s not something that always comes easily for most, and can become a source of frustration.  If you struggle to fall asleep at night, you’ve probably heard all the recommendations for ensuring your room is cool and dark, avoiding artificial light before bed (especially from phone, computer, and television screens), and to keep your bedroom reserved as a sacred space for sleep.  All of those are important, but you may not hear enough about the impact your morning routine has on your ability to wind down and sleep at night. 

Your circadian rhythm governs the daily flow of hormones and chemicals in your body, including cortisol and melatonin.  Both of these hormones serve many important purposes; one of which is to help regulate your sleep/ wake cycle.  In a healthy circadian rhythm, cortisol peaks in the morning to wake you up and get you moving, and dips to its lowest point at night.  When cortisol drops, melatonin rises, which makes you feel tired and helps you sleep. These two hormones work directly in opposition of one another; cortisol wakes you up while melatonin helps you sleep. 

A tiny area inside the hypothalamus in your brain, called the suprachiasmatic nucleus, or SCN, is your body’s main time keeper.  This is the conductor that directs the symphony of hormones released in your body, and as such, controls your circadian rhythms.  The SCN is able to tell time through the light that enters your eyes.  When the SCN detects light, it assumes it’s daytime, and in the absence of light, it assumes night. 

In addition to the SCN, you have secondary time keepers throughout your body.  These detect what time it is based on activities you’re doing, like movement and eating, and report back to the SCN so they can synchronize their clocks.  By aligning your movement and eating patterns with the sun, you’re helping your secondary clocks and your main time keeper stay synchronized and your circadian rhythm in balance. 

When your circadian rhythm gets out of whack, with cortisol remaining elevated at night and melatonin too low, you’ll certainly have a hard time falling asleep.  It’s important to be sure your SCN gets the signal that it’s daytime right as you get going in the morning.  Within ten minutes of waking, get some sun exposure.  Ideally, you’ll step outside and see the sunlight.  Remember that sunlight entering your eyes is the single most important way your SCN knows what time it is.  Looking out a window is the next best option if you can’t get outside.  If you wake up before the sun, just get in that sun exposure once it’s up. 

Within the first hour of waking, get in some movement and some food.  This lets all the secondary time keepers know that it’s time to start the day.  Aim for at least ten minutes of movement, which can be as simple as a walk or some stretching, or more intense exercise if you’d like.  In addition to sunlight and movement, have something to eat, ideally a source of protein and healthy fats.  Avoid sweets or processed carbohydrates, as they can spike your blood sugar and get you stuck on a crave and crash roller coaster all day, wreaking havoc on that cortisol cycle.  By starting your day with sunlight, movement, and a healthy meal, you’re resetting your internal clock, aligning your major and secondary time keepers, and rebooting your daily hormone cycle.

In the evening, you can help your internal clocks stay on track by avoiding late night eating.  Aim to finish your last meal 2 to 3 hours before bed so your digestion doesn’t interfere with sleep quality.  If you have to eat closer to bedtime because of a busy evening schedule, have something light that can be quickly digested.  Avoid sweets, caffeine, processed carbohydrates and alcohol at night, because they can create a blood sugar spike, which will be followed by a blood sugar crash.  That subsequent crash will elevate cortisol in an effort to level out your blood sugar again.  That cortisol spike will likely wake you up, have you tossing and turning, unable to fall back asleep, and you may have a racing heart rate and/or hot flashes or night sweats. 

A healthy night time pattern follows a healthy daytime routine.  Prioritize eating and movement while the sun is up, and avoid both once it has set.  As always, your body adapts to inputs it’s receiving consistently, so starting your day with sunshine and movement on occasion isn’t enough.  Be sure you’re rebooting your internal clock every morning to start achieving better sleep at night.