Big-picture health: sleep

By Dr Maureen Dunn, ND

The following is the fifth installment of Dr Dunn’s series on big-picture health issues you can work on yourself. Enjoy!

Sleep

What do you struggle with regarding sleep? Growing up, I used to struggle with falling asleep and then I was exhausted in the morning. Below is my quick story and what I did to fix my sleep woes. Below the video is a list of five things you may be doing right now that are negatively impacting your sleep.

5 Things That Interfere with Sleep 

1. Alcohol
You may fall asleep faster with alcohol due to its sedative effect. But it can cause fragmented sleep and interrupt your deep sleep stages (REM). Overall, it will decrease sleep quality as well as so many other health issues.  

2. Multivitamins and B Complex
Multivitamins and B complex can increase energy which can keep people awake and make it more difficult to fall asleep. Take your multivitamins in the morning, with breakfast. If your dose is twice a day take them with breakfast and lunch but avoid taking them at night. 

3. Caffeine
Caffeine can delay your ability to fall asleep and alter your natural body clock. If you have trouble falling asleep you may want to consider reducing the amount of caffeine you consume, have it earlier in the day, or switch to a tea that contains less caffeine (if you are drinking coffee). You can see if this helps you sleep, whether falling asleep or staying asleep.

4. Screens
Blue light suppresses melatonin. Melatonin is your sleep hormone. If you don't produce adequate melatonin your sleep can suffer. Shut off the screens 30-60 minutes before bed.

5. Chronic Stress
When we are chronically stressed, cortisol levels can rise over time to a point that interferes with our ability to fall asleep and stay asleep. Chronic stress cause also cause hypertension, diabetes, fatigue, weight gain, and so much more.

You can follow Dr. Maureen Dunn on FaceBook or Instagram. If you are interested in finding out how she can help you, schedule a free 15-minute discovery call here. Maureen practices at CLINIC on Fridays 9am- 5pm.