Did you ever ask yourself if sleep and fertility are connected? We spend a third of our lives sleeping yet how much do we know about it? Our ability to consciously express ourselves, adapt and evolve is due to the events that occur in our sleep.
Why Do We Sleep?
We learn and heal in our sleep. To do this properly, we surprisingly need energy to sleep! Improper sleep leads to neurological, biochemical and genetic imbalances.4-6 hours of sleep per night lead to changes in memory and behaviour. In less than a week, endocrine function changes resemble the effects of advanced age, early stages of diabetes and insulin resistance.
Some of the conditions linked to sleep deprivation are; - Depression
- Aggression
- Poor concentration
- Poor immunity
- Stroke
- Heart attack
- Infertility
Sleep and Fertility
The ability to get pregnant and stay pregnant boils down to energy reserves, optimal nutritional status and a clean non toxic internal and external environment. The only exception is a physical obstacle due to malformation or severe scarring of the reproductive system.At the end of the day, your body's priority is YOU. It needs to make sure it has enough energy and nutrients to beat your heart, work the liver and kidneys, breathe your lungs and of course feed your brain. Without the healthy function of those and many more you would not exist. They are the body's number one priority.
Once their needs have been met the immune system and digestion can be taken care of, but only if there is still enough energy and nutrients to go around.
Lastly the reproductive system, that's right, the reproductive system and your fertility are the last on your body's list of priorities because its primary job is to keep you alive.
Think of it as Christmas shopping. If you had a meager year in terms of earnings, then you'll limit the presents to only the closest family members and even then you'll have to pick and choose carefully not to overspend. If you had a fantastic year in financial terms, then not only will you get something special for all you love, but you'll also maybe donate to the charity and get presents for your wider family and friends.
Your body is no different; it looks at its outgoings and matches them against the incomings. If there is not enough for the luxuries, there won't be any.
Getting pregnant and growing a new human being with your own reserves, requires a huge amount of spare nutrients and spare energy. Therefore in the body's accounting terms, pregnancy is a luxury, a splurge of energy and nutrients.
Sleep plays a major role in conservation of energy, healing, metabolism, mental wellbeing, good memory, learning and you guessed it - fertility!
5 Tips for better Sleep and Fertility
1. Go to bed between 9 and 10 pm2. Aim to wake up between 6 and 7 am
3. Don't eat for 3 hours before going to sleep
4. Don't work in bed or watch TV
5. Keep you bedroom cool at 19 degrees and pitch black