Insomnia and Gut Health

It may seem that insomnia and gut health have nothing in common. You'll be surprised...

Digestive problems not only affect your gut, but often have consequences that are reflected in the gut's communication with the brain or its interaction with the immune system.

The gut-brain communication works through different ways, such as gut permeability, immune activation, hormone signalling and the vagus nerve. The communication is bi-directional, which means that not only can gut microbiome influence health and behaviour, but psychological states may alter your gut health.

Research has shown that partial sleep deprivation can change the composition of the gut microbiome in as little as 48 hours. On the other hand, high sleep quality is associated with a gut microbiome containing a high proportion of bacteria from the phyla Verrucomicrobia and Lentisphaerae, which are also linked to better performance on cognitive tasks.

In general, diversity of the gut microbiome promotes healthier sleep (Ref 1).

Poor sleep worsens gastrointestinal symptoms, while many gastrointestinal diseases affect the sleep-wake cycle and cause poor sleep.

The relation between insomnia and gut health is often seen in people suffering from IBS, IBD and other gut related conditions.

Abdominal pain and bowel urgency, symptoms of IBS (irritable bowel syndrome), may disturb your sleep. On the other hand, low quality sleep affects IBS symptoms or causes stomach pain which is also more common in people working overnight. Poor sleep quality has a significant impact on the probability to experience abdominal pain, anxiety and fatigue the next day.

Like IBS, sleep problems due to pain and intestinal urgency also occur in IBD (inflammatory bowel disease). This can also happen due to the medications used in the treatment of IBD, including corticosteroids. Sleep disturbances also affect immune function and the development of inflammation, which is characteristic of IBD. Sleep deprivation causes a surge in immune activity, which in turn activates inflammatory cells and increases the risk of infection.

People suffering from gastroesophageal reflux disease often experience nocturnal symptoms resulting in an increased risk of sleep disturbances. At night, swallowing and saliva secretion and esophageal peristalsis are reduced, leading to increased gastric acid reflux. A body weight reduction may improve reflux symptoms and improve sleep (Ref 2).

If you are wondering if your symptoms may be related to gut microbiome alterations, then come along to our clinic in Edinburgh for a test of your Microbiome Stool Analysis.

We offer a free pre-consultation to discuss your health concerns and can offer testing and a personalised bespoke diet just for you!