Let’s explore some things that may be contributing to your sluggishness and find solutions to how you can get back on track to feeling like your best self. 

First things first, how restful are your nightly Zzzs? 

Many things could be affecting how much quality sleep you’re getting each night. Stress, diet, allergies, a variable sleep routine, and snoring are just a few things that could be dragging down your restful hours.  

Stress 

We’re all familiar with the effects stress can have on our sleep quality. Tossing and turning, watching the clock count down the hours you have left before the alarm goes off. While experiencing this occasionally is no cause for alarm, nightly occurrences of stress induced insomnia could be affecting your daily life.

According to the Sleep Foundation, a few impairments related to insomnia you may experience include: decreased energy and motivation, irritability, impulsivity, and difficulty paying attention. If this is starting to sound like you, it may be time to test your cortisol level. Cortisol is your body’s main stress hormone and high levels of this hormone are directly correlated to insomnia and other sleep issues.  Luckily, cortisol can easily be measured through a simple blood test.  If you are 

worried about your stress levels, especially due to sleep disturbances, order one of our At-Home Stress Level Kits to measure what your cortisol levels. With certified lab results in hand, you and your healthcare provider can take action to find different methods of controlling your stress and reducing those sleepless nights.  

Diet 

It’s a vicious cycle – we’re exhausted and stressed so we reach for our favorite snacks, but those snacks, while tasty in the moment, lead to Inflammation, which can lead to insomnia, causing the very stress and exhaustion that is driving us to those unhealthy snacks!  Day in and day out, the cycle repeats itself.  Our dietary choices, often made out of convenience rather than nutritional content, has a myriad of consequences on our overall health.  Some aspects of our diet are obvious culprits in contributing to daily fatigue. Sugar, caffeine, salty and or fatty foods are all things we know we need to limit if we want to avoid an afternoon slump or worse, a sleepless night. But why do junk foods like sugary snacks and our favorite fast foods cause fatigue? The answer – they are inflammatory foods. Inflammatory foods can bring on all sorts of unwanted side effects such as: brain fog, mood swings, bloating, hair loss, and acne (just to name a few!). Inflammatory foods can differ person to person so measuring the inflammation markers in your blood will give you key insight into whether or not those unhealthy foods you are choosing are more greatly impacting your health than you might realize.   Taking our Inflammation Test along with keeping a food journal to keep track of everything you eat and how you felt throughout the day can help you to identify triggering foods that are dragging you down.  

Allergies 

A restless night can also be due to factors hiding in plain sight. If you find yourself waking up with a stuffy nose or coming out of a deep sleep due to a coughing fit, it might be time to evaluate your surroundings. 

Many people are unaware of how much dust is accumulating around them. Things like curtains, ceiling fans, rugs, and upholstery are like magnets for dust. It’s important to vacuum soft surfaces regularly and wipe down hard surfaces like ceiling fans on a weekly basis.  

Dust is made up of small particles such as pollen, dust mites, skin cells, and pet dander. These microparticles settle onto your surfaces, and for some people this can lead to nasal congestion, coughing, itchy eyes, sneezing, and postnasal drip. You may find it helpful to have pets sleep in a different room, keep your bedroom windows closed at night, and implementing a frequent dusting routine.  

Not ready to banish your furry friend from the bedroom? Order one of our Complete Environmental Allergy Tests to get a definitive answer on whether or not you are allergic to pet dander, or if you would benefit more from simply keeping your windows closed at night.