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Are you one of the millions of Americans taking cholesterol-lowering medications but still struggling with sleep issues? Or maybe your doctor has recommended a statin but you don’t want to take it because you’ve been hearing it might not be good for you?


What if I told you that your high cholesterol and poor sleep might have the same underlying causes?


Today, I'm going to reveal the surprising connection between high cholesterol and sleep problems that most doctors never discuss. 


By the end of this episode, you'll understand why cholesterol isn't your enemy, how it relates to your sleep quality, and 6 hidden imbalances that might be causing both issues. 


More importantly, you'll learn what functional lab tests can uncover these root causes so you can improve both your cholesterol levels AND your sleep naturally.


00:00 Introduction: Cholesterol and Sleep Issues

01:31 Meet Michael: A Success Story

03:56 Understanding Cholesterol's Role

04:50 Functional Medicine vs. Conventional Medicine

06:59 Hidden Imbalances Affecting Cholesterol and Sleep

11:16 Functional Lab Tests for Root Causes

12:47 Conclusion: Solving the Puzzle


Episode Transcript


Are you one of the millions of Americans taking cholesterol lowering medications, but still struggling with sleep issues? Or maybe your doctor has recommended a statin, but you don't wanna take it because you've been hearing it might not be good for you. What if I told you that your high cholesterol and sleep issues might have the same underlying causes?


Today I'm going to reveal the surprising connection between high cholesterol and sleep problems that most doctors never discuss. By the end of this episode, you'll understand why cholesterol isn't the enemy, how it relates to your sleep quality. And six hidden imbalances that might be causing both issues.


More importantly, you'll learn what functional lab tests can uncover these root causes, so you can improve both your cholesterol levels and your sleep naturally. Hello, smart sleepers. I'm Martha Lewis, the sleep detective and I help people who tried everything to sleep better find the root causes of their sleep issues.


Through functional lab testing and stress resilience techniques so they can sleep well naturally. Today we're diving into a fascinating topic that connects to seemingly unrelated health issues, high cholesterol and sleep problems. This is something I discovered during my own health journey, and I've since seen in countless clients who come to me primarily for sleep issues, but also happen to be on statins or concerned about their cholesterol.


Now before we dive into the science, I wanna share a real success story that perfectly illustrates this connection. So my client, Michael, has been working with me for two years now because he wants to keep optimizing his health, and he came to me with a really concerning health history. He had experienced a heart attack in his forties and had been put on medications to aggressively lower his cholesterol, and he was also waking up around 3:00 AM and not able to go back to sleep, so he was only getting five to six hours of sleep a night.


When we began working together, his cholesterol was actually too low from medication, so it was below one 70, which can create its own set of problems, particularly for hormone production and brain health. I mean, our hormones are neurotransmitters. So many of our cells are made from cholesterol, so it's actually something that we really need.


So through the functional lab testing that I do, we identified several underlying issues. He had gut infections, he had liver detox problems. He had blood sugar imbalances, and. Issues with how his adrenals were working. And these were all factors that were not only affecting his cardiovascular health, but also his sleep quality.


And I will talk more about each of these factors in a little bit. So by systematically addressing each of these root causes, rather than just focusing on the cholesterol number, something remarkable happened. So Michael's cholesterol naturally rose to what his natural heart doctor also considers an ideal level of two 20, right in the functional optimal range that I will also talk about in a minute.


This approach didn't just improve his cardiovascular numbers by addressing the same underlying imbalances, his sleep quality improved dramatically too. So now he sleeps from around nine 30 or 10 to at least 5:00 AM so getting at least seven and a half hours a night. And this is because we weren't just treating symptoms, we were restoring his body's natural balance.


So Michael's story illustrates perfectly what I want to talk about today. How the same root causes can affect both your cholesterol and your sleep, and how addressing these root causes can I improve both at the same time? So let's actually start by rethinking what cholesterol actually is. It's not actually a villain that it's often portrayed as cholesterol is more like a firefighter in your body.


When there's inflammation, which is like a fire in your tissues, your body sends cholesterol to help repair the damage. Cholesterol is a crucial building block for cell membranes and hormones, including those that regulate sleep. So taking a statin medication to lower cholesterol without addressing the underlying inflammation.


It's like preventing firefighters from reaching a burning building. That's crazy, right? So the fire, the inflammation continues to rage and your body loses this vital repair mechanism. Now, something crucial to understand is that functional medicine uses different optimal ranges for cholesterol than conventional medicine.


So while your doctor might be concerned if your total cholesterol is above. 200 milligrams per dl. Functional medicine practitioners recognize that this number alone doesn't tell the whole story. And research by health expert Chris Kresser, who I've been following for a very long time, points out that total cholesterol levels between 200 to two 40 are associated with the lowest risk of all cause mortality.


So you heard that right? Slightly elevated cholesterol, according to conventional standards might actually be protective. And what matters more than the total number of cholesterol is the ratio between different types of cholesterol inflammation markers like H-S-C-R-P, and other cardiovascular risk factors.


So these provide a much more accurate picture of your heart health than total cholesterol alone. Now criss kresser Research also highlights something really important about statins while they do lower cholesterol numbers. The benefits for people without preexisting heart disease are minimal at best, especially for women.


And meanwhile, these medications can have significant side effects, including muscle pain, cognitive issues, and more importantly, for a sleep discussion today, sleep disturbances. Some studies show that statins can interfere with the production of coq 10 A Nutrient which is really essential for energy production in the cells, including in the brain.


And so this disruption can affect sleep quality and contribute to insomnia. Now, I'm not saying that you should stop taking prescribed medications, never make changes without consulting your doctor, but it does mean that we should look deeper at why your cholesterol is elevated in the first place. And I always recommend doing your own research before just blindly taking a prescription drug.


So how does this all relate to sleep? So here's the detective work I've done with my clients and that I've learned over the years the same underlying imbalances that cause inflammation. Which then causes high cholesterol, often disrupt your sleep cycle. So the first one is infections and pathogens in the gut.


So these hidden gut infections, like h pylori, like parasites or bacterial overgrowth, create inflammation. That can then raise cholesterol. 'cause again, cholesterol is helping fight that inflammation. It's a firefighter. We want to come to the rescue when there's fire or inflammation. Now these same pathogens are often most active between two and 4:00 AM which is causing those middle of the night wakings.


The second imbalance is hypothyroidism. So low thyroid function can raise cholesterol levels. And also make it difficult to stay asleep through the night. So many of my clients have normal quote unquote thyroid labs, according to their doctors, but they show clear signs of suboptimal thyroid function when we dig deeper, and I am about to do another episode, diving into thyroid and how thyroid issues and sleep issues are also connected with many of these same imbalances.


Now, the third imbalance I see. That affects both of these things is adrenal dysfunction. So, you know, our adrenal glands are responsible for making cortisol and other stress hormones. And so when that stress response gets dysregulated or out of balance because there's more stress the body can handle, it's going to affect both cholesterol production and your cortisol rhythm, which is crucial for healthy sleep.


So a lot of times my clients with sleep issues, their cortisol is really high at bedtime or really high in the middle of the night when it's supposed to be lowest. And so that can be from this inflammation caused by gut infection from liver detox issues, which I'll talk about next.


And so we need our adrenals and the whole hypothalamus, pituitary adrenal access to be working properly to fight inflammation and stress and so that we can sleep well. So the fourth imbalance I see are liver detox issues. So your liver processes both cholesterol and the hormones that regulate sleep.


And of course, it's also supposed to process toxins. And when there are more toxins can handle, then both of those systems suffer. So this is a really common reason I see my clients. waking up in the middle of the night and paired with gut pathogens, which also produce a lot of toxins is like a double whammy.


So both of those things are connected and both affecting your sleep. And I will tell you, pretty much 99% of my clients need liver detox support. And even if they aren't drinking alcohol, even if they're using natural products as much as possible and really trying to avoid toxins, it's just those toxins could have been there for a very long time.


And then again, if there are other hidden toxins like from pathogens or heavy metals, then that is also putting this extra burden on the liver. Now the fifth imbalance I see is insulin resistance or blood sugar issues that can lead to insulin resistance. So when blood sugar gets outta balance, that can lead to higher cholesterol and is also going to cause those 3:00 AM wakings because whenever blood sugar drops too low in the night, the body releases cortisol give the body energy and raise blood sugar, but then the cortisol is going to wake you up.


And then the sixth thing I see is poor digestion of fats. So if you're not breaking down fats properly, that can lead to both cholesterol issues and disruptive production of sleep regulating hormones. So when clients come to me with both sleep issues and cholesterol concerns, I don't guess I test, and this is what we look for.


So the Dutch test. Looks at hormone balance, cortisol patterns, and gives me really important clues about liver function because there are multiple phases of liver detox and kinds of liver detox in each of those phases and different nutrients are needed for each of those phases. So the Dutch really helps me pinpoint what to recommend for each client.


It's not just a general liver supplement. It's going to be different for each person. And so all of those things I'm finding in the Dutch are really crucial for understanding both sleep and cholesterol metabolism. Now, the GI map is the gut test that's going to reveal hidden gut infections that drive inflammation and disrupt sleep.


The hair tissue mineral analysis shows mineral imbalances that affect both cardiovascular health and sleep quality. And then the neuro focus panel shows me your neurotransmitter levels, which going to affect both mood regulation and sleep patterns. So all four of those tests plus the assessments I do looking for.


Other sources of inflammation and stress, give me the big picture in all the pieces of the puzzle I need to see to help someone solve their sleep issues and get cholesterol to an ideal number. So the body is an interconnected system and isolating symptoms without looking at the whole picture. Can lead to missed opportunities for healing.


So when you find and fix the root causes of inflammation, you can improve both your cholesterol and your sleep. So if you're dealing with both high cholesterol and sleep issues, I encourage you to look deeper. And if you're ready to do that, to dig deeper into your sleep issues and possibly improve other aspects of your health, like cholesterol levels in the process.


I invite you to join my Smart Sleeper Sunday email series, so you'll get weekly insights about the hidden causes of sleep issues and how to address them naturally. Just head to the link in the show notes, and you can find it at thesleepdetective.com and sign up for the Smart Sleeper Sunday email series and remember that your body is giving you clues through your symptoms.


It's just a matter of proper detective work to solve the case. Thank you so much for listening, everyone, and I will talk to you next week.

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