We know that good sleep is essential – but it can also be hard to achieve. You may have done all the things: blackout shades, chamomile tea, calming music, a warm bath, no screens before bed. You may even have tried counting sheep – and you still cannot get a good night’s sleep. I want to tell you about an alternative pathway to better sleep that you might not have considered. It’s in your digestive tract. Instead of focusing on how to turn off your brain to help you get a good night’s sleep, think about turning on your gut!
The connection between your gut and your sleep has to do with the sleep hormone melatonin. Here’s how it works: as it gets darker, your eyes sense less light and send a message to your brain via your optic nerve that night is coming. In response, your brain increases melatonin secretion to make you sleepy. And that’s why darkness is so essential for falling asleep – because it triggers melatonin secretion. But for it all to work properly, you need to have adequate production of melatonin.
And this is where the gut comes in. Melatonin is made from a precursor hormone called serotonin. 90% of the total serotonin in our body is made in our GI tract. Gut bacteria are intimately involved in serotonin production, which ties your gut microbiome into the sleep equation. Low microbial diversity in the gut is associated with low serotonin production, which can lead to low melatonin production, which is associated with disordered sleep. High diversity and richness in the gut microbiome is associated with increased serotonin production, increased melatonin production, and improved sleep quality.
So how do you make sure you have adequate serotonin levels to make enough melatonin? Two ways: The first is to make sure you’re eating the right foods that promote production. Both serotonin and melatonin are made from the amino acid tryptophan, which is an essential amino acid, meaning your body can’t make it on its own, and you need to get it from food (see below). The 2nd way to ensure adequate melatonin is to make sure you are not disrupting your gut microbiome, since that’s where serotonin, the precursor to melatonin, is made. What are the things that disrupt your microbiome? Well, this is a long list, but my top 3 are: 1) excessive antibiotics, 2) ultra-processed food, 3) not enough fiber.
Here are my 5 favorite gut-based tips for better sleep:
1.EAT SOME TRYPTOPHAN: Remember, tryptophan is one of the main ingredients in serotonin and melatonin and because it’s an essential amino acid, your body can’t produce it on its own and you have to get it from food. For plant sources I recommend peanuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, tofu, and unprocessed nongenetically modified soy. And for animal sources: chicken, eggs, fish, turkey.
2.TRY SOME FERMENTS: Fermented foods like sauerkraut and kimchi contain 3 important ingredients: prebiotics (fiber to feed your gut bacteria); probiotics (bacteria that are produced during the fermentation process), and postbiotics (metabolites created during fermentation). These foods can dramatically improve the health of your microbiome, which can help boost serotonin and melatonin production.
3.LIMIT ALCOHOL: I know you already know this, but I’m going to tell you again: alcohol doesn’t make you sleepy, it sedates you, and sedation and sleep are not the same thing. Plus, alcohol is bactericidal, which means it kills off bacteria – including the healthy ones in your gut. Alcohol is a major sleep disruptor, so if you’re trying to establish a good sleep routine, reducing, or avoiding alcohol is key.
4.DRINK TART CHERRY JUICE: Tart cherries contain tryptophan and anthocyanins; two compounds that help the body create melatonin and lengthen its effects. Research shows that supplementing with tart cherry juice increases levels of melatonin and helps improve both sleep quality and duration. In one study published in the American Journal of Therapeutics where people suffering from insomnia drank either 16 ounces of tart cherry juice or the same amount of a placebo juice every day for two weeks, sleep time increased by an average of 85 minutes in the cherry juice group. That’s much more impressive than most sleep supplements. By comparison, a 2022 review of 11 studies that looked at taking melatonin before bed showed a decreased sleep latency of 3 minutes and increased total sleep time of about 30 minutes. If you’re trying to cut back on alcohol, think about substituting a little tart cherry juice for that glass of wine.
5.EAT EARLY: Digestion is an active process that involves increased blood flow, lots of muscular contractions in the smooth muscles of the intestines, and enzymatic secretion from organs like the pancreas, liver, and gall bladder. All that activity can stimulate you and keep you awake. Eating too close to bedtime can also lead to heartburn, which can also keep you up. If you’re trying to get a good night’s sleep, I highly recommend finishing dinner at least three hours before bedtime and avoiding heavy meals at night.
