Night after night you’re up, tossing and turning. After a long day of strenuous activities, you should be exhausted, but you just can’t seem to fall asleep successfully. You try counting sheep, relaxation essential oils, sleepy-time tea, but none of it seems to be working. Without enough sleep the night before, it’s hard to stay focused and active during the day. This affects your levels of productivity, concentration, and energy consistency. Good sleep is essential to productive performance and it’s important you get enough of it. This continuous cycle is exhausting for you.

Have you ever considered that maybe the reason you can’t sleep well is because of your gut health?

Allow me to explain. Your gut is in direct alignment with your circadian rhythm. This means that if your gut is unhealthy, then your sleep schedule could be taking the downfall—which means you’re taking the downfall.

The microbiome within your gut is where all of the good and bad bacteria reside. You want good bacteria. But, without even realizing it, the bad bacteria are infiltrating, thus making it harder for you to sleep at night. Factors such as an unhealthy diet, unbalanced sleep schedule, lack of exercise, and heightened levels of stress can all impact your gut health negatively.

So, how do you prioritize the good bacteria? Or, in other words, how do you heal your gut? Taking the necessary steps to heal your gut is not only good for your entire body but will directly help with your sleeping problem. Here are a few examples of practicing good gut health to help get you started:

Take a probiotic or prebiotic

Adding a prebiotic/probiotic to your daily diet is a great way to begin healing your gut. Probiotics promote good bacteria in your gut, thus helping with your overall microbiome status. You can get these nutrients by implementing a supplement into your daily diet, drinking probiotic beverages, or finding other alternatives to supply your body. Doing this will help improve your overall gut health, leading to better sleep at the end of the day.

Eat Clean and Healthy

One of the best ways to heal your gut is by clean eating. Eliminating processed foods and foods with high sugar content or high fat will benefit you. Going for plant-based foods, lots of greens, and fiber-filled eats is one of the ways to implement a healthier diet in the name of gut health.

Reduce stress levels

Sometimes it can be easier said than done. Stress plays a big part in our daily lives—but, there are ways for you to reduce your stress levels. Exercising is one of them—going on a ten-minute walk every day or doing a quick five-minute workout can help release endorphins (the happy hormone!) and reduce stress. Or if exercise isn’t your thing, you could take a bath, set aside time for journaling, meditation, or relaxing however that looks for you personally—there are countless ways to reduce the stress in your life. Even taking a few, slow deep breaths can help relieve feelings of anxiety or stress. Whatever your route is, find more ways to easily implement these practices into your daily life. By reducing stress levels, you’re lessening the hard effect stress has not only on your entire body but on your gut, as well.

These are just a few examples to get you started. Taking steps to improve your gut health can directly help you improve your sleep. Before you know it, the sheep you were counting before will only be a distant memory.

Do it for yourself. Investing in you and your body is always a win in my book and it’ll be a win in yours, too. Your body is the only home you’ll have forever, so make sure you take proper care of it. Your body, your mind, and your gut deserve the proper care. If you want to see how I can help you reach your fitness and nutrition goals, contact me!