So why is hydration so important for sleep?

Lack of hydration can affect your sleep. Dehydration can make you feel extremely tired, lethargic, or fatigued. Other symptoms of dehydration, such as headaches, dry mouth, and nasal passages, and muscle cramps may cause discomfort that makes it harder to sleep well.

But, excess hydration can also cause you to have a bad night's sleep. You’ll end up waking up to take a trip to the bathroom more often than you should. Then once you’re awake, it is sometimes harder to fall back asleep.

In an observational study of nearly 20,000 adults, people who slept only six hours per night were found to have significantly higher rates of dehydration than people who slept eight hours.

Although you can keep hydrated you must remember that you body is always losing water too, either through urination, or through the skin (e.g while exercising) and from respiration. Did you know? Over a full day, about 300-400 milliliters of water are lost from breathing. 

So while you’re sleeping it’s good to remember that you’re not taking in any water but you will still be losing some of it. However, during sleep, circadian signals cause the body to produce a hormone called vasopressin that promotes water retention. This sounds great, but if sleep is interrupted or cut short, though, this process will be disrupted, therefore sleep deprivation may directly contribute to dehydration.

Vitamins to help encourage a good night sleep. 

Vitamin D

Vitamin D as we know is great to help boost your immunity but also has it benefits for a good nights sleep.

Research shows Vitamin D affects both how much sleep we get and how well we sleep. A recent study found Vitamin D deficiency linked to short sleep duration. This study found the links between insufficient sleep and lack of Vitamin D to be especially strong in adults age 50 and older.. In 2018, scientists at China’s Qingdao University analyzed the findings of several studies that looked at Vitamin D’s role in sleep. Their analysis identified significant connections between low levels of Vitamin D and a lack of sleep. They also found low levels of Vitamin D were connected to poor sleep quality.

Vitamin C

Healthy skin and bones is a strong benefit of vitamin C and for a strong immune system. Vitamin C’s health-promoting abilities may also extend to sleep.

Vitamin C healps you stay enegrised during the day therefore decreasing day time sleepiness and improving sleep quality to stop it being interrupted throughout the night. 

Vitamin B6

Vitamin B6 is involved in many functions in the body. It supports immune health, and aids in cognitive development and function. There’s evidence that B6 also aids sleep—and affects our dreams.

A lack of Vitamin B6 has been linked to symptoms of insomnia and depression. Vitamin B6 aids in the production of the hormones serotonin and melatonin, both of which are important to sound, restful sleep, and also to mood.

Vitamin B12

Vitamin B12 is important for brain function, supporting cardiovascular health including red blood cell formation, and in supporting DNA activity. 

Several studies have demonstrated that this vitamin is involved in regulating sleep-wake cycles by helping to keep circadian rhythms in sync. 

You can read more here.