Three Things on Sleep with Emily Dexter
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Sleep is the name of the game.
To optimize your sleep is to allow for all of your best efforts towards excellent health to work for you as they are supposed to. Your lifestyle and plate can be the healthiest ones on the block, but if your sleep is suffering, all the nutrient dense food, exercise and social connection in the world isn’t going to bring you to a place of optimal health.
Sleep deprivation can cause a number of ill health effects including, but not limited to…
… weight gain, blood sugar dysfunction and insulin resistance, hormone imbalance, inflammation, issues with detoxification, increased risk of all cause mortality and so and so on. It’s serious folks, and I’m going to cover three aspects of sleep that will hopefully enlighten, empower and support you in your efforts to rest more peaceful and restoratively:
What a good night sleep actually looks and feels like;
Understanding why we sleep and why it’s so important;
How to set yourself up for the best sleep you can get.
What Does Good Sleep Look and Feel Like?
Good sleep is defined by getting approximately 7-8 hours of sleep that allow for all the stages of sleep to be met and gone through. This means that you get in bed with enough time to fall asleep, and in a perfect world, stay asleep for those 7-8 hours and wake in the am without feeling forced to do so. This also means that you would arise feeling rested and restored. I know at this point many of you, including myself, are saying, “Yeah, ok that NEVER happens for me!”
This is precisely why I’m devoting an entire newsletter to this subject. Sleep, as we soon will read, is critical for our health, and yet so many of us struggle with it and need help!
Why Do We Sleep?
Let’s first begin with a very brief run through on the stages of sleep. There are 4 to 5 stages (some sleep scientists lump stages 3 and 4 together) and each stage plays a role in allowing the brain and body to do the work it needs to wake fully rested and repaired.
Stage One…
… is very short and light. This is a time when our heart rate slows and our body temperature drops. This stage is the prep time for the subsequent stages, but because it is a light sleep, it can be easily disturbed.
Stage Two…
… is when brain waves begin to slow, and it’s in this stage that sleep scientists believe the brain is sorting through information from the day and synthesizing it with existing stored knowledge.
Stage Three…
…is when deep sleep begins. Brain waves become even slower and are called delta waves. Much of the brain's activity center shuts down and the remaining active brain cells increase their synchronicity, allowing the brain to enter stage four which is why some scientists consider stage 3 and 4 to be one stage instead of two separate ones.
The same slowed brain activity continues in stage four and it’s a time when bodily functions like blood pressure and muscle activity are greatly reduced. It' is during these stages of sleep where most of the rest and repair happens, and growth hormone is released to aid in growth and repair of key tissues. The brain also cools way down as less blood is being circulated to it, which improves its function and allows for repair, as well. Additionally, interleukins are released by white blood cells increase. This process increases immune system activity and is thought to be important for optimizing immune function.
Last we have the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) Stage of Sleep.
In REM sleep, brain waves return to wake time-like activity, and it’s in this stage where most of our dreams occur. Our heart rate increases and our sympathetic nervous system, which controls our ‘fight or flight’ response, becomes about twice as active as when we are awake. What we seem to understand about the importance of REM sleep is that the dreaming that occurs is involved in our brain's ability to manage learning and memory.
So, with this understanding of the stages and the important benefits each one offers, we can look at why we sleep and why it is so important to get good sleep.
In addition to the processes that happen in the 4 stages, the other main purpose of sleep is to allow for crucial detoxification of the chemical waste, also known as metabolic by-products, that builds up in our brain throughout the day. All of our cells use energy, and this energy consumption causes waste to build up in our body. We know that our brain use an enormous amount of energy. About 25% of the calories we consume in the the day are used by our brain. Our liver and kidneys do most of the detoxification work, but in order for the waste build up in the brain to be flushed into our blood stream to make journey to our liver and kidneys, we need to… you guessed it, sleep!
While we sleep, our brain cells actually shrink a lot, like 60%!
This shrinking process increases the space between the cells and makes room for the toxins to be flushed out into the blood stream. Without adequate sleep, this process doesn’t happen as well, and the toxins build up putting burden on our cellular health and neurotransmitter and hormone systems. We also see that chronic poor sleep causes and subsequent toxin build up causes inflammation in the brain by decreasing the ability of cross talk between neurons.
Another crucial part of the importance of sleep is understanding how it is a key part of this thing called our Circadian Rhythm.
This ‘rhythm’ is how our body knows it’s either time to be asleep or time to be awake. It is our master clock, our 24 hour sleep/wake cycle. A complete and in-depth explanation of our circadian rhythm and its role in our health however could be the sole subject of this newsletter, but as not to keep you reading all day,
I'll give you a 'tip of the iceberg’ explanation: Our circadian rhythm controls the function/rise and fall of specific hormones, like melatonin and cortisol, that act as signals to our 24 hour sleep/wake cycle keeping it entrenched in the way it needs to be in order for our body and brain to move through day and night as they should. Other hormones involved in hunger and immune function like insulin, ghrelin and leptin, are regulated in part by our circadian rhythm. These hormones are all meant to be either high at night and low in the earlier part of the day or visa versa. Its the job of a properly regulated circadian rhythm to ensure that these hormones are peaking and falling when they should be. When the balance is thrown off, we see things like hormone imbalance, blood sugar issues and insulin resistance, weight gain, inflammation, general increased risk of all chronic diseases and of course, sleep disturbances.
In the next 'how to’ part of this email, I’ll explain of course how to optimize our sleep and also how preserve our circadian rhythm, or restore one that has been thrown off balance.
How Do We Get Good Restorative Sleep?
Right, so what are we to do about this sleep and circadian rhythm thing?
Here are my Top Five Tips:
Pay close attention to your sleep environment, and make sure your bedroom is cool and dark. Sleeping in an environment that is no more than 65 degrees and completely dark has been shown to improve sleep quality by sending the right cues to your circadian clock. For total darkness try to use either black out curtains or a face mask, and cover up all additional artificial light in the room ie; alarm clock light, night lights, lights from air purifiers, humidifiers or even lights on light switches, you know the ones that help you find them in the dark?! In addition to the night time temperature, try to make the day time temp in your environment warm. Ideally 75 degrees, but do what you can. It’s the temperature drop at night that helps to send the right message to your brain to regulate your circadian rhythm.
Keep the tech out of the sleeping space and keep the lights dim at night. Exposing yourself to bright light and the blue light of either a TV or smart phone screen sends the message to your brain that its day time and therefore time to be awake. The blue light from screens does this by suppressing melatonin production. Melatonin, as I mentioned above, is one of the hormones our body produces throughout the day to set the stage for sleep. Our circadian rhythm plays a huge role in the proper rise and fall of this hormone, and production is highest at night, which is what we want! Doing things like watching TV late or in bed suppresses this hormone and as a result, causes our other hormones related to sleep and stress to go haywire. If you feel like you absolutely must have your phone or your TV on at night or in the bedroom, I recommend using the night shift mode on your phone to change the back light from bright blue light to the more dim amber light. Some newer TVs also have a setting like this, and to take it a step further, you can also purchase blue light blocking glasses to wear at night. The popularity of these glasses has risen greatly in the recent past, so finding them is not difficult to do. The brand Blublox has received the best reviews I’ve seen however. For those interested in checking them out, the link to their site is: https://www.blublox.com/
Go to bed at the same time every night and expose yourself to natural light as early as possible upon waking. This is another step in the right direction for proper melatonin release and a healthy circadian rhythm. Our sleep/wake cycles and hormone production are intricately linked to the cycle of natural light throughout the day and darkness of the night. For example, melatonin production begins to rise about 2 hours before bedtime, IF you are being consistent about bedtime that is. Your body needs the consistency of the sleep/wake schedule to properly regulate hormone release. We know that wake time and light exposure also entrenches our circadian rhythm and therefore also your hormone production in the right way to promote healthy restful sleep. Exposing yourself to natural light, and NOT the artificial light of a screen, as soon as you’re able in the morning sets the stage for the day's hormone production.
Move your body! Studies show that individuals who get regular exercise have better sleep than those who are sedentary. It was once thought that exercise in the morning was better than moving in the later afternoon or night, but what sleep scientists have found is that it is the consistency of the exercise and not the time of day that matters most. Try for 30-60 minutes of moderate exercise each day. The pay off is worth it!
Editor’s Note: Sága’s Chief Wellness Officer Ivor Edmonds offers five healing exercises to counter the negative effects of sleep deprivation and sleep restriction.
5. Don’t eat within 2-3 hours before bed and keep blood sugar levels well-managed. Our brains are able to do the detoxifying, repair and rest it needs to do at night if our digestion isn’t also hard at work. The gut/brain connection is real in so many ways (another subject that deserves an entire newsletter), and having our last meal right before bed puts added strain on our body’s and brain’s ability to do the good work it needs to do to prep us for the day to come. As for blood sugar balance, hormones can be sensitive to spikes and swings in blood sugar. Keeping blood sugar levels balanced means avoiding high sugar, highly refined carbohydrate foods and other high glycemic index foods throughout the day. This also means eating balanced meals with adequate high quality protein, fiber and plenty of veggies.
Phew! We made it! I know this was a doozy, but honestly, I could greatly elaborate on each area we covered. It now goes without saying that sleep is so complex and so, so important. Each and every one of us has struggled or is currently struggling with getting good sleep, and I want emphasize that the content I’ve covered in this email is truly a ‘tip of the iceberg’ explanation. Sleep is one of the areas of health I feel most passionate about, and I welcome any follow up questions you all may have. I’m here and eager to help in any way I can, so please don’t ever hesitate to reach out for more guidance or support.
Until next time, my best to you all,
Emily
Emily Dexter Wellness
Nutrition and Wellness Counselor, Consultant and Advocate
emilydexterwellness.com
ehd.dexter@gmail.com
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