Ah yes, sleep. We all do it, but how well do you do it?
A lot of science has been written around the value of sleep, but the research misses out on the largest element of sleep – supporting and enhancing our circadian rhythms, our body’s natural inner clock.
With the increase in screen time coming from our electronics, the extra lighting in our homes, shift work, and ‘weekend mayhem’ (when our habits shift from week days to weekends), even how we build our houses, all affect our sleep.
Please listen in as I discuss the how’s and why’s of consistent sleep patterns, and how I changed mine around (I was a night owl for years!)
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Poor sleep causes:
- Increase in cortisol
- Increase in hunger hormones (leptin and grehlin)
- Increase in insulin (can lead to insulin resistance)
- Decrease in growth hormone
- Decrease in melatonin production
- Decrease in ‘housecleaning’ and detoxing of the organs
- Increase in pain, fatigue, depression and anxiety
- Desire for more sugary / carb foods
Lifestyle fixes
- Make your bedroom into a Sleep Haven…grace it with music, comfy pillows, etc.
- Sleep in a totally dark room
- Go to bed and wake up at the same time, 7 days a week. Aim for bedtime no later than 10 p.m.
- Exercise!! And get fresh air every day…WALK!
- Stop all electronics 3 hours before bed (they emit blue wavelengths, that alter our immune system and confuse our bodies).
- Dim the lights in your house as evening comes (mimick Mother Nature…as the sun goes down, our bodies start producing the evening hormones…in a bright home at night, this process is thwarted).
- Don’t eat (or drink alcohol) 2-3 hours before bed
- Consider having just bedside lights in your bedroom, no overhead wiring/lights.
- Don’t sleep with an alarm clock by your head. And leave your phone out of the room (this should be a no brainer)
- Consider having a ‘no TV in the bedroom’ policy.
- If you sleep with a nightlight, consider using red wavelengths bulbs (red bulbs) (daylight wavelengths are blue)
- If hubby snores, KICK him out to a ‘snore room’…LOL!
- Take 5-10 mg melatonin before bed…melatonin naturally decreases as you age. it is anti-cancer too!
- Consider taking 250 mg magnesium at night…it relaxes muscles.
