Sleep and Inflammation

So, how’s your sleep hygiene? I’m not talking about changing the sheets every week … however, yes that is important but no I’m talking about the effects of your sleeping pattern; i.e. sleep preparation, the amount, timing and quality of sleep. As these all could be affecting your bodies’ ability to recover and hence could be creating a ‘fight-or-flight’ response to your nervous system, thus unhelpful inflammation. That doesn’t really sound restful, restorative or energising does it?
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Now inflammation gets a bad reputation but really, it’s just a protective biological response from our immune system that helps fight off foreign bodies and to promote cellular turnover. By having poor sleeping patterns you are ‘tricking’ or stimulating this response to kick in over and over again, night after night – as your body thinks it’s doing a good job. Thanks body! ….
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Too little sleep or too much sleep can also trigger inflammation. With research suggesting just one night can spike these levels. I’m sure you’re all felt the effect of too much or too little sleep on your mental and physical function the next day.

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Now we all know how to reduce ‘unhelpful’ inflammation when it comes to sleep …  go to bed and wake up at the same time everyday, get 7-9hours of sleep every night, reduce technology or ‘screen-time’ or bright lights 2hours prior, avoid stimulates (alcohol, cigarettes & caffeine) and ‘wind down’ or implement a relaxing ritual … are a few helpful ones, we just have to implement them regularly.

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However, I know there are times in ones’ lives that sleep can be out of one’s control (e.g. a new bub or deadlines to meet) – worrying about sleep won’t help as its more likely to trigger a ‘fight and flight’ response. Just know you are doing awesome and it won’t be forever - grab onto that ‘shut eye’ when you can, even if it’s a nap (<20mins) throughout the day – your body will love you for it!