Balance your hormones for better sleep
Sleep difficulties are common. Often the problem isn’t too much caffeine or noise, but an imbalance in the hormones that regulate the body's internal clock.
When the sun goes down, the body produces more melatonin in preparation for sleep, and when it’s light melatonin production drops. However these cycles can be disrupted by factors such as blue light from your mobile device, too little light during the day, jet lag and shift work. Stress also plays a major role.
The body produces cortisol throughout the day which peaks in the morning so you feel awake and hungry. Cortisol should drop in the evening to prepare for sleep, but stress can prevent this drop and also inhibit melatonin release. Having a ‘second wind’ around 10pm, finding it hard to fall asleep and feeling tired during the day are common signs your melatonin and cortisol may be out of balance. Find out more with this simple sleep test.
