There are eleven organs in the body that produce hormones. Many of these organs are directly responsible for how well we sleep or whether or not we sleep at all. Organs that produce hormones in the body that most directly affect how we sleep include the pituitary gland in the base of the brain.
Pair of adrenal glands on top of the kidneys. Thyroid gland and parathyroid gland in your throat. The pineal gland in the brain. Hypothalamus, and the pancreas, which produces insulin. Here’s how each of these affects sleep.
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How does the pineal gland affect sleep?
Melatonin is produced in the pineal gland, a tiny endocrine gland at the back of the central brain. Melatonin rises in production as it gets dark out, telling our brains that it is time to sleep.
Darkness is a key factor in the production of this sleep hormone, which is why a lot of people who work nights and sleep days have trouble sleeping, also known as shift work sleep disorder. It is also why people in some parts of the globe can’t sleep when there are many more hours of daylight than nighttime darkness.
How does sleep affect your immune and appetite systems?
The human body requires sleep because it is the time when it repairs a lot of tissues and restores cells to their proper balance. It is also when other hormones are released into the bloodstream that will be necessary when you wake up.
The pituitary gland plays another role by releasing growth hormone, which helps your body burn fat, heal injuries, and regenerate cells.
The benefits for adults with growth hormone deficiency taking treatment for sleep will find that when they can sleep well. Other hormones released into the bloodstream while sleeping decrease appetite and regulate hunger.
Ghrelin and leptin are two more hormones that are produced in the gastrointestinal tract that control hunger and regulate food consumption when the body is legitimately hungry. When you don’t sleep properly, these two hormones become elevated and you have a tendency to eat more than you should. With that, HGH therapy can help regulate a lot of the hormones in your body that are out of whack.
Insulin and cortisol also become elevated when you are sleep-deprived. That is why people who don’t sleep enough often complain of being constantly hungry. It is difficult to reverse this production of appetite-suppressing or appetite-elevating hormones and growth hormones unless you get enough sleep.
How do adrenal glands affect sleep/wake mode?
Two endocrine glands sit on top of every pair of kidneys. These are the adrenal glands. It’s their job to send out signals to start waking up for the day. They produce cortisone and cortisol.
If you have too much stress, the adrenal glands produce more of these “awake” hormones and you can’t sleep. If you suffer from insomnia not related to stress, it’s the fault of the adrenal glands. Athletes and swing shift workers often have too much cortisone and/or cortisol as a result of training, stress, and/or being awake when one should be asleep.
Can sex hormones affect your sleep?
More often than not, female hormones produced in the ovaries affect how well a woman sleeps. During different times in her monthly cycle, she may be very tired and sleep a lot, or hardly tired at all.
HGH therapy can help even out these hormones so that you can get a good night’s sleep every night, and not just during certain times of the month. In men, testosterone from the testes has a similar impact on sleep.
Can hormones affect dreams?
Oxytocin is a “happy” hormone. It’s at its highest when we are in the deepest of periods of sleep and dreaming. It is also high when we have skin-to-skin contact with others, and when women give birth.
Cortisol and oxytocin together ensure an excellent night’s sleep with dreaming, which is vital to our overall health. Dreams allow our minds to drift while our bodies repair themselves, and dreams aid in emotional and psychological recovery while we sleep.
HGH therapy can help regulate all other hormones in the body to access the best night’s sleep possible. If you are having trouble sleeping, have poor quality sleep, or you can’t sleep enough or sleep too much, there may be an imbalance in hormones.
It helps to talk to your doctor about hormone tests to see which hormones are elevated and which hormones are too low. Then you can start an effective hormone therapy regimen to restore balance and sleep better.
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