Did you know that functional medicine from our Toronto clinic can help tackle sleep issues? 

Rest is needed for the growth, development, and healing of the human body – but accomplishing this can come with a wide variety of obstacles. In fact, it’s not uncommon to learn that the root cause of poor sleep is due to a patient’s current health status! “Inadequate sleep is an underappreciated determinant of health, and can lead to short-term and long-term consequences,” confirms a Nutrients article. 

As recognized by the integrative functional medicine model, health improvements are possible when the patient’s bodily inadequacies are addressed. For getting a good night’s sleep, our clinicians may tend to this based on your individual components (i.e. genetics, lifestyle, vitamin levels, etc.). For example, if you have nutrient shortcomings that happen to affect sleep conditions, this can contribute to unrestful nights.

Are you in pursuit of new sleep strategies? If so, a personalized integrative medicine service may be beneficial, as it targets your health only. Here, the Toronto Functional Medicine Centre (TFMC) uncovers the different ways we can address sleep health concerns for our patients. 

Addressing sleep issues with integrated health care

Our clinical experience for patients includes a personalized approach to therapies. This consists of unravelling your entire health history, environmental exposures (i.e. chemicals), and health goals. If poor sleep is a current symptom of yours, we may recommend the following: 

• • Practice stress management: We may suggest new methods to manage stress levels, such as yoga, meditation or additional strenuous physical activity (i.e. cycling). You can also try acupuncture to lower stress and level-up sleep. One study from the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine showed that acupuncture, when compared to not using any therapies, was shown to improve “…parameters in sleep quality and duration”. 

• • Implement new lifestyle modifications: Our functional medicine providers may evaluate your current lifestyle factors, such as technology use. It’s been thought that the blue light emitted from smartphones can interfere with the amount of melatonin released in the body; this can cause sleep reductions. Furthermore, electronic devices at night can heighten physical and mental stimulations. So, give your bedroom a “technology-free” makeover. Sure, this may feel difficult to accomplish, but you may notice improvements to the quantity and quality of sleep. 

• • Check the status of your current gut health: According to a Frontiers in Psychiatry article, “There is considerable evidence showing that the gut microbiome not only affects the digestive, metabolic, and immune functions… [but also regulates] sleep and mental states through the microbiome-gut-brain axis.” Hence, a gut microbiome or SIBO test may be conducted in our clinic, which are functional tests offered for digestive issues. We would scrutinize your gut health to understand the types of bacteria in your microbiome, as the presence of certain bacteria can improve sleep duration, while the presence of others may promote insomnia. The results from this lab test would help us modify your treatments to restore gut health and sleep.  

• • Examine hormone levels: A TFMC functional medicine practitioner may question your hormone levels, as these particular imbalances can cause insomnia. We may advise on taking a DUTCH test (which is a series of dried urine samples) for quantifying hormones such as cortisol, sex and adrenal hormones. These lab results would help us determine your next steps in treatment. For example, if cortisol appears to be high in your lab results, we would recommend tactics to reduce these levels for helping recuperate sleep. 

• • Treat nutritional deficiencies: Nutrient shortcomings can impede optimal rest. For example, studies have shown that iron and vitamin D deficits can reduce sleep in reproductive-aged women. We may recommend getting a personalized nutritional assessment, which is a non-invasive urine test (metabolomics) that can show us which nutrients you’re lacking (i.e. antioxidants, amino acids, vitamins, minerals, and “good” fatty acids). Alleviating these deficiencies could contribute to sleep improvements, especially when practiced with lifestyle modifications.    

Are you frequently staying alert at night? If you need restorative sleep or a boost in energy levels, we’re here to help! New patients are welcome to join our exclusive functional medicine programs to help optimal functioning. 

Suggested Reading: Exploring the Secrets of Brazilian Ginseng with Functional Medicine from Toronto

About our functional medicine approach to wellness

Personalized treatment plans from the TFMC focus on recuperating your aspects of health, such as chronic diseases, immune function, brain health, detoxification processes, menopausal symptoms, cellular health, and more. By applying functional medicine testing, we can unravel your body’s inner workings to determine how to help relieve current symptoms and potentially prevent a chronic condition. 

Our compassionate health team has extensive experience applying integrative medicine strategies, and an array of modalities are modified in this personalized plan. Being aware of these tactics helps you draw from different methods to promote symptom relief, which is why we offer conventional medicine (allopathic therapies), naturopathic medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine, holistic nutrition, acupuncture, hormone replacement therapies (i.e. bioidentical hormones), and other therapies. 

Intravenous therapy (IV therapy) is also available in the TFMC’s IV Lounge. This is another treatment we can add to your health plan, and IV drips are freshly compounded with doses being modified with the functional medicine model. When combined with other treatments and a healthy lifestyle, IV therapy can promote wellness upgrades. 

Improving your sleep and elevate energy levels may require tailoring – our functional medicine Toronto team can build a customized, proactive, long-term health plan just for you! Click here to contact us. 

Disclaimer: The information in this article is designed for educational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for informed medical advice or care. This information should not be used to diagnose or treat any health problems or illnesses without consulting a doctor. You should always consult with a health care practitioner before relying on any information in this article or on this website. Never delay or disregard seeking professional medical advice from your doctor or other qualified healthcare provider because of information you have read from the Toronto Functional Medicine Centre website or other affiliate media. 

 

References

Abboud M. Vitamin D Supplementation and Sleep: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Intervention Studies. Nutrients. 2022 Mar 3;14(5):1076. doi: 10.3390/nu14051076. PMID: 35268051; PMCID: PMC8912284.

Al Hinai, M., Jansen, E. C., Song, P. X., Peterson, K. E., & Baylin, A. (2023). Iron Deficiency and Vitamin D Deficiency Are Associated with Sleep in Females of Reproductive Age: An Analysis of NHANES 2005–2018 Data. The Journal of Nutrition. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjnut.2023.11.030

AlShareef SM. The impact of bedtime technology use on sleep quality and excessive daytime sleepiness in adults. Sleep Sci. 2022 Apr-Jun;15(Spec 2):318-327. doi: 10.5935/1984-0063.20200128. PMID: 35371396; PMCID: PMC8906383.

Cao H, Pan X, Li H, Liu J. Acupuncture for treatment of insomnia: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials. J Altern Complement Med. 2009 Nov;15(11):1171-86. doi: 10.1089/acm.2009.0041. PMID: 19922248; PMCID: PMC3156618.

Kim, T. W., Jeong, H., & Hong, C. (2015). The Impact of Sleep and Circadian Disturbance on Hormones and Metabolism. International Journal of Endocrinology, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/591729

Li, Y., Hao, Y., Fan, F., & Zhang, B. (2018). The Role of Microbiome in Insomnia, Circadian Disturbance and Depression. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00669

Ruchała M, Bromińska B, Cyrańska-Chyrek E, Kuźnar-Kamińska B, Kostrzewska M, Batura-Gabryel H. Obstructive sleep apnea and hormones – a novel insight. Arch Med Sci. 2017 Jun;13(4):875-884. doi: 10.5114/aoms.2016.61499. Epub 2016 Aug 5. PMID: 28721156; PMCID: PMC5507108.

Yue M, Jin C, Jiang X, Xue X, Wu N, Li Z, Zhang L. Causal Effects of Gut Microbiota on Sleep-Related Phenotypes: A Two-Sample Mendelian Randomization Study. Clocks Sleep. 2023 Sep 12;5(3):566-580. doi: 10.3390/clockssleep5030037. PMID: 37754355; PMCID: PMC10527580.

Zhang M, Zhao J, Li X, Chen X, Xie J, Meng L, Gao X. Effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for insomnia: Protocol for a systematic review. Medicine (Baltimore). 2019 Nov;98(45):e17842. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000017842. PMID: 31702639; PMCID: PMC6855569.

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