Ever wondered whether the super spice turmeric can affect, or even better, improve your sleep? 

We sat down with sleep specialist, Olivia Arezzolo to chat all things sleep and the effects turmeric can have on your sleep, or lack thereof. 

Thanks for joining us Olivia. Give us a bit of an insight into who you are and what you do?

Pain, anxiety and …. sleep? Yes, you heard right. And as resident Sleep Specialist, writer for Ten Daily and spokesperson for Sealy Posturepedic, I’d like to think I’m somewhat justified in telling you that so much of what we do is affected by our sleep.

Great! Tell us then, as the busy, ever-connected people that we are today, what’s happening when we compromise a good nights sleep for catching up with friends, catching up on Netflix or scrolling our way through the night?

So, typically what happens when you experience poor sleep is that you become stressed and forget things. Biochemically, it alters a region in your brain called the hippo campus which is responsible for triggering your adrenal hormones (like cortisol and adrenaline), as well as memory function. 

These scientists found that after exposure to poor sleep, the hippo campus lost 48% of it’s weight. No wonder you’re going a bit bananas and keep misplacing your phone / wallet / keys / life. Although, miraculously, after taking a quality turmeric supplement, with a strong percentage of curcumin, the significant losses were recovered.  Another study, published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, found the same findings.

So basically, if you’re going to be burdened with a few nights of bad sleep - relax knowing that scientifically, taking a hit of turmeric may actually buffer how stressed you feel, and your capacity to string a sentence together properly. 

Incredible to learn that including turmeric on your diet can actually improve the damage caused by lack of sleep. What else can we do to ensure we’re living our best lives?

Outside of this, obtaining great sleep is also about having less stress - both / either psychologically (your daily demands) and physiologically (exposure to alcohol, smoking, sugar, lights). Again, scientifically, this paper found curcumin (read: turmeric) to have powerful properties to reduce ALL stress: “curcumin is known to be antimicrobial, antiinflammatory, antihypertensive, antihyperlipidemic, antitumor, anticancer, antiphlogistic, antidiabetic, antipsoriasis, antithrombotic, antihepatotoxic”. Whatever is happening to you, turmeric should be your go-to for healing…And consequently, you’ll feel calmer, more relaxed, and sleep better.

Well there you go! We are so fascinated to learn that taking some turmeric every day, can keep the stress doctor away. What else can our readers do if they want to do learn more about how to get the most of their sleep, what they should be doing before they head to the land of slumber and ways to change their current behaviours?

They can Sign up for my FREE 21 Days of Sleep Tips Series, highlighting a sample of the physiological, psychological and nutritional changes they can make to improve their sleep tonight, and energy levels tomorrow. Or, they can get in touch with me at enquiries@oliviaarezzolo.com.au to find out more about my program, The Sleep Solution, and how it can transform their sleep, and restore them to their best self - inside and out.