Total Gut Balance by Mahmoud Ghannoum

Author:Mahmoud Ghannoum
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Countryman Press
Published: 2020-12-27T16:00:00+00:00

The Mycobiome Diet Exercise Recommendation

Engage in a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week, including aerobic exercise, strength training, and some stretching.

Sleep More (or Less)

According to the National Sleep Foundation, adults need 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night, although some people may be fine with 6 hours and a few may need 10 hours. They do not recommend that any adult sleep for less than 6 hours per night, or for more than 11 hours. They also advise that children and adolescents need slightly more sleep than adults, and that adults 65 years and older may need slightly less.200

I know many people who do not sleep well, and I know that aging is often associated with reduction in sleep length and quality. I’m not a young man anymore but, personally, I generally sleep pretty well. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and start worrying about my grandchildren, or about work, or getting my grants funded and supporting the people who work in my lab. I always seem to be well-funded, but I worry about the future. The mind is a funny thing.

Sleep is another lifestyle element that is well known to directly impact the microbiome, and many studies have shown a link between sleep disruption and deprivation with microbial dysbiosis. In the study I referred to above, we asked participants about their sleep patterns—specifically, we asked them how many hours they slept each night. Nearly one third of the participants did not get enough sleep (seven to nine hours per night).

Many studies have demonstrated how sleep affects the body. So what happens when you don’t get enough sleep, or you wake up frequently, or you sleep at irregular hours? Microbiome dysfunction happens. One study looked at how fragmented sleep affected mice. For four weeks, they disrupted the sleep of the mice, then allowed them to recover for two weeks. Sleep fragmentation changed their feeding behaviors, and the mice became more likely to become obese and develop insulin resistance—both conditions we know are related to the gut microbiome. These mice had increased levels of more pathogenic microbes and decreased levels of more favorable microbes, which led to inflammation in their visceral body fat (the more dangerous kind of inflammation, because this fat is stored deep inside around your vital organs). There is no doubt that sleep deprivation can increase your fat stores, your inflammation levels, your intestinal permeability, and your sensitivity to insulin,201 putting you at greater risk for developing diabetes.

To get better sleep—and a healthier microbiome—here are some tried-and-true tips:

• Don’t eat a large meal within three hours of going to bed, and avoid snacks at night. If you must have something, make it something light and easy to digest, like any resistant starch food.

• Don’t look at any screens, including your television, your computer, and your phone, for at least one hour before going to sleep.

• If you are worried about something, talk to someone about it before you go to bed so that you can clear it out of your mind.

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