Today's topic
Today on A.Vogel Talks Menopause, I take a look at menopause weight gain and how poor sleep can impact it.
We know that weight gain and poor sleep are really common symptoms in peri-menopause and menopause. But did you know that they can sometimes go hand in hand?
Poor sleep can have quite an impact on our body weight so today, what I thought I would do is look at why this can happen and what you can do to help yourself.
What causes poor sleep during menopause?
It's been established in studies that a lot of women can put on between 10 and 15 pounds during menopause. It's now becoming clearer that poor sleep can be quite a big factor in this continual weight gain.
Weight gain can be caused by hormonal changes, but falling oestrogen can also have a big impact on sleep. It can make it harder for you to fall asleep, easier for you to wake up, and can cause you to have quite a disrupted sleep.
Why does poor sleep cause weight gain during menopause?
There are a number of reasons why sleep can contribute to weight gain. So, let's taker a closer look at them:
Poor sleep can make you crave sugary & fatty foods
Poor sleep can cause anxiety and stress, but stress and anxiety can also make it more difficult to get a good night's sleep. When that happens, we tend to comfort eat a lot more and find that we tend to crave sugary foods and high-fat foods to make us feel better – two common weight gain culprits!
Poor sleep can affect our motivation to exercise
If we're not sleeping well, we're not refreshed and don't feel energised when we get up. We can lose our motivation for just going out and having some regular exercise. If you feel down, anxious and your energy levels are really low, then the last thing you feel like doing is donning your gym shoes and going out and having a walk, run or exercise session.
Poor sleep can increase your hunger hormone
There's a hormone called ghrelin that is released when you're hungry. If you are feeling hungrier more of the time, then you're going to overeat.
It's nothing to do with willpower, and for so many women, when they get into this situation, they start to feel really bad because they can't control what they're eating. This is not a willpower thing - it is a pure physical reaction to poor sleep. This hormone is being released more often and it's just your body's way of trying to survive so you feel that you need to eat whether you want to or not.
Poor sleep can affect your metabolism
Your metabolism can also slow down due to falling oestorgen levels during menopause and as you get older. All of this can have a huge combination or compound action on our ability to burn off fat. This can also help or affect our blood sugar levels and we can end up becoming insulin resistant. For some women, this can get so bad that they can get diabetes during menopause. This is quite a common result of metabolism going slightly wrong.
Poor sleep can affect fat utilisation
Fat utilisation can also be a factor. If your body's not burning fat efficiently, then that can impact your weight too. Studies have shown that it only takes three nights of poor sleep to have an effect on the way that your body burns and uses fat. (1)
You can imagine that if you're having lots of bad nights' sleep, then even though you may be having a reasonably good diet, your body is putting on more weight and it's taking a lot of extra effort to burn that fat off.
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Common menopause sleep issues that can cause weight gain
First of all, it could just be that you're not getting enough sleep. Generally, if it takes longer to get to sleep or you're waking up earlier, then the time that your body is actually allowed to rest and recuperate decreases quite a lot.
It can also be that when your oestrogen falls, you tend to sleep at a much shallower level. That means that noise can have a bigger impact and you can wake up a lot more easily during the night. Your body will be much more sensitive to temperature shifts during the night so even if you just get a little bit too hot or a little bit too cold, that's going to wake you up. Of course, you've also got things like night sweats waking you up and disturbing your sleep.
For a lot of women, your bladder's that bit more sensitive so you will wake up maybe two or three times more during the night. It's not just about not sleeping well, it's about all these other factors that can combine to really disrupt your sleep and that can have a huge impact on the way your body stores and utilises fat.
How can you sleep better during menopause?
If you're having poor sleep, it is really important to get this resolved if you can. There are all these different areas that can affect you, if you're not sleeping well, including weight gain, so try and prioritise your sleep if you can.
If you're getting hot flushes or night sweats, you can look at the herb Sage. This is taken before you go to bed or with your evening meal and that can help quite well. You can try magnesium. This is a great one to help with sleep. It can help to relax your muscles and help you to get to sleep a lot quicker.
We also have our licensed sleep remedy Dormeasan, containing the herbs Valerian and Hops which can be used for sleep.
Make sure that you're hydrated as dehydration will affect your sleep. You'd be more likely to wake up with things like palpitations during the night if you're dehydrated.
The same goes for low blood sugar levels. Having a good snack, just shortly before you go to bed can help to keep your blood sugars more stable.
Regular exercise is great for helping you to sleep. Even a 15-minute walk in the evening or late afternoon can be beneficial for your sleep.
Try to maintain good sleep hygiene rules. Get to bed at the same time every night if you can. Don't use things like your computers and your phone before you go to bed because the lights will affect your ability to go to sleep. Avoid things like caffeine, high salt and sugar foods and alcohol in the evening because these will all impact on your sleep as well.
I hope you found this one helpful. If any of you have other tips that you found helpful at controlling your weight and helping you to sleep well, then please share them with us.
Until then, take care.
