The Wellness Prescription

Waking up in the middle of the night?

How well are you sleeping lately? Do you wake up between 1:00 and 3:00 a.m. on a regular basis? This is a common symptom I hear from patients who are struggling with low energy and don’t understand why. Functional Medicine gives us a clear understanding of the physiology behind what is typically going on in this instance:

If we look at the typical American diet that is full of refined carbohydrates and simple sugars we can then see the chain reaction this leads to in our bodies. When you flood your bloodstream with these refined and simple sugars, your body increases its insulin production to force all that sugar into your cells. For a moment, your cells have a quick source of energy. But that energy is used up very quickly and because of the large increase in insulin, your bloodstream is left in a state of hypoglycemia.

So what does being hypoglycemic lead to? Well, there are certain parts of your body, namely your brain, central nervous system, eyes, and kidneys that do not require insulin to utilize glucose (sugar) for energy...they get it directly from the bloodstream. But if your bloodstream is now hypoglycemic, those parts of the body are now starving for energy. Therefore, you get signals during the day in the form of cravings for sweets, sugars, and salty foods for quick energy. When you give into these cravings, you start this negative snowball effect all over again.

But what happens at night when you are asleep and you aren’t aware of these cravings? These parts of your body are still starving for energy so they get it from somewhere else...your adrenal glands. Your adrenals are what produce your stress hormones with two of those being epinephrine and nor epinephrine. You might have heard of these...they are what give you your “fight or flight” response in times of stress. These hormones can be readily converted to glucose (sugar) for energy in your bloodstream. So now, your brain and central nervous system have energy to function but you have just given yourself a dose of adrenaline and your body is now awoken by a fight or flight response while you are trying to sleep! Not very conducive for a good night’s rest.

Adrenal fatigue leads to adrenal burnout and can lead to a host of other problems such as thyroid issues, weight gain, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, mood disorders and other hormonal imbalances. If this is you, know that relief and a program back to optimal health is right around the corner. Give me a call and we can set up your free Functional Medicine consultation.

Have a great week!

Christopher Knott M.S. The Wellness Prescription/Dunamis Fitness 719-494-9082 www.coloradospringswellnessprescription.com