Gut health can impact everything from mental health to the immune system—and it could be behind poor sleep too.

Specific types of gut bacteria have now been linked to insomnia risk by researchers from The Affiliated Brain Hospital of Nanjing Medical University in China.

The team found that certain types of bacteria seem to boost or lower the risk of the sleep condition, while insomnia itself may in turn also alter the abundance of certain gut 'bugs'.

It is estimated that 12 percent of people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with chronic insomnia, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

Insomnia involves difficulty falling asleep, waking up during the night, lying awake at night and waking up too early—all of which come with daytime symptoms of tiredness and irritability too

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