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Why do we need to go to the bathroom during the night?

Equals a good night sleep

Have you ever wondered why you’re getting up to go to the toilet in the middle of the night whilst your partner is nicely tucked up in bed for the ENTIRE NIGHT? Well there’s a reason for this and we’re going to break it down so that it’s easy to understand and may even help you get a better night sleep.

Our bodies have a hormone called Aldosterone which is part of the Renin-Angiotensin System. Aldosterone is secreted by the cortex of the adrenal glands and its job is to help the body retain sodium by increasing the amount that our kidneys reabsorb. Sodium pulls water in the direction that it’s headed so aldosterone helps to conserve body water.

Aldosterone is released in response to:

Low blood Volume and/ or; Low Blood Pressure and/ or; High Potassium in Extracellular Fluid

These are all a sign that our body requires more fluid.

This is where it gets interesting! Aldosterone pulsates, releasing small bursts of the hormone into the system. Our body goes in and out of deep sleep but once in the deep sleep zone, our body releases the Aldosterone hormone into the system, suppressing the need to go to the bathroom therefor allowing us to sleep through the night.


If you are someone who hits their strides as the night drags on, you may start to notice that you make regular visits to the bathroom. This could be due to your body not receiving the Aldosterone pulses that you would normally be receiving during a sleep cycle.

Aldosterone also plays a part when discussing alcohol! Alcohol partially suppresses aldosterone meaning the need to use the toilet becomes more frequent when drinking it. If we’re unable to replace the fluids lost (with water) you’ll most likely become a “victim” of the dreaded hangover!

Sleep is a very important part of our health and lifestyle but we knew that anyway, what we might not have known is that sleep plays a vital role in our fluid balance and healthy blood pressure which we find quite interesting!


To read more about this and other nutrition/ health based topics, continue reading more blogs. On the other hand if you’re reading this and would like to make a change, get in touch with us and discuss what our Nutrition Coaching service could do for you.

Justin Beard Pn1

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