Lorraine Kelly
Sleep can be a slippery thing. One minute it is there, soft and obliging, and the next it has vanished into the dark, leaving you wide awake and wondering why your brain has chosen 3 am for its grand return to consciousness.
For many women, that pattern is less an occasional nuisance than a familiar routine. And according to experts, there is a reason for that. Hormones, stress, diet and underlying health issues can all leave sleep more fragile, more fragmented and far less restorative than it ought to be.
That fragility is more common than many realise. More than half of Brits, 58%, say they often wake during the night without being prompted by noise or disturbance. Among women, that rises to 64%, compared with 51% of men. It is the sort of statistic that lands with a weary nod rather than shock.
Plenty of women know the feeling all too well: asleep by 10, awake by 2, then stuck in the peculiar purgatory of being exhausted but somehow no longer capable of sleep.
Mike Wakeman, researcher, pharmacist and the expert behind Evera Nutrition, describes sleep as “absolutely vital for good health.” It is an unglamorous truth, but an important one. Sleep is not a wellness accessory. It is the system that helps hold everything else together, from mood and concentration to energy, recovery and long-term health.
He continues: “Disrupted sleep is common and often, you may wake up and then go back to sleep within minutes. Although fine, problems arise when you are awake for long periods of time. This not only means you may not get the sleep you need, but it could indicate that something else is going on under the surface of your health and wellness.
“Studies consistently find that women have a higher prevalence of insomnia and trouble sleeping than men. It’s thought to be due to the fluctuations in female hormones which occur throughout a woman’s life and the impact they have upon sleep. In women, oestrogen and progesterone can influence sleep depth, body temperature, breathing and the hormone serotonin which primarily regulates mood, sleep, appetite and digestion.”
Why women’s sleep is more vulnerable
The simplest explanation is often the correct one: women’s hormones do not move quietly. Oestrogen and progesterone rise and fall across the menstrual cycle, shift again during pregnancy, and fluctuate sharply during perimenopause and menopause. That matters because both play an important role in sleep regulation, influencing everything from sleep depth and body temperature to mood and the body’s ability to settle properly at night.
In practical terms, it means sleep can become lighter, less stable and easier to disturb. A woman may fall asleep without much trouble, only to find herself waking in the early hours as her body temperature shifts, her hormones dip, or her mind decides this is the ideal time to revisit every unresolved thought in circulation.
Perimenopause is one of the clearest examples. Usually beginning between the ages of 45 and 55, it can bring hot flushes, night sweats and changes in REM sleep that leave the night feeling more like an interruption than a reset. But the issue is not confined to midlife. Hormonal changes across the monthly cycle can also affect women in their thirties and younger, particularly in the days before menstruation, when progesterone drops and sleep can become notably more fragmented.
Dr Nisa Aslam, GP and adviser to Evera Nutrition, says: “The perimenopause causes fluctuating and declining levels of oestrogen and progesterone. This can cause a disruption in temperature control and REM (dreaming) sleep as well as hot flashes and night sweats.
Sleep problems in women aged between 30 to 39 tend to occur due to monthly fluctuations in progesterone and oestrogen. Whereas progesterone drops sharply before menstruation resulting in lighter and more fragmented sleep, reduction in oestrogen results in changes in sleep depth.”
It is a useful corrective to the old idea that poor sleep is simply a matter of bad habits or overthinking. Those things can absolutely make matters worse, but sometimes the body is doing exactly what biology has primed it to do.
Stress has a way of getting into bed with you
Hormones may explain a great deal, but they are not alone. Stress remains one of the most common reasons sleep unravels, and its effects are both physiological and maddeningly practical. The body under pressure produces more cortisol, a hormone that is very useful if you need to outrun danger and rather less helpful when you are trying to drift into deep sleep under a 10.5 tog duvet.
Wakeman says: “Stress causes a rise in the stress hormone cortisol and higher cortisol before bed has been shown to cause disrupted sleep, resulting in people sleeping for less time and having lower sleep efficiency, meaning more time awake during the night[8].”
The modern problem, of course, is that stress is no longer confined to major crises. It arrives through work notifications, low-level anxiety, family logistics, late-night emails and the sort of endless mental admin that rarely announces itself as stress but behaves exactly like it. The result is a nervous system that never quite receives the message that the day is over.
This is why the unflashy rituals matter. Stretching. Breath work. A bedroom that feels restful rather than overstimulating. Less scrolling, fewer glowing screens, and some sort of boundary between the end of the day and the beginning of sleep. None of it is revolutionary. All of it helps.
Food, alcohol and timing all play their part
Sleep is also sensitive to what happens in the kitchen. Late, heavy meals can leave the body too occupied with digestion to settle easily, while sugary or highly processed foods may create blood glucose swings that disturb sleep later in the night.
Dr Aslam says: “Large meals late at night can slightly raise body temperature, however your core temperature needs to drop in order for sleep to happen smoothly. So, focusing on smaller portions if you’re eating close to bedtime is ideal.”
She adds: “Highly processed or sugary foods before bed can also cause a spike in blood glucose, but when this spike drops (when you’re asleep) it can cause a release of stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline to correct it. That can wake you up and keep you awake.”
Wakeman adds: “Try to stop eating three hours before bed too as this allows your food to digest; often food can sit heavy in the belly, making sleep tricky.”
Alcohol deserves its own mention, largely because it has spent years masquerading as a sleep aid when it is often more saboteur than saviour. It may help some people fall asleep faster, but the quality of sleep tends to deteriorate later in the night, often leading to more waking and less restorative rest overall.
The role of nutrients in better sleep support
The release also points to the importance of nutritional support, particularly when sleep is being undermined by stress, hormonal change or low nutrient intake. Evera Nutrition’s Deep Sleep supplement contains L-Theanine, Chamomile, Passionflower, Magnesium, Chinese Red Date extract and Hops, ingredients selected to support calming pathways in the body.
Wakeman explains further: “GABA is the brain’s main calming neurotransmitter. Meanwhile, Vitamin D, Tart Cherry, Saffron and magnesium are involved in the production of the sleep hormone, melatonin.”
There is also a broader point here that extends beyond one formulation. Low levels of magnesium, folic acid and vitamin D have been associated with poor sleep, while low folic acid, vitamin D and magnesium are also linked with restless legs syndrome, another common cause of disrupted nights.
None of this suggests that one supplement can single-handedly rescue a lifestyle built on stress, screens, late meals and four coffees after 4 pm. But it does reinforce the idea that sleep is physiological as much as behavioural. What the body lacks can matter just as much as what the mind is doing.
When broken sleep may be a sign to seek help
There is a difference between the occasional bad night and a pattern that begins to wear away at daily life. Persistent sleep disruption, especially when it comes with other symptoms, should not simply be filed away as one of those things women are expected to tolerate.
Restless legs syndrome, sleep apnoea and diabetes can all affect sleep. So can anxiety and depression. Regularly waking for long periods, struggling on less than six hours of sleep, gasping or choking at night, or feeling unable to function properly during the day are signs that something more substantial may be going on.
Dr Nisa Aslam recommends speaking to your GP if:
- You wake up for long periods of time and can’t get back to sleep
- If you’re getting less than six hours of sleep each night
- If you have frequent night sweats or hot flashes that disrupt sleep;
- If you choke, snore or gasp in the night
- If you have increased levels of anxiety and depression
- If you are struggling to get through the day without falling asleep
- If sleep issues are interfering with work, mood, memory or safety.
That list matters because women are often remarkably efficient at normalising discomfort. Broken sleep becomes part of the furniture. Something to be managed, joked about, pushed through. But common is not the same as harmless.
Better sleep begins with paying attention
The most useful message here is not that women are doomed to poor sleep, nor that there is a single neat fix waiting on a bedside table. It is that broken sleep usually has drivers, and those drivers can often be identified.
For some women, the key issue may be hormones. For others, it may be stress, diet, alcohol, nutrient deficiencies or a health condition that needs proper attention. Most likely, it is a combination of several factors, all nudging sleep in the wrong direction.
Dr Aslam says: “A lack of sleep can have huge negative consequences on your mood, health, energy and even how you look, leaving you looking tired and lacking lustre. Knowing what might be disrupting your sleep and supporting your lifestyle to reduce sleep issues, can make a world of difference.
Evera Nutrition uses the best, science-backed ingredients to help you sleep more soundly so you can wake up feeling your very best. For women, hormones can play a huge role in sleep disruption, so doing what you can to support your hormones and sleep will go a long way. Disrupted sleep certainly doesn’t need to be something to get used to.”
And that is really the heart of it. Sleep may be delicate, but it is not random. When it starts breaking apart on a regular basis, the body is usually offering a clue. The smart move is not to ignore it, but to listen.
