Inflammation is necessary and can be helpful when you’re fighting a cold or have a sprained ankle. Chronic inflammation, on the other hand, can damage healthy tissues and organs, leading to many health problems.
Inflammation is a known risk factor for developing heart disease and stroke, and more and more research points to the link between inflammation and the development of diabetes.[1]
So, what’s to be done? Sleep on it. Literally. Sleep is crucial to reducing inflammation and protecting your health.
Improve sleep, decrease inflammation
Researchers measure inflammation by monitoring the blood level of cells that trigger an inflammatory response. A review of 72 studies reports that sleep disturbances increase markers of systemic inflammation.[2] Another study of more than 500 people confirmed that sleep problems increased biomarkers of inflammation, especially for women.[3]
Minimize inflammation, scale down disease
Lack of sleep may increase your risk of developing serious health conditions. One study found that over the course of 8 years, participants who slept fewer than 6 hours per night had more strokes, tumors, diabetes diagnoses, and cardiovascular events than did those who slept 7-8 hours per night.[4]
Additional researchers added that increased inflammation is associated with the development of metabolic syndrome.[5]
Researchers suggest that regulating and improving sleep can be a therapeutic goal in lowering inflammation and mitigating risk of cardiovascular disease.[6]
Tips to get the sleep you need
A series of natural products can help you relax and slip into a restorative sleep. Passionflower tea increases gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the brain, which relaxes your central nervous system and provides better sleep.
Ashwagandha is another supplement that, when taken daily, has been shown to enhance sleep. One study found that ashwagandha improved sleep for folks experiencing insomnia as well as those who don’t.[7]
Taking a melatonin supplement about 30 minutes before you want to be asleep can help you drift off comfortably.
It’s encouraging to know that catching your z’s enhances your long-term health. So make a date with your pillow and knock down your inflammation.
Let’s get healthier, together,
Your friends at Santo Remedio
References
[1] Morselli, L. L., Guyon, A., & Spiegel, K. (2012). Sleep and metabolic function. Pflugers Archiv : European journal of physiology, 463(1), 139–160. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00424-011-1053-z
[2] Irwin, M. R., Olmstead, R., & Carroll, J. E. (2016). Sleep Disturbance, Sleep Duration, and Inflammation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Cohort Studies and Experimental Sleep Deprivation. Biological psychiatry, 80(1), 40–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2015.05.014
[3] Dzierzewski, J., Donovan, E., Kay, D., Sannes, T., Bradbook, K. (2020). Sleep Inconsistency and Markers of Inflammation. Front. Neurol. 16 September 2020. https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2020.01042
[4] von Ruesten, A., Weikert, C., Fietze, I., & Boeing, H. (2012). Association of sleep duration with chronic diseases in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Potsdam study. PloS one, 7(1), e30972. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0030972
[5] Mullington, J.M., Simpson, N.S., Meier-Ewert, H.K., Haack, M. (2010). Sleep loss and inflammation. Best Practice & Research Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Volume 24, Issue 5 October 2010, Pages 775-784. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beem.2010.08.014
[6] Morris, A., Coverson, D., Fike, L., Ahmed, Y., Stoyanova, N., Hooper, W., Gibbons, G., Bliwise, D., Vaccarino, V., Din-Dzietham, R., Quyyumi, A. Sleep Quality and Duration are Associated with Higher Levels of Inflammatory Biomarkers: the META-Health Study. Circulation. 23 March 2018 https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/circ.122.suppl_21.A17806
[7] Langade, D., Thakare, V., Kanchi, S., & Kelgane, S. (2021). Clinical evaluation of the pharmacological impact of ashwagandha root extract on sleep in healthy volunteers and insomnia patients: A double-blind, randomized, parallel-group, placebo-controlled study. Journal of ethnopharmacology, 264, 113276. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2020.113276
