​Can 8-hour Sleep Promote Healthy Gut Function?

​Plenty of good happens in your gut while you sleep. Throughout the digestive system, trillions of microorganisms transform food into nutrients, constantly monitored and regulated by your gut hormone and immune systems. Getting enough sleep supports all these processes, giving you the best possible health benefits. Lack of sleep, on the other hand, can seriously challenge your gut function, making you vulnerable to fatigue, stress, and issues related to imbalanced immune system.

1. ​​​Sleep & Digestive Energy Production

​Getting enough long sleep, besides a good diet, is crucial for your digestive ecosystem to flourish. The less you sleep the harder it gets for the gut microbes to function, reducing the amount of energy, minerals and vitamins your body otherwise could absorb. Making the situation even worse, shorter sleep can also disrupt gut’s microbial ability to fight harmful species. As a result, you can get fatigued, have trouble concentrating, and feel unwell.

2. ​​Sleep & Gut Hormonal Production

​Aside from processing food, digestive organs play a key role in your body’s hormonal system. Along the intestinal tract, specialized cells secret many essential hormones, regulating the metabolic processes and sending biochemical signals to your brain. To function well, the gut hormonal production needs time for fine-tuning its processes, which it can get when you sleep. Therefore, getting enough sleep can help, for example, in reducing levels of stress hormone cortisol in the body, making you feel calm and more at ease. Lack of sleep, on the other hand leads to higher cortisol levels, and can over time cause many issues including infections, allergic sensitivities, poor concentration and even affect your ability to form memories.

3. ​​Sleep & Gut Immune System

​The third major function of your digestive tract is to defend your body against hostile invaders. Every time you consume something, your gut immune system rapidly evaluates the situation and releases a cocktail of cytokines and antibodies, while your brain monitors and regulates everything. Any disturbance, such as lack of sleep, can disrupt the immune function out of balance, increasing your risk for many health issues ranging from low-grade chronic ill health to those causing hospitalization.

​​Promoting Gut Health

​Indeed, getting enough quality sleep is crucial in promoting optimal gut health. Referring to research, if you are an adult you should aim to get 7 to 9 hours sleep per night, ideally going to bed always at same time. This, combined with a fitting diet, and enough physical exercise throughout the day, you can fully promote your health and enjoy from feeling well.

​Getting Better Sleep​

​If you have any questions, please leave a comment.

Sleep well!

Oliver