Reducing Inflammation While You Sleep
You might not know this but getting a good night’s sleep can greatly help you in reducing your overall inflammation. Many people discount sleep as a passive activity everyone has to do without realizing what great processes occur inside of our bodies while we sleep. It is quite amazing when you look into it. Today let’s take a look at what we can do to reduce inflammation while we sleep.
THE CONNECTION BETWEEN SLEEP AND INFLAMMATION
Inflammation is the body’s natural response to outside invaders like bacteria and viruses. Our immune systems (innate and adaptive) are known for protecting our bodies from such infectious agents as well as from toxins and other damaging substances. However, this is the normal and short-lived inflammation that is part of our normal physiology. Most people in the Western world now suffer from a more insidious and damaging inflammation.
Chronic and low-grade inflammation induced by diet, stress, pollutants and high levels of reactive oxygen species is a damaging inflammation that has no place in the proper function of the human body.
When you are trying to sleep, you may find that existing inflammation and pain may feel more noticeable thus making it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep. When we are asleep our immune systems go into overdrive because it is the most ideal time to get to work.
If you have a constant presence of pro-inflammatory proteins and chemical signals in your body, any given source of inflammation to fight off an infection, disease or other cellular damage will be more uncomfortable and cause more havoc on your system.
HOW TO REDUCE INFLAMMATION WHILE YOU SLEEP
HOW TO REDUCE INFLAMMATION WHILE YOU SLEEP
Better sleep has been associated with lower inflammation levels. So how do we get better sleep? Let’s take a look at what we can do to get better sleep and allow our bodies the time and energy to heal.
Set a bedtime and an alarm clock. Make sure that you are allowing your body 7-9 hours of sleep each night. Too much and too little sleep can lead to higher levels of inflammation. Try to stick to the recommended hours to keep your body in tip-top shape.
Make sure that your room is cool and dark. A cool dark room will allow your body a less stressful time to fall asleep and stay asleep. Many believe that the optimal temperature for sleeping is around 65-degrees fahrenheit. This varies of course.
So many of us spend time on our phones, laptops, or watching TV while lying in bed. Overexposure to blue light can overstimulate the brain thus interrupting your circadian rhythm. Make sure to go into your device settings to turn down the blue light. Blue light is also known to cause oxidative stress in the retina and it should be avoided when possible. Most modern televisions have the ability to reduce the amount of blue light exposure.
Drinking a glass or two before bed can help you sleep better. That is not all that it does! Staying hydrated also reduces inflammation!
SLEEP BETTER WITH OUR GUMMY
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. Meredith Warner is the creator of Well Theory and The Healing Sole. She is a board-certified Orthopedic Surgeon and Air Force Veteran.
She is on a mission to disrupt traditional medicine practices and promote betterment physically, spiritually and mentally to many more people. She advocates for wellness and functional health over big pharma so more people can age vibrantly with more function and less pain.
At Well Theory, Our surgeon-designed products are FDA Registered and formulated to help people:
- Manage the symptoms of musculoskeletal pain
- Recover vibrantly from orthopedic related surgeries
- Fill the gaps in our daily diets
- Manage pain associated with inflammation