Poor sleep quality is an issue that plagues many in this world of hustle and bustle. Sleep deprivation can have a real impact on your overall health. Your sleep patterns affect your stress levels, which in turn, can affect your stress levels and adrenal health. Stress then affects your metabolism through the activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Sleep disruptions, whether in the form of sleep deprivation or sleep disorders, are linked to problematic changes in the HPA axis that can lead to metabolic disturbances. Learn more about this connection between sleep and stress and what it could mean for your health.
Metabolism and Metabolic Health: Sleep and Stress
Metabolism is a process that involves the body’s conversion of foods we consume into energy to support bodily functions, from breathing to digestion. Hormones, organs, and enzymes are all involved in different processes in the body. Your metabolic health involves how efficiently your body processes and uses energy from food. Some of these processes include the regulation of your liver, blood sugar levels, and cholesterol. The adrenal glands and thyroid also play an essential role in the process.
Both chronic stress and poor sleep can disrupt good metabolic health, resulting in metabolic issues such as insulin resistance, weight gain, and an increased risk of developing chronic conditions like type 2 diabetes or heart disease.
The Relationship Between Metabolism, Sleep and Stress
There is a connection between sleep, stress, and metabolism. Sleep is critical in the regulation of several key hormonal and metabolic processes. When you get enough quality sleep – the recommended 7-9 hours for adults – this allows your body to efficiently regulate energy, blood sugar, appetite hormones, and hunger. A disruption in your sleep quality can have unwanted effects on your body, like increased stress and hunger. Sleep is crucial for your body to rest, repair, and regenerate.
Hormone regulation is a key component of the connection between sleep, stress, and metabolism. Stress of any kind, especially chronic stress, can impact hormone regulation and, in turn, impact sleep quality. Both stress and poor sleep quality can create a vicious cycle where one leads to the other.
Subsequently, this can lead to situations where sleep deprivation, overeating, and chronic stress increase the risk of developing metabolic disorders like obesity and type 2 diabetes. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis controls the relationship between sleep and metabolism and releases cortisol, the “stress hormone.”
Hyperactivation of your HPA axis, sleep deprivation, and chronic stress could potentially result in metabolic dysfunction. Strategies that may be useful in trying to prevent metabolic disorders include achieving good quality sleep via establishing proper sleep hygiene, managing sleep disorders, and nutritional education with regular meals and circadian alignment of food intake (2).
Sleep and Stress: How One Influences the Other
The combination of sleep and stress can create a vicious cycle that can be challenging to break. Stress stimulates the release of the stress hormone cortisol, which plays a role in your wake and sleep cycle. Small amounts in your body are good, but cortisol that remains elevated because of chronic stress disrupts sleep.
The levels of cortisol in the body after sleep onset continue to climb into the waking hours. Sleep loss, in turn, results in a hyperactive HPA axis. Subsequently, stress levels further increase, causing sleep to be even more difficult. As such, this can result in a vicious cycle. Sleep and stress are no doubt connected.
Impact of Sleep Loss and Stress on Metabolism
Poor sleep induced by stress, coupled with the activation of the HPA axis, can have a serious impact on your body’s metabolism. Elevated cortisol levels can result in a spike in your glucose and insulin levels while causing a drop in the hormone adiponectin. This hormone helps the body break down fats. This can cause weight gain and elevate the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Furthermore, sleep deprivation affects hunger-controlling hormones. For instance, leptin, which is responsible for appetite suppression, decreases, while ghrelin, which boosts hunger, spikes. Consequently, this can lead to overeating, especially causing a craving for high-calorie foods. This can affect your long-term metabolic health.
Adrenal Fatigue and Lack of Sleep
Adrenal Fatigue is a condition where the body is unable to keep up with long-term stress, resulting in various nonspecific symptoms such as the inability to fall asleep despite being tired, tiredness, heart palpitations, mild depression, inability to handle stress, and weight gain, among other symptoms. The symptoms of Adrenal Fatigue vary in type and intensity from one person to the next.
In Adrenal Fatigue, the body cannot properly maintain the production of the stress hormone cortisol. Due to chronic stress, the adrenal glands cannot keep up with the demand for cortisol. Adrenal exhaustion kicks in when these glands cannot produce what is needed. Different circuits of your NeuroEndoMetaboic (NEM) stress response can be affected and indicate what symptoms you may have.
The Neuroaffect circuit, composed of the brain, the autonomic nervous system (ANS), and the microbiome, is linked to sleep. It helps you deal with mental and emotional stress. Exhausted adrenals and declining cortisol output tend to affect your melatonin, which is the body’s sleep-regulating hormone, and your circadian rhythm. This can mean sleep disruptions, such as sleep-maintenance insomnia, because of the imbalance between melatonin and cortisol, leading to metabolic problems as well. Therefore, addressing stress and sleep issues is critical to metabolic recovery.
Sleep and Stress: Strategies for Improving Sleep Quality and Minimizing Stress
Improving sleep quality and reducing stress is a good starting point. Some strategies include:
Making Good Sleep Hygiene a Habit
Good sleep hygiene means establishing a regular routine before bed. Tips include:
Go to sleep and wake at the same time, even on weekends- Reducing light exposure with room-darkening window treatments or heavy curtains
- Minimize noise disturbances or use white noise
- Keeping cell phones out of your bedroom or turn them off at bedtime
- Keep your bedroom cool and clutter-free to help minimize stress
- Avoid caffeine intake before bed
Address Sleep Disorders
Managing conditions such as insomnia may involve therapies like cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) and light therapy. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia can be characterized as a multi-component treatment for insomnia targeting difficulties with falling and/or staying asleep and is delivered over a period of six to eight sessions (4). The central focus of CBT-I is to tackle the factors that play a role in the development of chronic insomnia.
Light therapy may also be recommended for sleep disorders. It involves a person placing themselves in front of a lightbox emitting bright light that mimics sunlight. This type of therapy may help adjust the level of melatonin your body produces to reset your sleep-wake cycle. This could help adjust your sleep and wake times to set an earlier wake-up time in the morning. This may be beneficial in minimizing daytime sleepiness.
Furthermore, light therapy in the morning may help adjust your sleep and wake times to earlier than usual, helping conditions such as delayed sleep-wake phase disorder, jet lag (specifically when you travel east), and irregular sleep-wake rhythm disorder. Using a light box in the afternoon or early evening can help to adjust your sleep and wake times to later than usual. This is ideal for addressing advanced sleep-wake phase disorder, as well as shift work disorder, and jet lag disorder (specifically when you travel west).
Nutritional Changes for Better Sleep
A balanced diet can help to support better sleep, stress management, and metabolic health. You can align your eating habits with the natural rhythm of your body. These strategies may help:
- Foods rich in complex carbohydrates may support balanced blood sugar and energy levels. These include whole grains like brown rice, oats, and quinoa.
- Protein helps boost the production of melatonin (3). Sources of lean protein include eggs, fish, legumes, and tofu. These foods supply tryptophan, which plays a role in melatonin production. Keep in mind that high-fat and heavily spiced meats can disrupt your sleep.
- Eat regular meals and avoid late-night snacking.
- Try warm milk to promote sleep. Milk works because it contains the compound tryptophan and may trigger a feeling of relaxation. Better to avoid this if you are lactose intolerant, though.
- Seeds and nuts are packed with magnesium, which is known for its muscle-relaxing properties. Almonds, pumpkin seeds, and walnuts are good sources of magnesium. Magnesium helps alleviate muscle tension and promotes a feeling of calmness that supports a good night’s sleep. Studies show that there is a link between magnesium status and sleep quality (daytime falling asleep, sleepiness, snoring, and sleep duration) (1).
New Therapy for sleep
An emerging therapy targeting particular enzymes could address certain metabolic issues. For instance, experts suggest that one such target is 11β-HSD1, an enzyme activated in cortisol metabolism. The idea is that blocking this particular enzyme may help minimize cortisol levels and lower fat storage. In so doing, this could provide an alternative way to treat metabolic issues like obesity, which is sometimes tied to poor sleep and elevated stress levels.
Another supplement that could benefit is Stay Asleep ER, which comes in an extended release capsule and has the right herbal and calming ingredients to help people stay asleep longer.
The Takeaway
Your metabolism, sleep and stress are all interconnected and can have an impact on your health. When you lack sleep and are confronted with chronic stress, the risk increases for developing metabolic conditions, such as diabetes and obesity. The combination of poor sleep and stress continuously triggers the HPA axis, resulting in increased cortisol levels. This affects hunger hormones and the sleep hormone, melatonin, as well. How your body processes food, stores energy for use, and manages hunger are all affected. Consequently, this leads to metabolic issues. If you are locked in this vicious cycle and would like to get out of it, give us a call at +1 (714) 709-8000. We will help to put you on a path of recovery, focusing on your overall health and wellness.
