Gut Health & Sleep
topic
Sleep and gut microbiome health share a bidirectional relationship — with sleep deprivation reducing microbial diversity, decreasing populations of beneficial Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium species, and increasing intestinal permeability (leaky gut), while gut microbiome composition influences sleep quality through serotonin production (90% of the body's serotonin is gut-derived and is the precursor to melatonin), tryptophan metabolism, and vagal nerve signaling of the gut-brain axis.
Role
The gut-sleep relationship is one of the newer and more mechanistically complex sleep health connections — and one that explains why sleep optimization may need to include gut health consideration alongside the more conventional behavioral and environmental variables. The person experiencing sleep disruption alongside gastrointestinal symptoms, anxiety (often gut microbiome-mediated), or food sensitivities may be experiencing a gut-sleep cycle that behavioral sleep optimization alone will not fully address — making gut health evaluation a potentially important component of comprehensive sleep health management.