Did you know that the health of your gut directly affects your mood, your immune system, and your sleep–wake cycle?! Sounds a little wild, but it’s true!
Our bodies are intricately connected with circulation and nerves innervating all of our organs, creating the ‘gut-brain axis.’ This means that the health of our gut affects our brains, which includes influencing normal sleep patterns.
The bacteria in our bellies help create important chemical messengers in the brain (serotonin and dopamine) that affect our sleep-wake cycle. When we have an imbalance of bacteria in the gut, serotonin levels decline, and sleep issues arise.
The reverse is also true! Sleep affects the microbiome and the microbiome affects sleep. They have a cyclical relationship, and if one isn’t functioning properly, the other will be impacted as well.
There are so many great (and simple!) ways to support gut health – and therefore sleep! Here are the top three to get started (and if you need a little more support in this area, we have you covered!). The best part? These are incredibly easy habits to add to your routine!
So many modern foods are loaded with (often hidden!) sugars and stimulants, impeding the body’s ability to foster a healthy pH balance in the gut. AlkaLime works to combat this with high-alkaline salts and other yeast-fighting elements such as citric acid and lemon and lime essential oils! AlkaLime works as a natural alkalizing supplement to maintain optimal pH in the stomach, which helps keep a good balance of bacteria that produce neurotransmitters like serotonin!
Many health professionals consider regularly taking a high quality probiotic to be one of the core pieces to a healthy gut which in turn is a key to brain, immune, skin health and more. Think about it, everything we eat or drink is sent through our digestive system, so keeping a good balance of bacteria here is crucial!
Manage Stress
Stress literally affects every part of our health, so finding ways to manage stress and release emotional burdens is critical to all parts of health as well! And if you’re thinking that it sounds well and good to manage stress, but that you have way too much of it then you’re in the right place, friend. We’ve got you covered on that front too! For now, here are a few ideas to help in this area:
- Meditation: start with just 5 minutes of quiet in the morning and evening
- Journaling and visualization: these can be powerful tools for processing trauma, pain or extreme hardship
- Breathing exercises: breathe in for a count of 4, hold for 8, out for 4 and still your mind as you do so.
Adding these three habits to your daily routine will go a long way towards healthy sleep!