How to sleep like a baby in Menopause
How did this client achieve peaceful unbroken sleep in 9 weeks
Laura Lambe, Menopause Practitioner and Founder of Menopause Mastery
Sleep problems are one of the most common and recognised core symptoms of menopause. Guidelines to support decision making for women with sleep problems however are lacking
Sleep concerns are something 83% of our clients come to us with. Whether its the inability to fall asleep, stay asleep and/or wake up feeling refreshed – SLEEP is a major concern for many and the core problem of other hormonal concerns.
When we first met Caroline she was barely sleeping through the night and it was impacting most elements of her health
Due to the hormonal changes in menopause, our main sleep hormone, melatonin, is impacted.
Melatonin levels are also affected by:
- Low iron
- Low Vitamin D
- High Cortisol
- Overexposure to Artificial Light Exposure
- Eating too little and over training: ie overstressing your nervous system
- Poor Gut Health and Microbiome
- Overuse of Caffeine
- Unmanaged Stress
- Irregular sleep patterns
1.
Reduce cortisol levels in the evening
Keep stress levels low and the body calm in the evening. Ensure you have a good wind down routine in the evening and avoid activities that can spike cortisol ie looking at work emails before bed/scrolling
2.
Avoid eating TOO close to your bedtime
During menopause, gut digestion slows, hence eating less volume of food at night reduces insulin load. Studies show high insulin disturbs melatonin production
3.
Manage overall stress/anxiety levels
As estrogen levels decrease during menopause our body naturally produces more cortisol meaning women become less stress resilient and its very easy to exist in that “fight or flight” mode. Ensuring you have solid consistent tools to reduce and manage stress levels will help reduce cortisol levels and help aid sleep quality
4.
Eat more anti inflammatory foods
The American Heart Association found that women following a more anti inflammatory diet during menopause had a better overall sleep efficiency – we also see this as being a key difference in reducing night sweats
5.
Have a plant based protein source at night.
If you struggle with Night Sweats, switching up your evening protein source from animal based to plant based can aid reduction.
Note ensuring you are consuming enough Vit E (15mg) and Omega 3 (430 mg) type foods, consuming min 25g fiber a day and having a diet featuring heavily of anti inflammatory diets is more effective overall – For our clients, we ensure those elements are in place first then IF the individual is still struggling with night sweats we will swap the evening protein source
6.
A good night’s sleep starts in the morning.
Morning light exposure is important to reset the circadian clock.
Melatonin should be high at night and low in the morning. Light in the eyes in the morning has the single most influence on re-setting the circadian clock.
As well as ensuring all the above were implemented, with Caroline we really focused on increasing her MAGNESIUM through foods to help aid better sleep quality and overall hormonal health
I uploaded high magnesium food sources over inside our free community The Menopause Lab last week –
Not only has Caroline lost 10lbs in 9 weeks but she is also now reporting her sleep as NOT an issue AT ALL – AMAZING
She is finally back to enjoying proper energy and finally getting a good night’s sleep!!
We are doing a deep dive into the most common menopause symptoms every day for a week HERE – Join entirely for free and get a FULL plan for our menopausal symptoms
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