Nutritional Endocrinology Practitioner Training (NEPT)
Clinical Pearl
January 31st, 2016

The Power of Sleep

I Last week, we talked about the power of questions. Simple, but oh so powerful. This week, I would like to share a few tidbits about the power of another simple activity you can teach your clients — the power of sleep.

So many great things happen during sleep, and most people are sleep deprived. It’s super important to ask your clients for the details of their sleep habits. Some don’t sleep enough because they are busy and stay up late to complete tasks. Others simply can’t fall asleep, or their sleep is restless. Our Sleep Module will cover lots of details about the mechanisms of sleep and approaches to determining why your client can’t sleep. The benefits of sleep include:

• Fat burning: reduces cortisol and increases leptin
• Increased lean body growth and repair: enhances growth hormone and DHEA
• Enhances focus and attention
• Detoxification and metabolic waste removal
• Enhances learning, memory, and creativity
• Improves insulin sensitivity
• Decreases cancer risk via melatonin
• Enhances serotonin and reduces depression
• Reduces inflammation:
  • Lower C-reactive Protein (CRP), CRP is higher with less than 6 hours of sleep
  • Enhances endurance and stamina.

Are you sleeping enough? Don’t underestimate the power of a good night’s rest.