I have always been fascinated by and love the quote, ‘Just because it is, doesn’t mean it should be”
I first heard the quote years ago from Nicole Kidman in the movie Australia, and have found myself quoting it pretty often since then.
I think it very aptly describes circumstances or experiences that we come to accept as normal because they commonly occur, rather than because they should be occurring at all.
As Functional Medicine and Lifestyle coach, Sleep is one of these for me!
So many of us accept waking up feeling tired and unrefreshed as the norm or perhaps you’re one of those who hasn’t yet stopped to consider the quality of your sleep and whether it is negatively impacting your health and energy levels.
Sleep has been underestimated as a contributor to both mental and physical malaise, dysfunction and disease symptoms. More often than not, visits to the GP or even a specialist are unlikely to involve a consideration of or questioning about sleep quality, and the impact of poor quality sleep on the reason for the visit!
Signs your sleep quality needs to improve:
Sleep is all about rest, repair and restoration of body systems – from their functioning and exertion of the day. The hormone melatonin, our rest and repair hormone, is released at night and plays a significant role in healing and repair of tissues. Melatonin is produced in the pineal gland from the amino acid tryptophan. Melatonin is essential to the timing of our circadian rhythms (24-hour and seasonal internal clock) and with sleep quality.
It is interesting to note that the brain shrinks to 66% of its size at night to enable the lymph tissue (glymphatic system) surrounding the brain to expand. This is because detoxification of brain tissue by this glymphatic system is essential to reduction of inflammation and optimal brain functioning.
So many many MANY! people are getting either insufficient sleep (less than 7-8 hours per night) or poor quality interrupted sleep. Research studies have shown that just one night of poor sleep results in the same negative consequences physically and mentally as being extremely drunk.
Most people don’t realise that sleep is a keystone of health. When we’re sleep-deprived, it’s really hard to eat well or to have the energy to exercise. It’s hard to think straight. It’s even hard to stay in a good mood or have a positive outlook on life.
Regular poor sleep puts us at risk of serious medical conditions including obesity, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, depression, sexual dysfunction and diabetes. Chronic poor sleep also lowers immunity and shortens life expectancy.
It’s probably pretty clear now that paying attention to the quality of your sleep and ensuring you get a good solid night’s sleep every night is essential for a vibrant and healthy life.
From a Functional Medicine and Lifestyle perspective, the five fundamental pillars of health include:
Twelve essentials for good quality, restful, restorative sleep
And that’s why quality ZZZ’s are essential for good health.
The time has come to heal. Time to wake up from unhealthy patterns. Time to break up with foods, people and habits that don’t love you back.
This Blog post has been created By Chantal Du Chenne, Functional Medicine and Lifestyle Practitioner, Founder of the DripBar and owner of a Kombucha brewery which produces the brand of ‘booch’ called theFarmacy. The blog contains information that is not designed to substitute, or replace any form or method of professional or medical advice and treatment or medicine. All content is the author’s opinion and is not intended to diagnose and remedy. Any facts and figures contained in this document are presented solely for informational and educational purposes only.
BIO:
Chantal is a B.Sc.Hons allied health with an international certification in Functional health & Lifestyle Medicine. Chantal is a passionate Gut Health advocate, specialising in the management of inflammatory conditions associated with leaky gut and dysbiosis (imbalance) of the gut microbiome. These include but are not limited to anxiety, depression, auto-immune conditions, cancer, type 2 diabetes etc.
Over her 25 year career, Chantal has held various positions within the health and wellness industry – including 10 years as the Executive Head of Vodacom’s corporate wellness & mobile health programs.
Chantal is a competitive cyclist, a plant strong vegan and mom to two grown up girls.
Hydrate. Detox. Energise. Boost
At the DripBar, we offer a range of vitamin and mineral IV drips designed to optimize health and well-being. IV nutrient therapy supports the active busy stressful lifestyles that are so common to 21st century living. At the DripBar, our IV vitamin drips have been specifically formulated to include combinations of vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants and amino acids that boost immunity, improve mitochondrial function & energy levels, increase vitality and facilitate detoxification.