Could Your Sleep Be Impacting Your Immune System?

The Basics on Your Immune Health and Infection Prevention

Your immune system and your body’s ability to fight off an infection can be impacted by several factors, such as:

• Sleep
• Diet and Nutrition status
• Digestion
• Movement and physical exercise
• Other injuries or chronic illnesses
• Stress levels

Some signs that you might have a weakened immune system include:

• High or prolonged stress levels
• Feeling like you’re constantly get sick or catching colds
• Prolonged colds with symptoms that linger for weeks
• Ongoing digestive discomfort such as frequent diarrhea, gas, constipation
• Poor or slow healing cuts, bruises and scrapes
• Feeling constantly tired or easily fatigued

            While there are many ways to improve your immune function, we’re going to focus a bit on sleep. Sleep and your circadian rhythm help to regulate many systems in your body, including your immune function. Your immune system is a very complex network that provides multiple lines of defense against an illness.

            For example, better sleep leads to better function of ‘T cells’, a type of immune cell that helps fight virus-infected cells and cancerous cells. Sleep is also the time when your immune cells release “cytokines”, which are proteins that can stimulate the immune system or slow it down as needed. Certain protective cytokines are needed in increased amounts when you have an infection or inflammation, or when you’re under stress, to help with recovery. Being sleep deprived may decrease the production of these cytokines.

            Studies show that people who don’t get enough quality sleep are more likely to get sick after being exposed to a virus, such as the common cold virus. Lack of sleep can also affect how fast you recover if you do get sick. In addition, while poor sleep has been connected to short term illnesses, the risk of chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease also increases significantly in people that sleep less than 6 hours per night.

How To Improve Your Sleep

            So how do we improve sleep? Improving sleep starts with evaluating your habits and routines before bed and your sleeping environment. This is collectively called “sleep hygiene”.

Improve your sleep hygiene by:

• Sticking to a consistent sleep schedule
• Keeping your sleep environment clean, cool, dark, and quiet
• Ensuring your bed and pillows are comfortable
• Using your bed for sleep and intimacy only – no TVs, screens, work, etc.
• Creating a routine/ritual before going to bed – brushing teeth, putting on comfy PJs, reading a book, going through a skin care routine, etc. 
• Avoiding use of your cell phone and any screens 1-2 hours before going to bed
• Avoiding food/large meals 1-2 hours before going to bed

            It is also worth addressing any medical conditions or stress-based factors that can impact your sleep. Managing stress and anxiety throughout your day can make a big difference in your ability to fall or stay asleep. Additionally, we want to manage any chronic health conditions or injuries that can impact quality or duration of sleep.

How Naturopathic Care Can Help

            Naturopathic Doctors examine your body systems together as a whole and can utilize lab testing to help make sure that there are no underlying causes to your poor sleep. Under naturopathic care, we will help you formulate good sleep hygiene practices, manage illnesses and chronic disease, address nutrient deficiencies, provide stress management and offer mental health supports.

            Naturopathic Doctors can simultaneously focus on supporting and bolstering your immune system so that you’re able to take on what comes at you. If you’re looking for more information on how to support your sleep, your immune system, or are seeking support for other concerns please contact us to book appointment with one of our Naturopathic Doctors.