Sleep and Immunity - What's the connection?
/Hi friend,
It may come as a surprise, but if you don’t sleep very well most nights, you may also struggle with your immunity, especially after 40. The link between them isn’t always obvious but it’s a super strong one.
Sleep is one of the most important things you can do to help keep your immune system healthy and can be a factor in getting sick less often. It’s not a magic cure to avoid illness but together with other factors, it can make you less susceptible.
Let’s talk a little bit about why this because it can come in handy.
Poor sleep means your body doesn’t produce as many T-cells. This is hugely significant since they’re immune cells that help your body fight pathogens, including viruses.
When they come across an infected cell, they produce a type of protein called integrins, which attach to it and try to kill it. According to studies, integrins are activated to a much bigger extent when you sleep.
Stress hormones also have the potential to affect the activity of T-cells and they tend to be lower when you are asleep. If you don’t sleep well and your stress hormones don’t drop much, studies suggest it can be another factor in the link between sleep and immunity.
Improving your sleep hygiene is a super smart move for improving your immunity and helping your body to fight off viruses, bacteria, and other nasties.
Sleeping better through the night is super important and also depends heavily on what you eat during the day. Make sure to eat enough protein, healthy fats and smart carbs like sweet potatoes, yams, yucca, lentils, and quinoa, to name a few. Stay off the processed carbs, too coffee or alcohol too close to bed. I wrote a longer post on sleeping through the night here….
How can I help? Check out my 10-Day Healthy Gut Reset for the specific roadmap to fixing your gut and ensuring you get those much needed zzz’s!
Also get your eyeballs away from the tv or any other screens at least 1 hour prior to bed.
Sleep tight and until next time,
Mirna✨