Sleep enriches the brain’s ability to make decisions to problem solve, and recalibrates our emotions and metabolism. Poor sleep proceeds many health consequences. Unfortunately poor sleep and chronic stress not only go hand in hand, they also work in a cycle worsening each other. Sleep cannot be forced, and we are not looking to increase the level of stress associated with going to bed. It’s time too learn how chronic stress affects your sleep quality. Let’s look into it.
How are chronic stress and poor sleep related?
Stress and sleep are closely linked. High levels of stress can make it difficult to fall asleep or stay asleep. When the body is stressed, it produces hormones like cortisol, which can interfere with the body’s natural sleep cycle. Conversely, lack of sleep can increase stress, creating a vicious cycle that negatively affects both mental and physical well-being.
Related: Is adrenal fatigue real? The underworld of the wired and tired
How to improve the chronic stress and poor sleep cycle:
I went more in-depth about 2 reasons your sleep may be poorly influenced in the post about how to improve sleep quality. However, there are two main reasons your sleep is poorly influenced:
1. The hormones in your circadian rhythm
Both of these elements are drastically affected by our stress levels.
To master your hormones in your circadian rhythm, you look at your stress management + light.
To master your blood sugar, you have to make dietary changes, and mastering the hormones in your circadian rhythm!
Related: How to build a balanced meal
The hormones in your circadian rhythm typically affect your ability to fall asleep. Your blood sugar balance typically effects your ability to stay asleep. (Sometimes it’s both!) Once you’ve established which part your body needs assistance with, you need to be asking yourself two simple questions:
1. How can I improve my circadian rhythm to fall asleep easier?
2. How can I balance my stress and blood sugar better to stay asleep?
By the way, I’m also purposely ignoring the complexity of nervous system’s involvement in a good night of sleep. We’re focusing on the basics here.
First, let’s talk about how to improve your circadian rhythm to fall asleep easier.
How does your circadian rhythm + light effect sleep and stress levels?
Your circadian rhythm refers to the natural 24 hour fluctuation between stress hormones + sleep hormones. This is your body’s internal clock: when to wake up- when to feel drowsy
The circadian rhythm is heavily influenced by light as well as the melatonin and cortisol in the body (the hormones involved). If you’re showing symptoms of needing your circadian rhythm rebalanced , we work on tangible steps to improve this area together. Because no one wants to spend 2-4 hours just trying to fall asleep
How does artificial light interfere with sleep?
As you’re working to restore your circadian rhythm, be aware that artificial light could be working against you.
This blue light is primarily making the impact on your circadian rhythm when it comes to screens. Blue light interrupts the signals that night time is coming. However, blue light is also natural- it’s in the sun. We want to have blue light first thing in the morning. We’re just rying to avoid it in the evening. The good news is, blocking blue light can be pretty simple and cost effective.
Something simple like blue locking glasses, avoiding screen or turning your screen on night shift can be a great first step.
How melatonin + cortisol impact sleep:
Solid line represents cortisol and the dotted line represents melatonin
The proper relationship of melatonin and cortisol should rise and fall opposite of each other in the period of a day.
Cortisol (your stress hormone) should be highest when you first wake up and lowest and the evening.
Melatonin (rest hormone) should be lowest in the morning and highest at bedtime.
This cycle often gets dysregulated -from so many different factors. There is not one specific thing that makes it this regulated. This is very common to see in my practice.
When this cycle is not working properly, your melatonin may be high in early afternoon, and you get drowsy early. Or your cortisol may rise in the evening- representing the fight or flight nervous system being activated while you’re trying to sleep.
How stress affects sleep: your sympathetic nervous system
Your fight or flight nervous system is your sympathetic nervous system. This can make your cortisol too high when you need it to be its lowest.
This is the effect of the brain not letting you sleep because it is focused on looking for danger. it is hyper aware- it’s hyper vigilant. This can be seen in practice if you are sleeping in a new place.
It is pretty common to sleep very poorly for the first time in a new location- on vacation for example. As the days go by, your sleep continues to improve because your body and your nervous system have adjusted to this new environment.
I recently heard this example of ducks in the wild. When wild ducks are sleeping in a group they huddle in a circle. The ducks on the outside of the circle will sleep with one eye open to watch for danger and the other eye closed. This is a nice visual representation of what it’s like to try and sleep when your cortisol is too high you are watching for danger and unable to completely commit to relaxation.
When someone is struggling with this type of sleep disturbance something like deep breathing that you can practice while you are in your bed can help to relax the nervous system and give it an “all clear”.
Progressive relaxation is also a great practice. This is where you take and tense individual muscles in your body. Hold this tension for a couple seconds, then let go. You can do this right while you are laying in bed.
There are also many yoga poses that help to down regulate the nervous system before bed.
How to use food to improve sleep quality and stress:
So, like I said in the beginning- the big question is: Are you having trouble falling asleep or staying asleep? The issues are not dealt with the same.
We talked about the difficulty with falling asleep and now we will talk about issues staying asleep.
If someone is frequently waking through the night that can be related to cortisol surges in the night. This is primarily diet related. If you have not having eaten in several hours, you fall asleep and you wake within a couple hours often because your blood sugar has dropped. Your stress hormones are released in response to this drop.
The better cortisol levels are, the better you will handle this fasting period. This is why I said you also need to master you circadian rhythm first to get this into balance.
If you are struggling with frequent wake up through the night, you need to focus on dietary changes. When you make the proper dietary changes, your lood sugar would be able to stay more consistent- however it can also be beneficial for that person to have a snack before they go to bed. You want to choose something stabilizing. I like to say small and dense- like a glass of milk maybe some olives or fruit and cheese, or nuts. You’re looking with some form of fat or protein. No chips, rice cake, a bowl of pineapple etc.
I think you’ll understand this part a little more after you read about blood sugar here.
Sedatives + stimulants that affect stress + sleep
Sleeping pills:
I have come across clients that are relying on sleeping pills to get them through the night. While I understand why it is necessary-the problem with a sleeping pill is that it is not actually helping the body to rest and repair. It is tricking the brain into thinking it’s asleep but it will cause less deep REM cycles or it will skip the cycles completely.
These REM cycles are when most of the detoxification rest and restore actually happen. This is why your brain may be foggy your concentration may be off after a poor nights sleep.
We also don’t want to create a crutch or a dependency with a sleeping pill.
And this applies for supplemental sleep support.
Because we want to sleep well so badly we can become anxious about the possibility of NOT sleeping well, and so we want to take that melatonin “just in case”.
I have found it helpful with some clients that if they are struggling in this area that they attempt to go to bed without it practice some other practices first. I suggest they keep it near them, so that it is close by if they need it. Often, they are able to skip it all together because they are comfortable with the idea of not taking it but having it near.
Alcohol:
While alcohol does work as a sedative- it inhibits proper REM sleep and is not recommended for sleep support.
Alcohol also impacts blood sugar and can lead to blood sugar crashed through the night.
To sleep well after a night of drinking, it is recommended to let the buzz wear off, hydrate very well if you’re hoping for your sleep not to be impaired by your alcohol consumption.
Caffeine:
All stimulants will interfere with the circadian rhythm.
If you were someone struggling with sleep quality, and stress resilience the actual best step for you would be to eliminate it completely.
However, I am aware that for many people that is a hard “no.’
For those I would suggest eliminating all forms of caffeine after noon I would also say that no more than 8 ounces of coffee in the morning would be recommended.
Also, I’ve personally made the shift to decaf coffee for the afternoons and I’ve written all about it here. You can learn how to find the best decaf and clean coffee.
Related: Everything you need to know about decaf coffee.
Melatonin supplementation:
Melatonin supplementation can be truly life-changing for a person. I am not adamant on not using melatonin to support proper sleep. However, I do think it should be used with caution (specifically with children). Melatonin can create that mental dependency and needing melatonin to fall asleep. If you were to use melatonin for an occasional use like for traveling like we said- I see no issues in doing so.
I want you to understand though that melatonin will not be responsible for keeping you asleep. It’s only job is to help you to rest enough to fall asleep and then if you keep finding yourself awakening through the night this is why and it has not solved the issue.
Related: Midnight snack for better sleep
Also realizing if you are regular requiring a melatonin supplement to get to sleep you must understand that you are missing a bigger piece of the puzzle underneath that in those are the kinds of things we would be looking to address.
How to support sleep when under chronic stress:
The good news is, sleep supporting habits part of your sleep hygiene routine are not time consuming or expensive- they only require consistency.
And that’s the worst part right?
One cup of tea will not fix your decade old sleep issues- could it assist in the repair? Absolutely!
But, you have to get the big hitters first. You have to master your blood sugar and circadian rhythm first!. After that, it would be appropriate to add in other elements
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