We spend a third of our lives asleep. And that’s a good thing, because sleep is vital. However, almost every second person nowadays suffers constantly or occasionally from sleep disorders, with women being disproportionately affected.
A person can survive several weeks without food, a few days without fluids, but after just 24 hours of sleep deprivation, the brain begins to suffer. Sleep is vital because important regenerative processes take place during sleep. In addition, sleep has an enormous influence on health, vitality, vigor and body weight.
Lack of sleep makes you sick
More and more studies show that restful sleep plays a central role in health. Those who sleep poorly or too little not only struggle with poor concentration and a drop in performance during the day, but can also suffer from various mood disorders that manifest themselves as muscle tension, headaches and stomach aches, and weaken the immune system. During sleep, the muscles relax and recover from their work. Those who suffer from chronic sleep disorders do not allow their body to rest, the regeneration phases are shortened or even do not occur at all. The body is overloaded and the risk of developing obesity, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular problems and many other diseases increases.
Causes and triggers of sleep disorders
One of the most common causes of sleep disorders is stress and overburdening at work or in private life. However, also stressful life events such as a bereavement in the family, disputes, separation or unemployment can temporarily cause sleepless nights.
But also illness, medication, alcohol, unhealthy foods – especially in the evening – can turn out to be real problems stealing sleep.
Only with a balanced lifestyle, combined with a healthy diet, is the body able to produce sufficient amounts of the sleep hormone melatonin.
The sleep hormone melatonin
The messenger substance melatonin, which regulates our day-night rhythm, plays a particularly important role in healthy sleep. This means that melatonin, which is produced by converting serotonin in the diencephalon, is increasingly produced as darkness falls and fatigue sets in. However, melatonin is only secreted in the dark. Light stimuli prevent its formation! Therefore, TV, tablet, PC and cell phone should be banned from the bedroom.
With increasing age, less and less sleep hormone is produced, but this can be influenced. With a healthy lifestyle and diet that provides plenty of natural vital substances such as vitamin D, B vitamins, magnesium and zinc, you can support the body in the production of melatonin.
The happiness hormone serotonin, the basis for melatonin
Melatonin is a natural messenger that is also found in small amounts in some foods, such as pistachios, cranberries, tomatoes, corn and oats. But even if you don’t eat these foods every day, the body also has the ability to produce melatonin itself. However, it needs the appropriate building blocks to do so.
Melatonin is formed in the pineal gland of the brain from the precursor, the happiness hormone serotonin. Serotonin not only wakes us up and puts us in a good mood, but also forms the basic substance for nocturnal melatonin. To produce serotonin, the body needs sunlight and daylight as well as the essential amino acid tryptophan, magnesium, vitamin D and B vitamins.
Tryptophan-rich foods include cheese, meat, legumes, nuts and eggs. Abundant B vitamins are found in meat, fish, and also potatoes and whole grain products. Magnesium is abundant in nuts, oatmeal and green vegetables, for example.
Can Metabolic Balance counteract insomnia?
In fact, many participants who eat according to their Metabolic Balance nutrition plan report that they sleep significantly better or even that they need less sleep and can still start the day fit and well-rested. On the one hand this is due to the fact that with the individual nutrition plan all nutrients and vital substances are ingested, which the body needs for the production of the body’s own hormones, such as serotonin, and at the same time the body and the organs are being eased. Furthermore, participants who follow their Metabolic Balance nutrition plan feel much more balanced than they did before the change in diet. As a result, stress levels drop, i.e. stress hormones such as cortisol or adrenaline are being produced less and thus do not inhibit the formation of serotonin.