Stress, Sleep, and Gut Microbiota: Breaking the Vicious Cycle

Stress, sleep, and gut microbiota

One of the benefits of exercise is stress relief. Excessive stress, lack of sleep, and unhealthy gut flora are all intrinsically linked.

Stress makes you sleep poorly, poor sleep makes you eat poorly (it makes you crave sugar, carbohydrates, and high-fat snacks), and poor eating promotes the growth of "bad" bacteria in your gut. You gain weight, become more craving sweets, sleep even worse, and so on. It's a terrible vicious cycle. A bad night's sleep has an immediate and surprisingly significant impact on appetite.

In one study, 27 men and women (aged 30–45) were asked to reduce their sleep to 4 hours for just one night, and researchers found dramatic changes in their hunger hormones and appetite.[40] Strangely, sleep deprivation had different effects on men and women. In men, reduced sleep caused a surge in ghrelin, the hormone that tells you you're hungry.

This phenomenon doesn't occur in women; instead, in them, a hormone called GLP-1 decreases, which tells you you're full. The effects of both approaches are the same, and the subjects eat more in both cases, just for different reasons. We don't yet understand the reason for this gender difference.

Shift work and jet lag can also have a pretty bad effect on your body and gut microbiota. On a recent filming trip, I chatted with a flight attendant who told me she lived on sleeping pills and energy drinks. She knew it was a terrible combination, but it had become a routine. “I didn’t tell my husband,” she confided, “he thought I just needed iron supplements to sleep at night.”

Dr. Yelenafer and Dr. Segal, the planners of the Personalized Nutrition Program, decided to study this phenomenon. They asked some students to travel across time zones by plane. Naturally, these students had to collect their own stool samples for testing before boarding, during significant jet lag, and two weeks after the experiment ended.

Next, the two doctors transferred the students' bacteria to germ-free mice. Dr. Yelinaffer said the results were surprising. "The mice that received the microbes from the jet-lagged students became obese and developed diabetes. Samples taken before and after jet lag were not affected in this way."

This means that, if possible, try to avoid flying across too many time zones. Another point is that a good night's sleep is the top priority, but that's easier said than done.

What should you do if you have insomnia?

There are many suggestions about sleep available, and I've tried most of them, some of which have been helpful. The most effective and scientifically supported suggestions include the following:

1. Set an alarm to wake you up at the same time every morning. This will establish a routine, and your body loves routines. The sad thing is, it means you can't sleep in on weekends.

2. Try taking a walk before breakfast. Morning light can stop your brain from producing melatonin, a hormone that helps you fall asleep. Bright light can really make you feel more alert. This can be especially helpful if you're suffering from seasonal affective disorder (SAD), such as winter blues.

3. Do some exercise during the day. Numerous studies have shown that exercise can improve your sleep quality.

4. Prepare to sleep at least 90 minutes before going to bed. Eating in the middle of the night is really bad for your health, and forcing your intestines to do a lot of hard digestion work will not improve your sleep.

5. Take a hot bath or soak in the tub at least an hour before bedtime, just enough to cool yourself down. A lower body temperature signals to your brain that it's time to sleep. Therefore, you should sleep in a cooler room.

6. Avoid watching TV, using your phone, or social media before bed. This is partly because these activities are too stimulating, especially the blue light emitted from screens, which can activate and excite the brain. In any case, don't watch TV or use a computer in bed. The bed is for sleeping and making love, not for anything else.

7. Avoid drinking alcohol late at night. Alcohol might help you fall asleep, but it can also disrupt your REM sleep. Whether or not to drink coffee at night is a matter of personal preference. Some people are fast caffeine metabolizers, meaning their genes allow them to break down caffeine very quickly. I've been tested and I'm a fast metabolizer; drinking coffee at night doesn't significantly affect my sleep quality. My wife, however, is the complete opposite; she's a slow metabolizer and can't drink coffee after lunch, otherwise she sleeps quite poorly.

8. Before you go to sleep, write down three good things that happened to you today. It turns out to be one of the best ways to improve your mood.

These are all proven methods, and if you suffer from insomnia, you've probably already tried them. You may have also tried lavender or other herbal remedies. Evidence for the latter is scarce, but it might work for you.

Now, let's explore an even more amazing way to improve your sleep patterns-by changing your gut microbiota.

Fiber and Sleep

As mentioned earlier, dietary fiber increases the number of "good" bacteria like Bifidobacteria, which in turn produce a range of hormones and metabolites that can not only improve gut health and weight control, but may also improve your brain function. Now there is evidence that more fiber can also help you sleep better.

A recent study conducted by the Institute of Human Nutrition at Columbia University Medical Center in New York brought 13 men and 13 women with an average age of 35 to a sleep clinic to test the effects of different diets on them. The diet plans included changes in the intake of fiber, saturated fat, and sugar in the meals.[41]

They found that fiber-rich foods improved the quality of deep sleep in volunteers and helped them fall asleep faster (from an average of 29 minutes to an average of 17 minutes). Conversely, consuming more saturated fat and sugar led to poorer sleep quality-lighter sleep and less energy upon waking.

One of the researchers, Dr. Sanović, pointed out: "Given that more and more people are aware of the important impact of sleep on chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, it is of great health significance to change sleep through diet."

Potato starch and sleep

Besides chewing lots of vegetables, I've also tried a type of fiber that's particularly beneficial to bifidobacteria-potato starch. Potato starch is a type of resistant starch, made by crushing raw potatoes and extracting starch granules from the damaged cells. You can buy it at health food stores or online. While I haven't heard of any clinical trials, I have heard some personal experiences (mainly through online chat): eating a teaspoon of potato starch earlier in the evening can help with sleep and promote more vivid dreams.

If anyone wants to verify its validity and is willing to dedicate themselves to science, they can visit our website and sign up for a small study. I would be very grateful for this. It is conducted online and is completely anonymous, and with your help, we might be able to figure out exactly how beneficial (if any) eating potato starch is. If you would like to participate, please read the online agreement before starting. This is important so we can confirm the validity of the results. Thank you in advance.

[40] Short sleep duration, glucose abnormalities, and appetite hormone regulation in men and women. St-Onge et al., Sleep, 2012

[41] Fiber and saturated fat are associated with frequent awakenings and slow-wave sleep. St-Onge et al., *Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine*