SLEEP DISTURBANCES
When we talk about the key pillars to health, SLEEP is an important, but often overlooked key.
Sleep is not just about fatigue. It is your body’s first line of defense against INFECTIONS. During sleep, your body produces special proteins called CYTOKINES that fight infection by way of INFLAMMATION.
However, sleep deprivation interferes with this healthy IMMUNE response.
Not good!
In other words, a lack of sleep can increase the likelihood of infection, allowing other illness to progress as well.
There can be several factors causing accumulated SLEEP DEPRIVATION such as ADRENAL STRESS, CORTISOL or other HORMONAL imbalances, BLOOD SUGAR problems and even BRAIN (Neurotransmitter) imbalances.
One of the special tests we often run to specifically identify the ROOT CAUSE of sleep is the Adrenal Stress Test or ASI. This functional medicine test uses small samples of saliva collected over the day to accurately determine what your CORTISOL (stress hormone) levels are.
This important hormone, secreted by your ADRENAL GLANDS, should be highest in the morning in order to wake your body. Then, as the day goes on, the cortisol levels should decrease and be lowest at night, so that you can easily fall and stay asleep. However, we often find that for many people with cortisol imbalance issues, evening levels are way too high!
Research suggests that NUTRITIONAL as well as MIND-BODY interventions have been shown to improve sleep quality and effectively treat even stubborn insomnia.
Functional medicine can offer a variety of ways to help balance your STRESS HORMONE levels by supporting your adrenal glands through proper diet and lifestyle modification, along with a variety of all natural, WHOLE FOOD SUPPLEMENTS and HERBS.
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