13/04/2026
Hands up if you feel like you get enough sleep? 🙋🏽♀️
Sleep is one of the areas I believe most of us could do with improving (myself included!), which is why I specifically included this as a focus point for my online group program.
Poor sleep can have many negative effects on health, including
• increased cortisol
• inflammation
• gut permeability (“leaky gut”)
• uncomfortable gut symptoms like bloating
Lack of sleep can also disrupt your hunger and satiety hormones (ghrelin and leptin) – which can make you feel hungrier, and more likely to reach for energy-dense, ultra-processed foods.
👉🏼 These choices can impact your gut microbes, reducing the beneficial types and increasing amounts of pro-inflammatory microbes.
But this is also a two-way relationship: your gut and gut microbes can also influence your sleep quality, by producing neurotransmitters that regulate sleep and promote calm.
You can help promote better quality sleep by having regular sleep and wake times, avoiding screen use 1-2 hours before sleep, and limiting other “sleep disrupters” like caffeine and alcohol.
Interested in learning more about how to support better sleep and a healthier gut?
I’m opening enrolments soon for the next cohort of my online gut health course, Restore-Balance-Thrive.
👉🏼 Join the waitlist here: https://mailchi.mp/c0049a365b1c/restore-balance-thrive
📷: Greg Pappas/Unsplash