Sleep is a powerful influencer of our metabolism. When you wake up from a night of poor sleep, you might feel fatigued, irritable and forgetful. This state of grogginess is actually experienced on a cellular level in what researchers call, “metabolic grogginess”. This is characterized by the body’s inability to process insulin and insulin resistance comes with it’s own bag of issues.
Your gut health and microbiome play major roles in regulating your sleep and sleep quality. This is due to sleep related hormones and neurotransmitters that are produced in the gut, like serotonin. Low levels of serotonin can contribute to insomnia. Our body also uses serotonin to make the sleep regulating hormone melatonin. While melatonin is fundamental for quality sleep, it is also influences our mental energy, cortisol levels and immune function.
Here are some crucial nutrients that are needed to build your sleep-related hormones and neurotransmitters found in a healthy microbiome.
Potassium: Potassium food sources include cannellini beans, spinach, avocados, sweet potatoes, and parsnips. Not only does potassium help your body stay on its circadian rhythm and increase quality of sleep, these food sources are high in prebiotics to feed our microbiome.
Tryptophan: Tryptophan is an essential amino acid that is a building block for serotonin. Food sources for tryptophan include pumpkin seeds, spirulina, spinach and cacao.
B6: B6 modulates our stress response, supports our nervous system and supports our production of serotonin. Food sources for B6 include chickpeas, spinach, sweet potatoes and avocados.
Magnesium: Magnesium improves melatonin function, reduces cortisol and is responsible for 650 biochemical processes in the human body. Food sources for magnesium include avocados, pumpkin seeds, cacao and spirulina.
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