Is a lack of sleep causing your digestive discomfort?

Is your lack of sleep contributing to digestive discomfort? It is shown in studies that if we have just 2 nights of restricted sleep (4 hours) then this can markedly reduce our good bacteria and increase growth of bad bacteria, a lower range of microbes in our gut is associated with IBS like symptoms including bloating, diahorrea and constipation.

In one study not only were the good bacteria colonies reduced significantly but the bad bacteria was specifically associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes.

So what does this mean?

To keep a healthy microbiome aim to get at least 8 hours of sleep per night, if you struggle to fall asleep or you wake up In the night, there are a number of factors that may be casing this I have listed the main culprits below:

·       Caffeine past 12pm

·       Alcohol close to bedtime

·       Blue light less than 90 minutes before bed

·       Stress

·       Food intolerance

·       Poor sleep hygiene (temperature, bedtime habits etc)

If you want to get the root cause of your digestive symptoms and take back control of your life, book in for your free discovery call. 

Christian Benedict et al, Gut microbiota and glucometabolic alterations in response to recurrent partial sleep deprivation in normal-weight young individuals. Science Direct. 5 (5), 1175-1186.