by Vickie Johnston, Owner and Founder, H2O Health
Most people older than 50 begin to have very irregular sleep patterns. They begin waking during the night at the same time, night after night. Getting eight straight hours of sleep a night becomes a distant memory.
One of the most common reasons is hormonal changes. Our bodies are constantly adapting to change, thankfully, or we wouldn’t live as long as we do.
Our hormones begin to fail us because our bodies don’t have the mineral base to keep building hormones. Insulin is a hormone the body makes, as are testosterone, estrogen, progesterone, cortisol, growth, adrenaline and thyroid.
Hormones are like messengers, and they are responsible for controlling and regulating the activities of certain cells and organs. They play an important role in:
- Development and growth of the body
- Metabolism of food
- Cognitive functions and mood
- Maintenance of body temperature and thirst
- Sexual functions and reproductive growth
The best way to keep your hormones on track is to have your hormones checked via a blood test every six months. It’s much easier to keep hormone levels in balance this way.
There are two ways to keep hormones at healthy levels — supplementing with synthetic hormones or supplementing with bio-identical hormones.
I prefer a doctor who has knowledge about both types of hormone therapies or replacement, and I also do my own research.
Another thing you can do to greatly help yourself is make sure you have a water filter system that filters out hormones found in our drinking water.
Today most people over 40 are taking some type of hormone, and they all go through you and end up down the drain to be recycled and/or used on golf courses and such, thus ending up back in our ground water and municipal water sources.
Drinking or cooking with such water then contributes to hormonal imbalances as well as nutrient deficiencies. It seems an overwhelming task at first but a top-notch physician, along with a top-notch water filtration system, can be great resources to help you get on and stay on track!
A few other tips:
- Take a hot Epsom salt bath before bed.
- Drink herbal sleep tea.
- Invest in a quality mattress, pillows and sheets.
- Turn off all electronics, including phones, Wi-Fi, computer etc. in the bedroom.
Sleep well my friend!
