Menopause and Sleep have a strong link to good health., Check out why…
Sleep can help prevent Alzheimer’s, helps regulating hunger hormones and eases menopause symptoms.
Yet we just don’t get enough of it and we can thank hot flushes for that and the vicious cycle continues.
Why Sleep is a fundamental in my coaching?
Sleep is one of My Be Free Pillars of wellbeing because it is not only important for.. well all humans, but it helps with weight loss, feeling good, managing hunger
And for women in menopause years it is equally important if not more so.
Sleep is fundamental for good physical and mental wellbeing and yet we don’t get enough of it.
After I had my youngest I was so sleep deprived I had a breakdown, that and his cry was on another level.
Why do you think they use sleep deprivation as a form of torcher. If you want to break someone… just stop them sleeping.
Anywho, back to Menopause and Sleep
Menopause and Sleep has a bigger impact on our health..
And looking after your brain would be how you help protect your overall health now and in the future…
And sleep is where we can begin.
The brain is impacted in menopause by the lack of Oestrogen it has access too. This is where many of our symptoms come from, brain fog, hot flushes, having trouble finding our words, lack of concentration, and many others.
Menopause is a temporary energy crisis for the brain and it takes time to adjust. While it adjusts we need to make it easy for the body to do what it needs to during this transition.
Sleep is vital for your health and it benefits your whole health, Sleep is mother natures best effort to protect us from early death.
In his book why we sleep, Matthew Walker puts in a pretend advert which goes something like this…
Scientists have found a revolutionary new treatment that makes you live longer, enhances memory and makes you creative. It makes you look more attractive, keeps you slim, lowers food cravings. Protects you from cancer and dementia. Keeps colds and flu at bay, lowers your risk of heart attack and stroke, along with diabetes. You’ll feel happier, less depressed and less anxious….
This basically describes the benefits of sleep.
And with many of these being higher risks in menopause, sleep can help reduce these risks.
Not to say it’s easy to do with the hormone changes we are experiencing.
View sleep as our brains opportunity to clear out all the toxic daily build up, and it requires 8ish hours to do this.
When this builds up stays in the brain, it has been seen to lead to Alzheimer’s. Add the declining Oestrogen, which has also been seen to influence Alzheimer’s.
Sleep needs to be right there at the top of things to focus on…
But we are in a chicken and egg situation. With menopause making sleep more challenging and lack sleep making menopause symptoms more exaggerated. It’s like we are going around in circles.
Lack of sleep also messes with our hunger hormones, in episode 013 I talk more about this so I wont go deep here.
Menopause brings about changes to our body fat storage and body weight because of Oestrogens impact on our metabolism.. but our lack of sleep also impacts the hunger hormones, by this I mean.
The hunger signaling hormone becomes over active and the ‘I’ve had enough hormone, don’t even bother showing its face.
So we end up overeating, I am sure many of us know what those days feel like!
Those days when you are eating all day long, and maybe say to yourself, ‘why am I so hungry’ or I can’t stop eating’ acting as if you are still hungry, not understanding why you aren’t feeling satisfied enough but knowing you have overeaten… and its never veg sticks that we are snacking on!
Which can then lead to further weight gain, insulin resistance and inflammation..
I’m will not going to say that sleep is the magic answer. There is a whole host of things we can do to support a healthy menopause but sleep is a foundation step and a vital one.
Do you want to be energised to exercise? get a good night sleep.
Enjoy mental clarity, then get more sleep
If you want to work on the food you eat, get sleep
You want to be happier, healthier, motivated, if you want mental wellbeing and physically healthy.. start with improving your sleep.
How do we improve our sleep?
Create a bedtime routine so you have a natural sleep and wake time. I know it sounds boring, but if you struggle to fall asleep then it maybe really helpful to have set bedtime and wake time to give your body a nudge to create a better sleep rhythm.
Sometimes it is helpful to have a bedtime ritual to calm your body ready to start winding down for sleep, this may be a huge help if you struggle to settle easily at night.
There is nothing worse that trying to force yourself to relax and sleep. If you have something on your mind or you are stressed about something… it will probably impact your sleep. This is why I like journaling, gets it out of my head and on to paper, so I can rest easy.
Make the bedroom fit for a queen!
Comfortable bed or bedding, clean and tidy helps the brain calm down, tidy house/tidy mind as they say. And sleeping in a dark, cool and quiet room.
If you are sensitive to caffeine, then it’s a good idea to figure out when your cut off is. I cant have caffeine after midday.
Caffeine dampens our natural sleep cycle. When we drink caffeine there is an inner battle going on between sleep and caffeine… caffeine will win every time!
And if you are very caffeine sensitive, decaf also wont be your friend, it has caffeine in it albeit a lesser amount. Opt for a herbal tea instead.
And finally, but certainly not the end of the helpful ways to get more sleep.
Exercise, yes I know.. we love to hate it. But it is good for our body and mind. Avoiding high intensity workouts too close to bedtime, your body will be wired, buzzing which doesn’t actually scream let’s sleep now, does it.
And walking before lunchtime to get sunlight in to our eyes. This is mother natures way of resetting our sleep cycle.
That it from me this week my friends.
Want to work with me see HERE for how I can support you
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