Why Sleep is so Important for Overall Health

 

• Sleep plays a vital role in good health and well-being. Getting enough quality sleep can help protect your mental health, physical health and quality of life. 
• Damage can occur from sleep deficiency. Ongoing sleep deficiency can raise your risk for some chronic health problems. It also can affect how well you think, react, work, learn, and get along with others. 
• Sleep helps your brain and body function properly. It is also directly connected to fat gain and or the inability to lose body fat. You can eat the best diet in the world and exercise efficiently, but if your circadian rhythm and lifestyle are not aligned it will end up down regulating your metabolic rate. A study showed that disrupted sleep patterns lead to an increase in a person’s caloric intake by 500 calories per day on average. Now let’s add that up over a year.
• Studies show that sleep deficiency alters activity in some parts of the brain. If you’re sleep deficient, you may have trouble making decisions, solving problems, controlling your emotions and behavior, and coping with change. 
• Sleep deficiency also has been linked to depression, suicide, and risk-taking behavior.

 

Nutrition – Movement – Simple Sleep Hacks

 

• Get Sunlight first thing in the morning – Sunlight is the most significant cue for the brain to get up and start the day, as well as to prepare the body for sleep. We are indoors all day, and then we get home for the day we get too much light stimulation and blue light bombardment. It makes it super hard for our bodies to down regulate and prepare for sleep.
• Wear Blue Light Blocking Glasses past noon – Blue light exposure before bedtime suppresses melatonin.  
• Turn your phone on airplane mode and unplug your TV; even better get it out of the bedroom. Electro Magnetic Fields (EMFs) can disrupt circadian rhythm as well as negatively affect hormone levels.
• Lower body temperature 1-2 hours before bed and while sleeping. Colder temperatures at night serve as an internal trigger for sleepiness, whereas warmer temperatures serve as the opposite and trigger wakefulness. When you are hot during sleep you sleep poorly and often you will not be able to fall asleep until the body first cools down.
• Fast for at least 3 hours before bed – Eating late can stunt dopamine production and could actually prevent you from getting into deeper restorative stages of sleep.
• Foam roll or de-stress in your own way before bed – The more we can de-stress and down regulate our brain through relaxation techniques, the more rapidly we can get into DEEP and REM stages of sleep.
• Sleep in complete darkness.  Yes TOTAL darkness – Even the tiniest amount of light thru the night has been shown to significantly impair brain function the day after.
• Eliminate or reduce as much inflammation in the body as possible. Inflammatory foods can be different for everyone, but some of the main culprits are gluten, dairy and sugar. Just be mindful of how those things affect you personally and if you see improvement in sleep by moderating them then keep that train rolling!
• Work to Improve body composition by maintaining a healthy body fat percentage –  High levels of body fat, especially visceral fat around the midsection, can contribute to chronic inflammation in the body by producing what is known as inflammatory cytokines.
• Exercise and move more each day – This may seem like common sense, but for the vast majority of our population, they do not exercise each day. Even a goal of 10k steps is sufficient.
• Have fun and play each day – Anything that stimulates the reward center of the brain will also activate Orexin production which is a necessary sleep regulatory hormone. Having fun does not mean exercise. Exercise activates a totally different pathway that stimulates Orexin production. Having fun and taking part in play type activities enables a whole different pathway that stimulates Orexin production. Therefore, aim for building in more fun and rewarding type activities in addition to exercising.
• Stop Caffeine consumption after noon – no coffee, pre-workout or afternoon energy drink.  Trust me you may think you sleep like a baby and that it doesn’t affect you but it does!
• Limit Alcohol – Alcohol blocks REM sleep, which is considered the most restorative type of sleep. With less REM sleep, you’re likely to wake up feeling groggy and unfocused.

 

Supplements that may assist in a Restful Nights Sleep

 

• Melatonin – Melatonin is a powerful antioxidant. Use it sparingly and in micro doses if possible. Pistachios are packed with it and have a hundred times greater the amount of melatonin than almost all other foods do. Just two pistachios will get a person 0.2 – 0.3 mg of melatonin, and all from a food-based source.
• Magnesium – Magnesium is a super safe and effective muscle relaxer and can really help if you’re struggling to fall asleep! Magnesium malate seems to be the most effective pre-bedtime magnesium as it stays in the bloodstream for the longest period of time. Magnesium citrate works also.
• Valerian and Kava Kava –  These are herbs that can be used to help you become drowsy and eventually fall asleep. They both work by triggering sedative mechanisms and reducing cortisol production.
• L-Theanine – An Amino acid derivative found in green tea. It helps increase GABA levels in the brain. GABA is the major calming neurotransmitter that promotes relaxation and it has also been shown to help reduce anxiety. 200 mg of L-Theanine before bed is all a person needs. 
• GABA – Activates the calming neurotransmitters in the brain.  Many report that GABA helps in relieving anxiety. If nighttime anxiousness keeps you awake this one may help. There is also a substantial amount of evidence suggesting that GABA can help a person fall asleep faster and also get in the deeper, and more rejuvenating stages of sleep. 500-1000 mg per night is the standard dose if taking it in a pill form. 
• PQQ – A supplement that most have never heard of, at least in terms of being used as the sleep aid; PQQ has shown promise in terms of helping to induce higher quality sleep. In one study, PQQ was shown to significantly improve sleep quality in people with numerous sleep-impairing disorders. 

 

That’s a Wrap!  

It’s key to overall health and wellness to get sufficient good quality sleep!  Incorporate some of these sleep hacks to improve your sleep and share this with a friend who needs it!