Getting enough sleep increases the production of female sex hormones, such as FSH, LH, and estrogen, which help create ovarian follicles and ovulate, governing the physiology and reproductive function of women.
According to Dr. Hoang Quyet Tien from the Medical Information Center at Tam Anh General Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, the synthesis, secretion, and metabolism of hormones in the body are usually synchronized with the circadian rhythm and regulated by sleep. Sleep disorders can lead to disruptions in the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis, affecting the synchronized release of reproductive hormones and negatively impacting women's physiology and reproductive health.
Sleep affects the hormone FSH, which stimulates follicle development and estrogen production. FSH levels in women of reproductive age who get enough sleep can be up to 20% higher than in those who sleep less.
Getting enough sleep also helps women stabilize LH and estradiol hormones (hormones involved in the reproductive and sexual functions of both men and women). LH regulates ovulation and releases progesterone after ovulation. Estradiol promotes the growth and development of ovarian follicles, ovulation, and the maintenance of female characteristics.
Good sleep is beneficial for women's health. Photo: Freepik
According to Dr. Tien, quality sleep also plays a crucial role in stabilizing glucocorticoid hormones and increasing fertility in women. Glucocorticoids indirectly affect ovarian function by altering gonadotropin levels (metabolic and growth hormones) and inhibiting kisspeptin neurons (a protein that can inhibit gonads). Glucocorticoids also regulate many signaling pathways and biological processes important for fertility.
Melatonin, primarily produced in the pineal gland, has antioxidant properties, regulates the female sex hormone progesterone, and stabilizes the quality and quantity of egg cells. Good sleep is beneficial for endogenous melatonin secretion.
When women lack sleep or experience poor sleep quality, TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone) levels increase, leading to an increased risk of anovulation, irregular menstruation, amenorrhea, and recurrent miscarriage. Insomnia also alters the nighttime secretion of prolactin (PRL), contributing to infertility and difficulty conceiving.
Dr. Tien advises women to go to bed and wake up at a fixed time every day, avoid staying up late, stress, and using technology devices close to bedtime. Prioritize foods that nourish the blood and calm the nerves, such as chamomile tea, lotus seeds, and poultry. Avoid eating a large meal after 7 PM, avoid drinking a lot of water close to bedtime, and do not consume strong tea or coffee after 3 PM.
People with insomnia can improve their sleep with foods that are beneficial according to traditional Chinese medicine, such as chicken porridge with lotus seeds, chicken egg and millet porridge, and lotus seed and longan sweet soup. Maintaining daily exercise, prioritizing gentle exercises that promote sleep, such as walking, breathing exercises, meditation, back stretching, leg raises against the wall, the crane pose, and head and facial massage, is also recommended.
Women can use sleep-enhancing extracts such as anthocyanins and pterostilbene extracted from North American blueberries and extracts from ginkgo biloba to improve sleep. Lepidium meyenii (a South American herbal extract) and P. leucotomos (a South Central American herbal extract) can enhance the activity of the brain-pituitary-ovarian axis, stabilize female hormones, promote better sleep, and improve sexual function.
Nguyen Phuong
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