Sleep and digestion share a profound connection and one that most people overlook. After you drift off to sleep at night, your digestive system continues to work tirelessly. Even as you dream, your gut continues to break down food and absorb nutrients. And just as lack of sleep can make you feel exhausted, your gut is not immune to the effects of sleep deprivation.
Skimping on sleep can disrupt your digestive tract and how it functions in various ways, from triggering inflammation to altering the delicate balance of bacteria in your gut microbiome. But it’s not a one-way street. Not sleeping soundly can disrupt your gut, but the reverse is also true. Your gut can disrupt your sleep. If you have issues like acid reflux or irritable bowel syndrome, it can keep you up at night, tossing and turning like a fish out of water. It’s a vicious cycle – problems with one system make the other worse, and you end up in a never-ending loop of digestive issues and insomnia.
Understanding this intricate dance between sleep and digestion can help you optimize both. If you dig into the science behind this two-way relationship, you can improve not just how you sleep, but also how your digestive system functions. Break the cycle, and you’ll be well on your way to enhancing your overall well-being.
How Sleep Affects Digestion
Although your digestive system works more slowly at night, it’s still active while you sleep and continues to break down nutrients. You then absorb those nutrients into your bloodstream and form waste products. But this can occur with varying degrees of efficiency.
Skimping on sleep can interfere with digestive efficiency in a few key ways:
- Increased inflammation. Sleep deprivation triggers higher levels of inflammatory cytokines and stress hormones like cortisol. The resulting inflammation can aggravate digestive disorders like IBS, Crohn’s disease, and ulcerative colitis, worsening their symptoms.
- Unhealthy food cravings. When you’re short on sleep, you produce less of the “fullness hormone” leptin and more of the “hunger hormone” ghrelin. This hormonal imbalance makes you crave sugary, fatty comfort foods, leading to weight gain.
- Impaired gut microbiome. Lack of sleep alters the balance of good and bad bacteria in your intestines. An unhealthy microbiome is linked to digestive issues like bloating, abdominal pain, and changes in bowel habits.
- Reduced blood flow. While you sleep, more blood flows to your gut to aid digestion. Skimp on sleep and you deprive your digestive system of adequate blood supply for optimal function.
How Digestion Affects Sleep
On the flip side, many common digestive troubles can also ruin a good night’s sleep:
- Acid reflux. Stomach acid backing up into the esophagus causes a burning discomfort called heartburn. This can wake you up and make it difficult to fall back asleep. Acid reflux episodes are more likely when lying down.
- Symptoms like abdominal pain, bloating, nausea, and gas can strike at night. Discomfort plus frequent trips to the bathroom spell poor sleep.
- IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) IBS often goes together with insomnia – research shows 40% of IBS patients struggle with sleep issues. Cramps, diarrhea, and other symptoms disrupt rest and make it harder to get a good night’s sleep. In turn, lack of sleep can worsen IBS symptoms.
- Ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. The abdominal pain and urgent diarrhea these inflammatory bowel diseases cause make sound sleep difficult to come by. Plus, poor sleep itself can trigger disease flares.
Tips for Improving Both Sleep and Digestion
The good news is that by supporting one system you can improve the other too. Follow these tips for better sleep and digestive health:
- Eat an early, light dinner. Finish eating 2-3 hours before bedtime and stick to easily digested foods. This gives your body time to fully process food before lying down.
- Foster a healthy gut microbiome. Supplementing with healthy gut bacteria through probiotic-rich foods can reduce inflammation, normalize bowel habits, and potentially enhance sleep. You could also take a probiotic supplement but talk to your physician first.
- Establish a relaxing bedtime routine. Winding down before bed with activities like reading, gentle yoga and meditation helps transition your mind and body into restful sleep.
- Avoid late-night snacking. Eating too close to bedtime increases reflux risk. If you need a snack, choose something small and easy to digest.
- Talk to your doctor about taking a melatonin supplement. This sleep-regulating hormone may also help protect your intestinal lining and calm inflammatory bowel diseases.
- If lifestyle measures don’t resolve chronic digestive troubles or poor sleep, consult your physician about other potential treatment options.
Optimize Sleep for Better Digestive Health and Vice Versa
Sleep and digestion – they’re like two peas in a pod and you should optimize both. When you get your sleep game right, you give every organ in your body, including your digestive tract, the supportive care they need to help you feel and function your best mentally and physically.
The same goes for the lifestyle and the diet side of things. Eating a balanced diet packed with fiber, staying hydrated – it’s not just about pleasing your gut. Such habits also pave the way for better sleep. Remember, fiber helps support those tiny microorganisms that make up your gut microbiome and keep them nourished.
By taking an integrated approach and keeping these two interconnected systems coordinated, you’re setting yourself up for better health all around. The payoff? More energy during the day, sharper focus, an all-around boost to your quality of life. No matter what your goals are, taking care of both sleep and digestion is key to helping you crush your health goals.
References
- Khanijow V, Prakash P, Emsellem HA, Borum ML, Doman DB. Sleep Dysfunction and Gastrointestinal Diseases. Gastroenterol Hepatol (N Y). 2015 Dec;11(12):817-25. PMID: 27134599; PMCID: PMC4849511.
- Lipton B. How Gut Health Impacts Sleep (And vice versa). Sleep.com. Published July 27, 2023. Accessed January 31, 2024. https://www.sleep.com/sleep-health/how-gut-health-impacts-sleep
- Dantas RO, Aben-Athar CG. Aspectos dos efeitos do sono no aparelho digestório [Aspects of sleep effects on the digestive tract]. Arq Gastroenterol. 2002 Jan-Mar;39(1):55-9. Portuguese. doi: 10.1590/s0004-28032002000100010. PMID: 12184167.
- Orr WC, Fass R, Sundaram SS, Scheimann AO. The effect of sleep on gastrointestinal functioning in common digestive diseases. Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology. 2020;5(6):616-624. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/s2468-1253(19)30412-
- Min Kyung Hyun, Baek Y, Lee S. Association between digestive symptoms and sleep disturbance: a cross-sectional community-based study. BMC Gastroenterology. 2019;19(1). doi:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12876-019-0945-9,
- “Melatonin reduces inflammation in intestinal cells, organoids and ….” 24 Aug. 2021, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10787-021-00869-w.
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