Sleep science: 6 connections show how gut health influences slumber

Your digestive tract is home to trillions of organisms called microbiota.

Together, they make up the microbiome, a complex ecosystem that researchers are slowly discovering influences physical and mental health much more than they had thought.

Scientists aren’t totally sure why humans spend so much time asleep — but we need to sleep to function. It is intimately tied to our mood, mental health, and the wellness of our entire bodies.

The research is preliminary, but a 2017 study suggests dietary prebiotics help increase levels of REM sleep — at least in rats.

In humans, researchers discovered people who don’t sleep well typically have a less diverse microbiome — and that boosting our internal ecosystem’s diversity may have the opposite, beneficial effect.

But most investigations so far have been in animals rather than humans — so we need to wait for better science to know for sure.

In 2016, researchers observed that chronic sleep disruption appears to alter the microbiomes of mice and cause inflammation.

Circadian genes — the ones that keep the body’s internal clock on time — may play a role in influencing the gut microbiome, scientists believe.

The differences in the diversity of insomniacs’ microbiomes are so pronounced they could help diagnose the condition.

Scientists have noticed a link between specific disturbances in the microbiome and major depressive disorder.

They detected higher levels of a certain bacterium in people with depression that may be linked to higher levels of inflammation.