When was the last time you woke up without an alarm, refreshed AND didn’t need a big bucket of coffee to get kickstarted in the morning?
I think the resounding answer for most of us is, “not in a long time”, so there’s no doubt that we’re all chasing after that elusive good night’s sleep!
But, with all of the distractions, and stresses of daily life - it’s a wonder how any of us sleep at all - ever!
I blame this on our “rise and grind” culture. We’re in a constant state of digital stimulation, hustle and bustle. I mean, it can be downright embarrassing to tell people that your bedtime is 10 pm - or earlier! Haha!
Truth is, not getting enough good quality sleep impacts our brain health and memory in the long term, and even our body’s ability to detoxify and renew itself.
Lack of sleep also messes with our hormones - and you know what happens when hormones aren’t happy!
Speaking of hormones - did you know that we have 400 times more MELATONIN (the body’s natural “sleep hormone”) in our gut than in our brains? That’s reason enough to focus on gut health as part of a healthy sleep routine!
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AUDIO TRANSCRIPTION
(00:01):
If you haven't listened to episode 1 0 9, go back and listen to that. Before listening today's to today's episode where we are talking about six ways to biohack your sleek. Welcome back to the thriving thyroid podcast, where we choose to become empowered patients and take our health into our own hands. Hi, I'm Shannon Hanson, a Christian entrepreneur, a mom of three. And after dealing with my own health mysteries, I made it my mission to learn everything I could about the thyroid. I soon became certified as a holistic wellness practitioner, a functional nutrition practitioner and a functional diagnostic practitioner. And so much more. After that, I founded the revolutionary thyroid program, the Hanon method as a health professional and a mom. I fully understand the importance of having a fun, simple, and sustainable plan for achieving a responsive thyroid. So I share actionable and practical strategies for developing a responsive thyroid so that the ambitious moms and women can gain freedom from fatigue and lose the thyroid weight once. And for all each week, I will be here for you along with my guest experts, we will be sharing simple and tangible tips that work for not only your thyroid, your hormones, your family, and your mindset, so that you can get back to living the life that you envision for yourself. Welcome to the thriving thyroid podcast.
(01:36):
All right, you guys welcome back to the thriving thyroid podcast with your host Shannon Hansen. I am so excited to talk about sleep. You guys sleep in poop. Those are my jams because they make the biggest difference when learning and working towards balancing and optimizing your thyroid hormones. All right, here we go. So when was the last time you woke up without an alarm feeling refreshed and didn't need a bucket of coffee to get you going in the morning? There is no question that we all want better sleep, but with all of the distractions and all of the stresses of our daily life, it is no wonder how many of us struggle to get good quality sleep. Now, I blame it on today's culture, where we've gotta rise and grind and get more done and be more and be better and more successful in our life when there is this constant stage of, and in addition to that, this constant stage of digital stimulation and hustle and bustle, and I know if you're anything like me, I'm eating lunch, trying to answer emails and checking emails and scrolling through Instagram to make sure I didn't miss any of the things right.
(03:06):
And the truth is though that that is <laugh> so terrible for our hormones, right? So the truth is not getting enough. Sleep really impacts our brain, our health, our memory, and our body's ability to detoxify and renew itself through cellular turnover and repair. And one of the best things that I have learned, and I'm still practicing. It is how to slow down, how to just be present in the moment, instead of always thinking about, I need to do this and I need to do that and I need to do this. And then, and then after I finish that, then I can do this and blah, blah, blah. You know, like stacking my day with all of these things. And really, it's no wonder that we're seeing this exponential increase in disease, things like obesity and heart disease and Alzheimer's and autoimmune disorders like Hashimotos and adrenal dysregulation.
(04:10):
In fact, the lack of sleep is messing with many of our hormones. And as you know, when that happens, our hormones, aren't happy the other day in our Facebook group, I asked the question, you know, what would be one thing that you would fix about your hormones? And <laugh> one lady I love this. One lady was like that. I wouldn't have any <laugh> and I was like, what? You don't want any hormones? And she was like, no, because they just keep getting messed up. So anyways, I got a good kick out of that because I can totally resonate with that. <Laugh> yeah, just take 'em all away. That would be great. Just make everything all balanced. Speaking of hormones though, did you know that there are 400 times more melatonin? So the body's natural sleep hormone in our gut than in our brain. The reason enough to focus on the importance of our gut health and taking good probiotics and establishing that good, healthy sleep routine, little known facts about what happens to our hormones when we don't get enough sleep.
(05:23):
So number one, grin. So grin is our hunger hormone, which increases by 15% after just one night of poor sleep. And it can also drastically impact our leptin. So leptin is the hormone of satiation, meaning I'm full, I'm satisfied. So it is no wonder we want to eat a big pile of sugar and carbs and all of the yummy food. When we are tired, we're looking for this big fat energy fix and our body will look to those, but it impacts our, our hormones, leptin and growlin K, number two, chronic sleep deprivation correlates with that elevated evening time cortisol. So our stress cortisol, this is why a lot of us will quote unquote peak at night and have that energy rush or surge in the evening. So when cortisol is elevated, you're not only more hungry, but you tend to store more visceral fat in that abdominal area, AKA that dreaded belly fat you guys, if you wanna get rid of that, manage your stress and get to sleep.
(06:48):
Okay. Number three, the production of growth hormone. You guys, I feel like I have missed <laugh> the mark for a long time on how important human growth hormone really is. So that is your H G H, which is dubbed the foundation of the youth hormone. So this is at its peak during the first half hour of your sleep. And this is also known as that Delta stage sleep. So when we get into our deepest sleep and restorative sleep is in that first, that first half of our sleep, okay. It protects our muscles from breaking down. It aids in building leaner muscle tissues. It gives you energy. And this means that you're able to lose weight more efficiently and maintain that leaner body mass, but only when you sleep well. So yes, getting to sleep is important, but we also need good deep sleep throughout the night.
(07:54):
So here are the six ways to use sleep to boost our body's biological rhythm and improve the balance. So, number one is the key nutrients. This is a whole unit that we talk about inside the HandsOn method. But those key nutrients that your body needs, our body needs a diet rich in both pre and probiotic, rich foods. As the bacteria in our gut can interfere with the melatonin and also eating foods that are high in sleep nutrients. So for example, potassium potassium helps us stay asleep and can be found in bananas or coconut water. And avocados. Magnesium is a relaxant and helps us to fall asleep. But 80% of us are believed to be deficient in this multitasking mineral. So one of the tips that I like to share, and one of my, I guess, evening routines for a long time has been to take magnesium and a probiotic right before I go to sleep.
(09:10):
And that is what we recommend inside the Hansen method. We recommend a therapeutic dosage to our clients as well as good quality probiotics to aid in that. Because we know that sometimes diet is not enough. All right. Number two, tip for biohacking. Your rhythm is a balanced dinner. So spa pay special attention to the last meal of the day. Make sure it is a balanced dinner, which includes ample amounts of protein, veggies, and good fats, as well as a small amount of slow digesting carbohydrates, something like sweet potatoes, wild rice, or quinoa, number three, limit alcohol. We have talked about this, a ton on the podcast, go back to, I believe episode 47 and 48 or 48 and 49. And then we had an episode a couple weeks ago about alcohol as well. And I believe that was episode 1 0 3, but alcohol inhibits deep REM sleep.
(10:27):
So if you ha are having a cup of wine, a glass of wine before you go to bed, this could be impacting your sleep. This is when so REM sleep is when we dream as well as when our memories are get solidified from that short term to long term memory, even just one glass of wine can affect REM sleep. So enough said, <laugh> you guys limit that alcohol, especially right before bed, number four, practice, good sleep hygiene. I love, and I have a hate relationship with this. So in the evenings you create a ritualistic or routine that you follow around sleep. So sleep hygiene is like going to bed early, before 10:00 PM, practicing that good hygiene, washing your face, brushing your teeth, sitting in an absence, all bath. For me, that includes taking a good probiotic and magnesium before bed. You know, snuggling my kids, reading books, whatever, whatever is part of that routine, make it the same, try to do it in the same way, the same fashion every single night.
(11:47):
So that your body can start winding down for me also. I'm, I'm remembering as I'm putting together this podcast. So part of my sleep hygiene is we eat dinner. We clean up dinner, kids get on pajamas, take showers. You know, we brush teeth, do all of that thing. But then as that is starting to happen, I am going around the house and I am turning off the lights, turning off lights, turning off lights you know, all because when you turn off lights that signals to your brain to start making melatonin. The other thing that I like to do is I start diffusing essential oils. I take my supplements brush my teeth, brush my face, put on my pajamas, you know, all of those types of things. And I try to do it in the same habit, the same fashion every single night, so that my body is like, oh yeah, it's sleep.
(12:43):
We know what to do now. <Laugh> that kind of thing. Okay. So whatever that routine looks like for you, if it includes exercise, if it includes journal, if it includes reading a book you know, make that part of something that you are doing over and over and over again. And don't deviate from that, at least <laugh> for a short period of time, number five, and this leads into number five, because number five is ditch those devices. You guys, it is not part of that good sleep hygiene. And I know, I know the struggles of devices. I have my own <laugh> love connection, especially in the evening. My husband and I talk about this all the time. One of my ways to wind down in the evening and to almost, I, this is embarrassing to admit, but I use TV oftentimes as a numbing, right?
(13:43):
If I am super stressed out, or if I'm dealing with some hard things in my life, I would rather like watch a TV show or, you know, scroll Facebook or Instagram or TikTok or whatever. And that is, <laugh> not something that is supportive to our sleep. So set a curfew for yourself. I have a timer. I, I don't know if it's a timer. I set it up on my phone to wear every night at 10:00 PM. I have to intentionally put in a pin to allow me to be on my phone. I should probably move the time up a little bit, but I haven't gotten that far <laugh>. But that is one of the things that you guys can also do is put on, do not disturb limit that. You know, there there's a lot of things that can help make this happen.
(14:40):
But set a screen curfew for yourself at least an hour before bed. My aim currently is to be in bed by like 9 30, 10 o'clock. And so for me, that would be eight, eight thirty, that my phone would be off the blue light, admitted from our devices, lowers melatonin production. By up to 50%, you guys, 50%, it is no longer <laugh> okay to fall asleep in front of the TV. It is time to turn off the TV. And I say that with all of the love in my heart. Okay. Number six. And the last tip is using essential oils. So those essential oils can help calm the body. I used to have diffusers in all of my kids' rooms. They still have them. We haven't been using them as frequently as we should, but things like diffusing, lavender and V ever, and frankincense and sandalwood and Roman camo mill in those diffusers or even putting them in a hot bath before bed or on your pillow case, those can all work wonders to help you drift off you guys.
(15:59):
I use those, especially when my kids were really, really little, I would put the oil on my chest and as I'm holding them, rocking them, you know, singing to them, whatever, whatever I did for their sleep routine, I would have them smelling it on me. And I noticed every time I did that, it was like their brain. And there's tons of science behind this too. But essentially what happens is when we smell things, it brings back memories, right? So that warm apple pie reminds you of grandma fresh cut grass reminds you of, you know, summer, whatever the smells are. It's like all of a sudden that O factory that our brain is like smelling and it's like, boom, triggers memories. And this is when, one of the things that really got me believing in essential oils amongst other reasons. But my husband would use essential oils when he was studying for tests many years ago and going to engineering school.
(17:07):
And he was on a fast track. He was taking tons of credits and all of that, but he would use certain essential oils while he was studying. And then when he would go in to take exams, finals, midterms, whatever it was, he would use that same smell and the same scent to recall his memory. And he did so good on all of his tests. And anyways, so same thing with sleep, right? When we, if we always use a combination between lavender and V ever, or lavender and Roman came meal, or a combination of all of it, our brain, our kids' brains will all of a sudden go, oh yeah, I'm tired and start producing that melatonin. So there is absolutely no question that getting enough sleep is one of the most important things that you can do for your overall health. It does take some practice and perhaps a few biological trips, tricks and hacks to help you balance your body's natural circadian rhythm, but the better sleep that you are getting, the better you will feel, the lower your sugar cravings will be all of those wonderful things.
(18:26):
The last little tip that I wanted to give you guys is tart. Cherry juice helps with melatonin production as well. One of my biggest recommendations for my clients is usually to have an ounce, maybe two ounces of like something like a Turkey, right before bed, pumpkin seeds, all of those things can really, really help with the body's ability to produce melatonin naturally inside the body to help give you that good restful restorative sleep and balance those hormones. All right, you guys, I will see you in the next be before you go. I wanted to share with you guys about an online platform called Fullscript. Fullscript is a platform where you can purchase high quality supplementation, including brands like thorn, pure encapsulation, Douglas labs, Genestra Claire labs. And so many more. We use this platform to help our clients purchase these top quality supplements at a discounted price.
(19:31):
You can also set up auto shipments where these supplements come into your home automatically without you having to think about it. It is one of the things that has taken the most guesswork out of my health for me currently, as I have just set up an auto shipment for my prenatals and my organ meets and all of those wonderful things for myself and for my kids. And you can go in and change it at any time. Now, if you enroll under my link in the show notes, you will get a bigger discount and you'll get access to my online protocols, protocols for painful menstrual cycles, protocols for headaches, pro protocols for your immune system, all kinds of things. Now, if you're looking for something in particular and it's not there, send me a DM on Instagram at thriving thyroid, and I may be able to put something together for you guys. So head over to the show notes, set up an account with full script. You will get all of the information and all of the details of upcoming promotions and additional savings.
(20:48):
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