A Little Sleep Trivia:

Sleep is the most under-appreciated Pillar of Health.

We spend about ⅓ of our time on Planet Earth, asleep.

If you get sufficient peaceful sleep, you can actually lose body fat during your sleep.  Actual fat.

Sleep is when our hormones repair.

When we’re sleep-deprived (less than 6 hours), our cortisol rises; it affects our memory center; we lose muscle; we gain fat; our sex hormones are reduced; and we feel more stressed during the day.

One night of sleep deprivation can make you crave empty carbs.

At night… while we’re sleeping… what’s happening inside your body?

One thing that is happening is that your glymphatic system is working.  It’s working hard while we sleep, while everything is calm and quiet.  It’s doing detox cleanup—taking out the trash in our brain, and in our cells, getting us ready to tackle the next day.

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WHAT DRIVES INSOMNIA?

Everything you do during the day impacts your sleep.

Insomnia is a Symptom—not a disease.  What are the root causes?

80% of insomnia is caused by an initial stressful event.  Some examples are job-related incidents or worries, pandemic, divorce, or a move to a different place to live.

The news can keep you from getting a good night’s relaxing sleep, or a dramatic or suspenseful movie.

These things cause an overproduction of your brain’s command center, telling your body what to do, and how you need to respond to the “threat” that it recognizes.

Pay attention to how you feel.

Our body works by a Rhythm.  A Circadian Rhythm.  It guides the processes of our body—and our brain.  And its job is to keep our inside clock on an even keel.

What gets that Rhythm out of whack? 

External lighting is a big thing.  AND the ferocious “blue light” that stares at us every day (and some nights!) Computers/phone screens (even t.v.) in the evening tell us it’s still day – that we want to be alert.  That blue light also supresses melatonin and it elevates cortisol.

Low Nutrition is another thing that causes our issues.

Why would our nutrients be low?

Gut problems can cause us to have low nutrition;

Gut problems can actually even cause insomnia

Lead, mercury, or other heavy metals can cause poor sleep.

Hormonal fluctuations can cause poor sleep.

It could also be:

Something in our health history, or some past trauma;

The wrong kinds of bugs in our small intestine

Whether or not you’re feeling safe at night…

Or could be PTSD…

It could also be Inflammation, (and if so, we need to figure out why…)

It could be food sensitivities

It also could be connected to our Thyroid.

⅔ of pre-diabetic patients have sleep disruption.  Their glucose is higher, wanting quick energy foods. 

It could also be connected to depression, cancer, autoimmune flare-ups, fibromyalgia, or just regular ol’ anxiety.

All these things challenge our sleep.

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If you have interrupted sleep:

Your insulin level is higher

Your cortisol level is higher

Your glucose level is higher

You’ll look for the bad foods, and you’ll be less able to resist them.

Your body will be inclined to have inflammation.

When your digestive function is off, you also have a higher chance of reflux, which also impairs your sleep.

You’ll be prone to restless leg syndrome

You’ll be prone to autoimmune conditions

80% of people are low in Vitamin D

50% of people are low in Magnesium

20% are low in B vitamins

Typically doctors don’t check these things for insomnia.

Loss of Sleep increases your risk of:

A Poor Immune System… so we’re ready to “catch” all those “bugs” as they go by.

Obesity, especially as lack of sleep connects to extra stress.

Depression

Heart Disease

Inflammation

Type II Diabetes, Dementia and other issues.

According to the CDC,  more than 30% of adults and 72% of students grades 9-12 get insufficient sleep on a regular basis.

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How can we fix it? …How can we start sleeping good …getting that rhythm re-established?

There are several things that can help.

Natural light is medicine.  It resets your brain.  It resets your rhythm.

But it needs your help to get back on track and stay that way.

Some basic things that will help you are:

1.     Exercise every day, preferably outside;

2.     Decreasing your stress level—you might want to try breathing exercises or meditation.  (If you haven’t tried it, give it a try.  Sometimes it helps instantly, but the difference will be very noticeable to you if you meditate every day.)

3.     Eating nourishing foods, and staying away from the “Standard American Diet” (green leafy veggies, salmon with bones, berries, omega 3’s all help sleep);

4.     Have evening meal time as early as you can, with a light meal, if possible.

5.     Create a sanctuary for your sleep—a place of quiet, darkness, and no electronics.  Have your bedroom cool for sleeping;

6.     Lights that can be dimmed before bedtime.

7.     Calm yourself before bedtime.

8.     Have a night-time ritual, time spent calmly getting ready for bed.

9.     TV and electronics off at least an hour or two before bed.

10. No alcohol.

You might also try listening to relaxing music, and/or guided meditation.

You might also try to journal things about your day, and/or things you’re thankful for.

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Do Blue Light Blockers work?

Yes, if they are Quality.  I tested some quality ones and some I purchased at a pretty inexpensive price at a big box store, and the quality ones blocked almost all the blue light.  The inexpensive ones blocked hardly any of it.  So be aware.

Can Sleep Trackers help?

Do you know how many hours you sleep?  If you’re in bed for 8 hours, do you count that time as being asleep?  It’s a good idea to track your actual sleep time.

There are all kinds of sleep trackers out there.  Again, some are good, and some not so much.  The Oura ring is believed by some to be the most accurate.

I have an Oura ring, and I absolutely love it.  I understand they now come as a subscription, and you pay monthly for the service, as it’s all on line.  And it keeps track of trends for you, and makes reports available.

(If you are interested in getting one of these, I have access to a coupon that would save you a little bit, I think $40.  And there’s also Fitbit and Apple, and many other devices.)

Anyway, it’s good for you to know how well you sleep, related to your heart rate and other measurements, so you’ll know if you need to change your habits to get more deep or restful sleep.

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What would be some suggested rituals?

MORNING RITUAL:

What sets your circadian rhythm?

Light.  Early in the morning sunlight starts the rhythm for the day.  (And light also helps regulate hormones)

Early light can be the first step that sets you up for a good night’s sleep. 

And if you take a morning walk outside that’s the perfect beginning for good sleep.  Even if it’s just a few minutes of walking.

EVENING RITUAL:

You need to have a Mindset that gives Sleep a Priority.

Reduce exposure to bright lights; use lamps or dim lights

Reduce exposure especially, to blue lights (even during the day).

Your Evening Ritual is probably the #1 thing that sets your night up for sleep.

Drink herbal tea (chamomile, ginger, etc)

Cooler temperatures help you sleep–If your partner sleeps at different temperature, you could use separate night covers.

If needed, take magnesium an hour before bed. (most people do not get enough)

(Magnesium is an Anti-Stress Mineral.  48% of Americans are deficient in it.  Lack of it can cause stress and confusion.  It is a RELAX mineral.)

What about “relaxation helps”?

Like Ambien (which sometimes causes people to wander around at night) or Valium (an antidepressant with side effects that impair cognition and has long term effects, even possibly increasing your chances of dementia)?

For your official answer to this, I would check with a Functional Medicine Practitioner.

My personal opinion would be to look at anything like taking these, as a very short-term fix, and not as a help for a lifestyle change or increasing better sleep.

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I know, no junk food, but what should we eat?

If we have meals that are low in saturated fat, sugar and junk carbs, and high in nutrients from good quality real food, we’re more likely to sleep better.  Junk food encourages the night-time awakening, and it disrupts our sleep quality.  This one thing could make a drastic difference in your sleep.

What about Meal Timing?

Again, follow the sun.

Ideally, primary, or heavier meals are better earlier in the day.

Our bodies like lighter meals in the evening.

It’s also good to have a cut-off time as a goal for dinner time.  It may not always work out, as busy as we all are, but prioritize it.

What about Caffeine? 

Caffeine is one of the biggest sleep disruptors.  It’s a good idea to have a curfew on your coffee, not having it much after noon.  It stays in your system a long time, and may not keep us from actually falling asleep, but will disrupt our sleep patterns while we sleep, causing us not to get restful sleep.

Serotonin and Melatonin.

Serotonin helps make melatonin.   Together they help you sleep.  80% of Serotonin is in your gut.

It’s so much better for this to work naturally.  It doesn’t work as well as taking a supplement of melatonin.  If you take too much or take it too frequently, the key is there…but the lock is shut (according to Stamford University).

According to the World Journal of Gastrointestinal Research, we have 400 times more melatonin in our gut than in our brain.

Some additional tips to help keep those communication lines open so your brain gets the correct messages (through your gut microbiome):

1.     Avoid things that attack your gut microbiome (processed foods #1)

2.     Avoid haphazard use of antibiotics, also pesticides, herbicides. (‘cide means to kill)

3.     Have a serving of fermented food or drink daily.

4.     (From the Library of Science) Waking up frequently at night could be a deficiency of Vitamin C or iron, or calcium (according to the Journal of Sleep Research).

5.     Our brain has its own amazing cleaning system.  If that cleaning system doesn’t get to do its job at night, your brain gets toxic, which could eventually grow into full blown Alzheimer’s. 

So you may have gotten ‘way too much information about sleep in this article today…

But hopefully you’ve seen how very, very important good restful sleep is to your body and your mind.

This season of the year is so busy, and usually stressful, and good sleep tries to evade us at times like this.  This is just a reminder to think about your health, and about your priorities.  Your mind and body will love it when you do.

If you have any questions about ways to apply some of the things here to help your sleep, remember, Small Changes can bring Huge Results, and I can help you on that journey.

Check in with me if you would like for me to help you in any way.

Thank you for reading; and I wish for you to have wonderful, restful sleep.

Sharon