Jenny slept fine until her car accident. Suddenly, she had a hard time falling asleep and was up multiple times during the night. Her energy during the day decreased so dramatically that she had to take naps under her desk at work to get through the day. Her memory got worse, and she started losing her hair. The accident had stressed her adrenals and thyroid, upsetting her sleep and causing fatigue. 

Do you have trouble sleeping? If so, you are not alone. Poor sleep is always a sign that something is wrong with your health. Sleep is a foundational requirement for good health, and sleep problems will nearly always contribute to low energy. Low energy can be caused both by a lack of sleep or by poor quality of sleep. Either you aren’t sleeping much at all, or you are sleeping plenty of hours, but you wake up still feeling tired and unrefreshed. In this article we are going to tackle how much sleep you need, when you should be sleeping, why sleep is important, and what to do if you have sleep problems. 

How Much Sleep Do I Need?

Approximately fifty to seventy million Americans suffer from sleep disorders. It is hard to pinpoint a more exact number because most people don't report sleep problems to their physicians, and most physicians don’t take the time to ask about sleep.  

Getting seven to nine hours of deeply restorative sleep is a good goal. Sleeping less than seven just isn’t enough for most people. However, sleeping more than nine hours is also associated with poor health, so there seems to be a “sweet spot.”

When Should I Sleep?

As humans, we should be awake during the day and asleep at night. Sleeping at night rejuvenates our bodies and minds and promotes healing. Being tired during the day and energized at night indicates a circadian rhythm dysfunction. 

A circadian rhythm dysfunction means your body doesn’t know whether it’s day or night. You’ll know this is the case if you are often sleepy during the day and wakeful at night. Circadian rhythms are physical, mental, and behavioral changes that roughly follow a 24-hour cycle, primarily in response to environmental light and darkness.

Why is Sleep So Important?

Poor sleep interferes with nearly every biochemical process in the body. For example, while we sleep, our brain cells shrink by about 60 percent, which allows for more efficient waste removal. Sleep is also critical for balancing hormone levels, including melatonin. Melatonin is not just a “sleep hormone” but also an anti-cancer hormone, inhibiting the proliferation of a wide range of cancers. Poor sleep also inhibits leptin, the satiety (“I’m full”) hormone, which can lead to weight gain.

Chronic sleep deprivation drives up inflammation, impairs blood sugar regulation, and raises the risk for many types of chronic disease. A study conducted by researchers at Harvard University found that inadequate sleep is associated with the following. 

• Weight gain: People sleeping less than six hours per night have a higher body mass index. Poor sleep has been shown to cause increased insulin, decreased leptin (the satiety hormone), and increased ghrelin (the hunger hormone); inadequate sleep is now considered a risk factor for obesity and type 2 diabetes.

• Heart disease: There is growing evidence of a connection between obstructive sleep apnea and heart disease; poor sleep has immediate detrimental effects on blood pressure as well.

• Mood disorders: Chronic sleep issues are associated with depression, anxiety, and mental distress.

• Stress: Poor sleep results in elevated cortisol levels.

• Shortened life expectancy: Data from three large cross-sectional epidemiological studies revealed sleeping five hours or less per night increased the risk of death by roughly 15 percent. 
   

What do I do If I Have Sleep Problems?

To recreate your natural sleep rhythm, you need to address the causes: 

1. Poor sleep habits (sleep hygiene)

2. Hormone imbalances (adrenal, thyroid, sex hormones)

3. Nutritional deficiencies (vitamin B12, vitamin D, iron, and magnesium)

4. Chronic infections (Babesia, Bartonella, Borrelia, and parasites)

These causes of sleep issues are also some of the causes of low energy! 

You may be surprised to hear that besides changing sleep habits, I have more success getting people to sleep by supporting their adrenals, thyroid, vitamin B12, and iron in the morning than I do by giving them anything at night! This is because these hormonal and nutritional deficiencies affect the circadian rhythms. 

Let’s go back to Jenny, the story I told at the beginning of this post, and how her sleep issues began after she had a car accident. The stress of the car accident (both physically and emotionally) triggered a big release of cortisol from her adrenal glands. This release ended up depleting her adrenals and her thyroid, and resulted in decreased energy and increased sleep problems.  

The best approach to treating sleep problems is to identify and remove the cause. Inside the free Step 1: Find Your Causes course, there is a section to help you assess your sleep and identify the causes.  Register for the course today, and take action on identifying the causes of not only your sleep, but also your low energy as a whole. 

Take Action

Sleep problems affect a large proportion of the U.S. population and are a serious contributor to many chronic illnesses, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and mental illness. Poor sleep increases inflammation, drives up cortisol levels, and wreaks overall havoc with hormones and metabolism. Sleep problems range from simply not getting enough sleep to experiencing poor quality, non-restorative sleep. Patients typically underreport sleep problems to their doctors, and doctors typically neglect to inquire.

Good, restorative sleep is important to your health. Our widespread lack of appreciation for the importance of sleep has serious implications not only for you as an individual, but for public health – meaning our health nationwide.

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