The primary hormone of every woman, estrogen plays the most important role in the development inside her body, especially in the reproductive system and functions. Moreover, estrogen also has benefits for the other aspect of a woman’s health like her cardiovascular health, bone density, cognitive performance, and weight management.
Along with these, sufficient amounts of estrogen can affect mood, energy, mental sharpness, and physical appearance as well. One of the reasons is that this hormone promotes better rest and sleep. It helps the body use serotonin (a hormone that causes a person to feel good) and other neurochemicals responsible for sleep. It also helps in achieving better sleep quality, with few awakening moments at night and lesser time required to fall asleep.
A woman with lower estrogen levels is more susceptible to irritability and more discomfort like being more prone to anxiety and fatigue, difficulty in concentration, and physical pains like frequent headaches. Aside from aging, other reasons that can affect estrogen production are the inactive lifestyle and unhealthy eating habits.
How Sleep Deprivation Affect the Estrogen Production
Depriving one’s self to sleep can cause hormones like the estrogen to become imbalanced.
A sleep-deprived person has a higher level of cortisol making her alert and active (this hormone must be low during bedtime). This makes her more prone to stress that makes her more awake and alert which makes you prevent sleeping. This vicious cycle makes the estrogen level to decrease, producing worse effects, especially during the menopausal stage.
Some Sleeping Strategies to Help the Hormones
- Ensure more magnesium levels.
One of the common symptoms of having low deficiency problems is having inadequate sleep. To get the needed magnesium of your body, start by taking 250 to 300 mg of magnesium supplement per day can be done. Moreover, there is topical magnesium that can be easily absorbed by the skin which can work especially for those with digestive problems.
- Consume sleep-promoting foods and beverages.
Certain foods and drinks help to get better sleep. Despite they are mostly aid and does not guarantee they can solve sleeping issues, drinks such as chamomile tea and other herbs can be a big help to achieve adequate rest. Also, avoid consuming foods and drinks with caffeine especially a few hours before going to bed.
- Reduce cortisol levels by having good stress management.
Cortisol is a stress hormone and this can block the estrogen production and even its function in the body system. When the body is stressed, it produces more cortisol and adrenaline which makes the body active and not allow to have a good sleep.
- Turn off any sources of light before going to bed.
Sources of lights especially the artificial ones like those from the gadgets, computer screen, and television can block the circadian rhythm and also the production of melatonin in the body.
- Reduce consumption of alcoholic drinks.
Alcohol is both a sedative and can be a relaxer, but it does not guarantee they can provide better sleep especially in women. Some women still experience having shallowed sleep despite drinking alcohol because it just delays and shortens the sleep’s dreaming phase. It also overwhelms the pattern of natural breathing. Moreover, the tendency to become thirsty plus the need to pee frequently (alcohol is a bladder-irritant and diuretic) because of taking alcohol can disrupt the sleep.
If planning to get a few glasses, do it earlier in the evening but not after 8 PM. Moreover, consume alcohol after the meal and not before.
Taking valerian or chamomile drinks instead of alcohol is better because of its calmative properties.
- Avoid taking caffeine at noon.
Aside from its ability to trigger the releasing of adrenalin and cortisol which makes the body in high alert, caffeine has discovered to disrupt the sleep six hours after the last cup. This is also not good for people who are slow caffeine metabolizers.
- Skip the late-night snacks that are filled with sugar.
Snacks like ice cream, cookies, cakes, and dessert yogurt can produce lesser hours of sleep because of its huge amount of sugar on it.
If looking for late snack options, try foods with high sources of protein, take herbal teas like rose tea, chamomile, and peppermint, or a bitter herbal digestif.
- Assess yourself what is the last thing that is usually done or thought of before heading to bed.
Everything that is conceived by the brain like what is read and watched before going to bed continues to activate the brain even during sleep. So, watching or reading scary stuff, for instance, is another factor that can affect a good night’s sleep.
To avoid this, picking carefully what to watch and read (skip thriller, political and other intense issues) and always consider what is soothing and relaxing can be done. Also, listening to some tracks with sleep self-hypnosis and emotional freedom technique (EFT) like tapping are also good options to do.
These mentioned options are just some things that can be done, but it does not promise it can solve the sleeping problems especially if there are other issues like having anxiety and depression. For more information on ways on how to understand more about the implications of sleeping for a well-balanced estrogen level, you can learn here.
