As a Naturopath I am always telling my clients that getting enough sleep is key for our physical and mental wellbeing, but few people understand the importance of maintaining a consistent sleep schedule when it comes to reducing their cholesterol and blood pressure.

You see, getting enough sleep every night is crucial for ageing gracefully and for longevity as well as for reducing stress levels, improving overall health, and helping you stay productive and alert. 

Here’s what you need to know about why it’s so important for your heart health to make sure that you’re getting quality rest each night:

  • Sleep is the time when your body can repair and regulate itself. During sleep, you body has a chance to lower blood pressure naturally, which provides relief to the heart and arteries. 
  • If you are tossing and turning in the night, your body sees this as a stressor and increases the production of stress hormones like cortisol, which can elevate blood pressure. 
  • A lack of sleep can trigger overactivity in your sympathetic nervous system (think “fight or flight”) leading to increased heart rate and blood pressure. 
  • Sleep affects how your body metabolises lipids (fats). Poor sleep can disrupt this process, leading to higher levels of LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol and lower levels of HDL (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol.   
  • Finally, inadequate sleep can contribute to inflammation, which is a risk factor for elevated cholesterol and cardiovascular diseases. 

Sleep is also beneficial for managing stress levels – and stress is something you want to keep in check when it comes to our heart health and ageing gracefully. 

If you don’t get enough sleep or have an irregular sleeping pattern then this can contribute to higher levels of cortisol (the stress hormone) in the body. Too much cortisol can then lead to other health issues like increased blood pressure, a weakened immune system and weight gain. A lack of sleep can also carry over into other areas of life such as work performance or personal relationships.

Here are five key tips I give my clients to help establishing a regular sleep pattern:

  • Set up an evening routine – for some, this is an alarm to start turning off electronic devices, have a quick shower, brush your teeth, check the windows, doors and pets and actually get into bed. Reading a book with an amber light, for some it’s doing a meditation or my favourite is listening to a sleep story.
  • Avoid caffeine late in the day – my cut off is 2pm for caffeine so that my sleep is not affected. Later in the day, you may choose herbal teas to help unwind and support sleep. I do love chamomile tea with lime flowers in the evening. If you do a food & lifestyle diary, then check if you need to move your caffeine fix to earlier in the day to support a great night’s sleep. 
  • Take naps sparingly – if needed, then no longer than 20 minutes and at least 6 hours before your bedtime. So how does this look: if bedtime is 10pm, then your nap needs to finish before 4pm. Often, I will suggest a glass of water and some sunshine to help remind the body that it is still daytime.
  • Avoid alcohol too close to bedtime – although alcohol relaxes you, it can overload the liver which goes into full swing around 2 am to 4 am according to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Take a moment to see how often you are waking up around this time and cut back the alcohol to see if your sleep improves. It may take time to see the changes, so give it a good month.
  • Keep electronics out of the bedroom – back in caveman time, we would have gone to bed with the sun setting or used a candle or fire. These are more amber, orange or red in colour and these are the best choices of lighting after sunset. Unfortunately our phones, computers and TVs emit more blue light (think sunrise light colours) than red light and this interferes with our melatonin (our sleep hormone and antioxidant) levels.
  • Try reducing blue light and see how your sleep improves!  

Can you now see how establishing and sticking to a consistent sleep schedule is essential for anyone looking to age gracefully, reduce blood pressure and lower their cholesterol so you can be around for your loved ones?

When you get a good night’s rest, every night, the positive health impacts ripple out across your whole life! So let’s prioritise sleep from tonight on!

If you’re ready to finally lower your blood pressure and cholesterol so you can age gracefully and be around for your loved ones, feel free to book in a discovery call to learn more about how my program can help you!