Calm bowels ensure a better night’s sleep
In a healthy body, everything works together, like a well-oiled machine. If something goes wrong somewhere in the machine, you often notice it in different places. Intestinal problems can then affect sleep, for example – and vice versa! You can read how that works in this article.
Bad sleeping
If you have sleeping problems, for example because you are worrying or wake up at impossible times, your body suffers from this. You feel fatigued, are less alert and may have a shorter fuse than usual. Long-term sleep deprivation also carries a greater risk of physical and psychological problems. A lack of sleep also affects your appetite. You notice that after a night of little sleep. Then your body makes extra ghrelin, a hormone that stimulates appetite, and less of leptin, a hormone that ensures satiety. As a result, you will eat more, and especially snack, because you have a greater appetite for sweet and fatty foods. And that of course has an influence on the intestines: they have to process more and different food.
Abdominal pain and other complaints
If you have problems with your intestines, for example bloating, abdominal pain or intestinal cramps, this has an effect on your sleep. You don’t sleep well if you don’t feel well. The result is that you feel tired the next day, that those hunger hormones are disrupted, that you eat differently and more… and thus stimulate the intestines again. This can lead to an annoying cycle.
Microbiome
There are scientists who think that the microbiome in the gut is also affected by sleep. A lack of sleep seems to affect the composition of the microbiome. The bacteria that play a role in metabolism and digestion in particular suffer from sleep deprivation, say Swedish and German researchers. In their study, adult volunteers were given a very short night’s sleep for several nights. After examining the stools, the lack of sleep appeared to have an effect on the bacterial composition. It is not yet clear whether these changes ultimately also have an effect on health.
Serotonin
And then there’s serotonin, a messenger substance mostly found in the gut. It is a substance that ensures that messages are passed between the brain and the gut. It is also the substance from which the sleep hormone melatonin is made (didn’t we already say that a body works like a well-oiled machine?). It turns out that there are cells in the gut that respond to stress and then produce extra serotonin. That extra serotonin goes to the brain and in response the brain causes the intestines to move more. You probably recognize that: that you have to go to the toilet faster if you are very nervous, for example. Researchers are now looking at whether the extra production of serotonin also has an effect on sleep patterns.
Give your bowels a rest
Traditionally, people only eat during the day, when it is light. That was all long before the invention of the candle and the light bulb, but our old genes probably still like it when there is a clear day-night rhythm for food and drink. As a result, more and more research is being conducted into the best time to eat. For example, research on laboratory animals shows that the risk of becoming overweight increases if animals eat at times when they normally rest or sleep. And in people who practice intermittent fasting, you also see that they can better regulate their weight and appetite. Snacking in the evening does not seem like a good habit, and in itself it makes sense: the digestion also benefits from a good night’s sleep.
Happy bowels, sleep well
In summary, there is still a lot of research going on into the relationship between gut and sleep. Good sleep seems to be beneficial for the gut and the gut microbiome in any case. When you stop eating and snacking in the evening, you give your gut the much-needed rest it needs. Also, after a good night’s sleep, you will have less need for snacks the next day – and so will not burden the intestines unnecessarily. Good sleep therefore gives a happy bowels, and a happy bowels ensure that you are not kept out of sleep by stomachaches or flatulence. Sleep and intestines: a beautiful duo!
Earlier we spoke for the podcast Healthy Conversation with immunologist Eric Claassen about our gut microbiome: the bacteria that have so much influence on our health and even on our brain. Be kind to “the bugs in your stomach”, according to Claassen, that will help you grow old healthier and happier. You can listen to the podcast below – or via the normal channels.
