Navigating Sleep Disturbances
Sleep disturbances are among the most common complaints reported by women during the menopause transition. These disruptions can stem from various factors including conditions such as restless leg syndrome, sleep apnea, elevated stress levels, and pain. However, the fundamental cause underlying these issues is the impact of hormonal changes on the body's sleep-wake cycle and circadian rhythm. Hot flashes and night sweats can have a significant impact on sleep quality. Poor sleep can have profound consequences, negatively affecting overall quality of life and potentially contributing to the development of mood disorders and a diminished sense of well-being. Insufficient sleep duration and quality can lead to increased stress levels, which further exacerbate sleep problems, potentially creating a vicious cycle. This cascade of events can promote weight gain and increase the risk of health issues such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and imbalances in blood sugar regulation. In addition, some women may have excessively heavy periods during this time, which can lead to decreased iron levels. Low iron can result in conditions like restless leg syndrome and increased anxiety further impacting sleep. While poor sleep is often the must frustrating and disruptive symptom women face, the following interventions can help. It might take continuous effort to improve sleep, but it is possible.
Reduce or Eliminate Added Sugars and Highly-Processed Foods
Research links poor sleep with diets high in refined carbohydrates, sugars, and foods that spike blood sugar levels. To manage glucose levels and improve sleep quality, it is advisable to avoid foods with added sugars and refined carbohydrates such as white flour and processed foods.
Avoid Glucose Spikes
Unstable blood sugar can lead to poor sleep and higher cortisol levels. Manage glucose spikes by combining a healthy fat, protein, and fiber at every meal and snack. Healthy fats are things like avocados, nuts, seeds, and olive oil. Incorporate fiber rich foods such as whole fruits and vegetables, seeds, nuts, legumes, and whole-grains.
Consume More Fruits and Vegetables
Studies indicate that women who consume more fruits and vegetables experience less insomnia. While fruits naturally contain sugars, consuming whole fruits is acceptable as the fiber content helps manage the glucose response.
Try Foods that Increase Melatonin Production
Specific foods have been identified as beneficial for promoting sleep such as tart cherry juice, poultry, fish, eggs, soy, seeds, and dairy products. It is likely that these foods promote melatonin production in the body which can decrease with age.
Eat to Calm the Nervous System
Soy-based foods (≥25 mg/day) as well as foods rich in magnesium, vitamin B6, and calcium calm the nervous system and may promote better sleep quality. Incorporate tofu, edamame, leafy greens, nuts, legumes, and dairy products to increase intake of these vitamins and minerals.
Follow the Mediterranean Diet
This diet pattern has many proven health benefits and can be a useful plan to follow for better overall well-being. In addition, it incorporates healthy foods while minimizing foods that are less nutritious or even harmful. Focus on minimally processed fruits, vegetables, whole-grains, nuts, legumes, extra virgin olive oil, fish, seafood, eggs, and poultry. Limit you intake of red meat, dairy, and sweets.
Improve Your Gut Microbiome
Improving the gut microbiome can be useful in improving sleep quality. An imbalance in the gut microbiome can negatively impact sleep, and poor sleep can further contribute to gut imbalance, creating a bidirectional, vicious cycle. The gut microbiome plays an important role in the production of compounds that influence sleep, wakefulness, stress, and anxiety, such as the neurotransmitters serotonin, dopamine, GABA, and the hormones cortisol, adrenaline, and melatonin. When the gut microbiome is not functioning optimally, the necessary compounds for quality sleep are not produced effectively, and poor sleep can create an environment where these compounds are not synthesized adequately. Improving gut health involves lifestyle modifications like exercise, stress reduction, and increasing fiber intake from diverse plant sources like fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and seeds. The indigestible fibers in these foods travel to the colon, where they ferment and produce short-chain fatty acids, which have been shown to improve sleep quality and reduce the stress hormone cortisol while enhancing melatonin production. Consuming at least 30 different plant foods weekly can provide the beneficial gut bacteria with a diverse range of fibers for fermentation. Probiotics containing at least 40-50 billion colony-forming units (CFUs) and multiple species may also be useful in improving gut health. Incorporating fermented foods like unsweetened yogurt, kefir, kimchi, and refrigerated sauerkraut can further increase gut microbiome diversity.
Manage Intake of Caffeine and Alcohol
Too close to bedtime, both caffeine and alcohol can disrupt sleep. Keep caffeine consumption to earlier in the day to allow it to fully metabolize. If you choose to drink alcohol, observe its impact on your sleep quality and manage accordingly.
Practice Good Sleep Hygiene
Implementing good sleep habits such as maintaining consistent sleep and wake times, creating a cool and dark bedroom environment, and avoiding electronic device use before bedtime is essential. These strategies usually won't be enough to mitigate the menopausal sleep havoc women endure, but they are helpful.
Manage Stress
Often high cortisol and stress levels cause sleep disturbances. Stress can also increase hot flash and night sweat frequency further impacting sleep quality. Stress management techniques like yoga, meditation, and cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) can be highly beneficial. Regular exercise, engaging in social connections, and pursuing calming hobbies are additional strategies that can help alleviate stress.
Check with Your Doctor
If restless legs, sleep apnea, or chronic pain are impacting your sleep quality, seek professional help. Sleep apnea is a serious condition and should be treated.
Consider Supplements
The following supplements have been shown to improve sleep by helping the body and brain to calm down and relax. Glycine can help the body thermoregulate and can aid in sleep overall as well as help reduce disruptive hot flashes and night sweats. Before using any supplement, check with your doctor. Some supplements will interfere with the efficacy of medications.
Ashwagandha - 300-600 milligrams/day
Lemon Balm - 80 milligrams twice/day
Chamomile - 400 milligrams twice/day
Valerian - 160 milligrams 2-3 times/day
Magnesium Glycinate - 200 milligrams/day
Glycine - 3 grams before bed
Sources:
Photo by Alexandra Gorn on Unsplash
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