Ayurvedic expert warns gut health can impact sleep quality, shares 7 tips to improve digestive balance
Gut health can impact sleep quality. An Ayurvedic expert suggests dietary adjustments and relaxation practices to enhance digestion and improve sleep.
Do you often find yourself tossing and turning in bed after sleeping following a heavy meal at night? Most people don't realise, but the quality of sleep is tied to their gut.
They are quick to blame stress, long working hours or even prolonged screen time for it. However, an Ayurvedic doctor says that in many cases that she comes across, sleep begins to suffer only after their gut starts sending subtle signs. These include heaviness after meals, irregular appetite and/or bloating.
The link between sleep and gut health
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Dr Susmitha Chandran, MD (Ayurveda), Consultant Physician, Apollo AyurVAID, tells Health Shots: "Ayurveda has long emphasised the role of Agni, the digestive fire, as the core driver of our overall well-being. When Agni is stable, the mind remains grounded. However, a weakened or irregular Agni can disrupt multiple rhythms, affecting energy, emotional balance, and even sleep quality."
Modern science also supports the link. The gut is where most of our serotonin is produced, the same chemical that later helps regulate sleep. When the gut becomes inflamed or imbalanced, the body makes fewer of these calming messengers. That's when people find themselves lying awake for hours, waking frequently, or waking up tired despite a full night's sleep.
According to the expert, Ayurveda explains this as the Vāta getting disturbed.
How to improve sleep quality?
If you're looking to restore sleep, start with improving your gut health by using the following tips, suggests Dr Chandran:
1. Choose warm, simple meals.
2. Opt for an early, light dinner
3. Avoid eating when distracted or rushed
4. Use digestive-supporting spices like ginger, cumin, and coriander
5. Add a little ghee to soothe both the gut and the mind.
6. Take a short walk after meals to help digestion settle
7. In the evenings, practices that calm Vata - like a warm oil massage or reducing screen time - helps the mind prepare for restful sleep.
"When digestion becomes smooth, the mind naturally follows, and sleep returns on its own," concludes the expert.
