Adopting a gluten free diet seems to be all the rage these days when it comes to improving one's health and wellness. A recent study showed that 25% of Americans have cut gluten out of their diets, and I'm sure that you have heard from friends and family members who have done so that it has helped them to lose weight, improve their acne, or reduce symptoms of their autoimmune condition. So it makes perfect sense that you're asking yourself the question:
"Will going gluten-free improve my sleep?"
I am going to examine this question in more detail so you can make a more educated decision on whether or not going gluten-free is right for you.
How a Gluten-Free Diet Can Improve Your Sleep
By: Kelly Murray, Certified Adult Sleep Coach
What is Gluten?
Gluten is a protein that's found in grains, such as wheat, rye, and barley. It’s probably in a lot of your favorite foods like pizza, bread, cookies, and beer. Based on that, you're probably thinking:
“There better be a darn good reason for me to give up gluten.”
Here are two reasons why you should consider it…
Two Reasons Why You Should Consider Cutting Out Gluten:
1. Eliminating Gluten Can Improve Your Gut Health
2. Eliminating Gluten Can Reduce Inflammation
First, why is gut health important for sleep?
Nutrition + Sleep
Having a healthy gut is imperative to good sleep. That’s because the gut is where the nutrients from our food are absorbed. If you have a compromised gut, it can lead to mineral deficiencies, especially magnesium. Magnesium is a key mineral that helps our brain and body to relax while we sleep.
(Click here to read my blog post The Sleep Benefits of Magnesium to learn more about this mineral and its relationship with sleep.)
Neurotransmitter Production
Also, the neurotransmitters that help regulate sleep are produced in our gut. These neurotransmitters include GABA and serotonin. 95% of serotonin, the “feel good” hormone, is produced in our stomachs. The more serotonin you have in your body, the less likely you're going to be to feel depressed and anxious (feelings that cause sleep issues). In addition, serotonin is the precursor to melatonin, the "sleepy" hormone.
(Read more about gut health and neurotransmitter functioning in my blog post about Gut Dysbiosis here.)
Gut-Brain Connection
A cord called the vagus nerve runs from our stomach to our brain. When our gut is compromised, it tells our brain that there's danger, which triggers the fight or flight state — the sympathetic autonomic nervous system. When we're in this state, our body produces cortisol, the “alert” hormone, to help protect us from danger. As it goes without saying, the more cortisol you have in your system, the more alert you're going to be, and the harder it's going to be to sleep.
So, how does gluten impair gut function?
It can spur Leaky Gut
A study by Italian physician Dr. Fasano showed that consuming gluten increased the protein zonulin. Zonulin helps to regulate the tight junctions of our mucosal barrier. This barrier protects our bloodstream from the contents of the stomach, which is only one cell thick.
When there's a pathogen in our stomach, our body releases zonulin to spread apart the junctions between the stomach cells so that immune components can enter the gut lining and destroy the pathogen.
Dr. Fasano's research showed that by consuming gluten, this process took place: our body produced zonulin so that immune components can enter the gut lining and destroy the gluten.
If your gut health has been impaired because of gluten, you are most likely experiencing inflammation, too.
In theory, if you are consuming gluten regularly, those tight junctions between the stomach cells are going to remain open. As a result, more toxins, bigger food particles and pathogens can enter the bloodstream.
When these intruders enter the bloodstream, it triggers the immune response and the body becomes inflamed.
Inflammation keeps you awake
Whenever the body becomes inflamed, it produces cortisol. Cortisol is an anti-inflammatory hormone and, again, it’s the “alert” hormone. It stands to reason that the more cortisol you have in your system, the harder it's going to be to sleep.
If you are constantly consuming gluten and your body has a high zonulin production response to it, then your tight junctions are going to spread. You will have intruders in your bloodstream, tons of inflammation, lots of cortisol, and this can lead to HPA axis dysfunction.
(If you're wondering what that is, check out my vlog on HPA dysfunction and sleep.)
A quick summary on the HPA axis: it is responsible for cortisol production and can only handle so much demand; when it is overworked, it becomes dysfunctional. As a result, the body produces suboptimal levels of cortisol, which can lead to even more sleep issues as the body produces adrenaline to fight the fatigue.
How do I know if I have a gluten sensitivity?
Like anything that has to do with the human body, our response to gluten is going to vary. It's very individualized.
In order to determine if you are sensitive to gluten, there are a few tests you can take. For example, the WheatZoomer™. You can also take a food sensitivity test and in addition, the GI-MAP, which I run for all of my clients, picks up an antibody for gluten sensitivity.
It's something you can experiment with by eliminating gluten from your diet for four to six weeks. Who knows, you may see a huge impact on your health, and if you do, you're likely then going to be motivated to give it up for good. And if you don’t see an impact, then you can slowly reintroduce it into your diet and see if you notice a negative effect.
Inspired to give the gluten-free diet a try?
I recommend first heading to the Celiac Foundation website. They offer a guide that lists all the sources containing gluten, as well as some helpful tips on going gluten-free.
If you're interested in getting one-on-one help to determine if gluten is one of the hidden stressors leading to your sleep issues, you can also schedule a complimentary discovery call with me right here→
Read more articles on improving your sleep in my sleep blog here.
Learn more about working one-on-one here.
My mission is to help you get the rest you deserve to be your best.
Sweet Dreams…
Kelly Murray is a certified adult sleep coach and an award-winning pediatric sleep consultant based in Chicago offering sleep coaching services nationwide.