SLEEP AND PCOS – WHY IT IS CRITICAL FOR HORMONE HEALING
In the past couple of years through my own research and understanding I’ve realised how critical Sleep is for PCOS.
Well, for every human on this planet. However, Sleep and PCOS go hand in hand to help you balance your hormones and wake up energised ready to conquer the world.
With PCOS, unfortunately we can suffer from devastating symptoms such as weight gain, hair loss and growth in nasty places, acne, depression, anxiety, infertility, hot flushes, low libido – the list goes on.
It causes inflammation in the body which causes us to feel un-well 99% of the time. Not fun hey or how any of us should be living our lives!
What if I told you there was something so simple that could seriously help you overcome these symptoms and wake up as the boss babe you are?
Sleep honestly is that magic pill.
Remember the last time you had a decent night sleep – no tossing and turning, waking up every 2 hours, night terrors, jolting, sweats etc.
How good did you feel? Or perhaps you’ve forgotten this feeling because it hasn’t happened in so long!
Getting enough QUALITY sleep is essential to feeling and looking fantastic every day.
I’m going to keep this short and simple. I’ve written out my top tips and guidelines that might seem like common knowledge, but to really have that powerful sleep you need to follow and be consistent with…
- We are CONSTANTLY looking at screens throughout the day. Whether that’s your phone, your laptop, the TV or your kids IPADs, your eyes are taking a beating and they need time to adjust to darkness when you get into bed.
TURN THOSE SCREENS OFF AN HOUR BEFORE!
Stop scrolling through Instagram, do you really care what Brian from 5th grade is having for dinner?
If you aren’t a fan of reading, invest in a good set of headphone’s and start a podcast. My top ones I recommend are:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-pcos-nutritionist-podcast/id1464481655
https://www.martin-macdonald.com/not-another-nutrition-podcast
https://thejamessmithpodcast.libsyn.com
And my God these headphones are absolutely lifechanging. Block out any extra noise and are super comfy around the ears –
https://www.bose.com/en_us/products/headphones/noise_cancelling_headphones.htm
2. Try to avoid any sleep medication
If you’ve been following me for a while you’ll know I am not a promotor of any synthetic drug. You can become reliant on them and it’s incredibly harmful to your mental health.
Not only this but prescribed drugs don’t allow the body all the cycles of sleep, so it won’t be fully restorative.
3. Do not eat after 7.30PM
When we eat late at night, the muscles that digest and metabolize our food have to keep working when they should be resting. This can delay your ability to fall asleep and can prevent you from getting the deep, restful stage of sleep you need to feel refreshed the next day.
From personal experience, if I eat even 2 hours before I get into bed my sleep is always interrupted and I have mental dreams! Having a small amount of Low GI Carbohydrates with your dinner will also promote a good night’s sleep.
4. Magnesium
Women with PCOS can be deficient in Magnesium, which also promotes a good night sleep. This mineral can really help!
5. Eat a high protein breakfast
Try to start your day right and set your circadian rhythm for night time. High protein will also keep your insulin levels low and give you energy to smash your morning!
6. Save your bedroom for two things – Sleep and Sex.
NO TVs! Your bedroom should be your sanctuary that you can’t wait to get in at the end of the day. Decorate it nicely. Invest in candles and pretty things. It really will make a difference!
When you get enough quality, un-medicated sleep, inflammation decreases which will overall help your PCOS and reduce symptoms.
The body produces more growth hormone, and stress hormones are metabolized. Sleep can lower blood sugar levels and cravings may go away completely! Think of Sleep as the time for your body to completely relax, switch off and recharge. If we didn’t sleep, we’d literally run ourselves into the ground and burn out. We must be kind to ourselves!
It’s even more important if you have PCOS, because having elevated blood sugar levels can make your symptoms worse.
The body is incredibly clever. It knows how and when to heal and restore. The brain works like a computer shuffling all the information from the day, discarding some and systematically storing other information.
The immune system regenerates and makes natural killer cells for the next day’s adventures. The pineal gland makes adequate amounts of melatonin protecting the body from disease, regulating reproductive hormones, and setting the body’s circadian rhythm….this is why sleep is so important!
When you have PCOS, getting enough sleep is imperative to overcoming your symptoms. Your body is working to balance itself while sleeping and without the proper rest, symptoms of hormone imbalance only get worse.
If you get a good night sleep do you feel the following?
When you wake up, you should feel like you’ve had a mega workout feeling more toned and energised. When we sleep our bodies burns fat and builds muscle, hence we normally wake up feeling a little flatter and less wobbly!
It’ll be easier to do up those trousers before work because you’ll be feeling more confident and sexy. Yaaaas Queen this is how I want you to feel every day!
Your cravings should have disappeared, and you wake up in high spirits. No more negative thoughts or thinking the world is against you. It’s your time to wake up and shine.
When our hormones become more balanced, only good things will happen to us. The immune system will be much stronger and feelings of stress much lower or non-existent. You will have crazy amazing energy that may surprise you.
Personally, I’ve always been an early riser, but the difference of how much energy I now have where I’m literally jumping out of bed smashing a gym class first thing to a few years ago where I couldn’t lift my head from the pillow is huge.
Oh, and one more thing as I know many of us have a small fear of getting old… Sleep actually stops wrinkles forming, giving you that fresh youthful glow when you wake up!
Sleep really is the magic ticket to feeling and looking your best. It is beauty rest, inside and out. If we don’t take care of ourselves internally you will easily be able to see that on the outside.
There are so many wonderful things that happen to improve the symptoms of PCOS and hormone imbalance when we get a good night’s sleep. We actually accumulate sleep debt, so you do need to catch up. And during the winter when the days are shorter, you’ll need 8-9 hours of sleep per night. Think hibernation. Wintertime is when your body heals and restores for the longer days of late spring and summer.
Apart from celebrations or a birthday night, nothing really good ever happens after 9pm anyway.
I love all the sleep sayings, like “the early bird gets the worm”, “early to bed early to rise makes a woman healthy, wealthy and wise”. But my favourite is:
“Let her sleep, for when she wakes, she will move mountains’.
Wishing you sweet dreams and a restful night’s sleep for tomorrow and the rest of your day’s ladies!
How to fuel your body correctly will have a positive impact on how well your sleep. This is something I educate in both my online course and my 1 to 1 coaching.
Pop me an email to find out more
Lots of love as ever
