
Foxys_forest_manufacture/Getty Images
A bad night’s sleep can be caused by many things, including screen time, stress, and drinking too much alcohol. Now, there’s another culprit. It’s the microorganisms in your intestines.
This article is part of a special series exploring important questions about sleep. Click here for details.
We’ve long known that our microbiome has a powerful influence on our health, and new research reveals that this extends to our sleep as well. But it’s a complex two-way relationship. “Your microbiome affects your sleep, and your sleep affects your microbiome,” says Elizabeth Holzhausen of the University of Colorado Boulder. The good news is that there are ways we can intervene.
At first glance, the connection between your stomach and sleep patterns may not be obvious, but a growing body of research is revealing how they influence each other. For example, a 2023 study of 720 people found that microbial diversity in the gut was associated with improved sleep quality. Similarly, researchers at King’s College London (KCL) and other institutions, in collaboration with personalized nutrition company Zoe, surveyed nearly 1,000 people and found that irregular sleep patterns are associated with It was found to be associated with an increase in the number of bacterial species. Health condition deteriorates.
Furthermore, changes in the composition of the gut microbiome are associated with several sleep states. For example, rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder, in which sleepers physically act out their dreams during REM sleep, is associated with a decrease in gut bacteria that produce the short-chain fatty acid butyrate and an increase in bacteria that worsen inflammation. There is.
