A Guide to Improve Sleep and Rest

Stress + REST = Growth... Without rest there can be no growth and progression, there will only be degeneration and decline.

The three pillars of health are nutrition, movement and sleep. It’s widely excepted that sleep is the most challenging to improve and at the same time the most important. Matthew Walker, the author of the book “Why We Sleep”, makes a pretty strong case for the fact that sleep is not just one of the three pillars of health, but the foundation for health. No matter how much we move, or how quality our food choices are, without adequate sleep it is not possible to be in your peak health. I have attempted to put together here a prescription for understanding sleep and rest, so the most beneficial sleep and rest schedule can be attained by anyone. I put together many exercise prescriptions each day, but my rest prescriptions are far less clearly spelled out so here’s a “How To” for sleep but more specifically how to rest and recover.

Let’s start with a myth dispersion. The number of people who can function without at least an average 7 hours of sleep per night, without ill health effect, is so numerically small it is statistically insignificant, says Walker. We put too much emphasis and social reward on working crazy long work weeks. This ability to overwork should not be seen as a trait of a successful and healthy person worthy of envy or emulation. Not only does lack of adequate sleep negatively affect quality productivity, it has severe health consequences over time. Prominent “work more, sleep less”, proponents like Margret Thatcher and Ronald Regan, have not surprisingly suffered from the horrible neurodegenerative effects of Alzheimer’s disease. With all the piling research on the correlations between sleep deficits and physiological disorders, such as the neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson’s, dementia and Alzheimer’s this link is less surprising. We need to make clear: productivity in any endeavor is negatively impacted by deficient levels of rest. Another example of our bodies degeneration associated with sleep is the the drastic decline in our bodies production of testosterone when we fail to sleep adequately. Testosterone normally spikes with sleep, and this is our hormonal signal to go into anabolic muscle building state. We burn fat and build muscle in this state. Without this hormonal cascade, all the strength training or cardio in the world will fail to produce a favourable adaptation in our physiology. Hoping for improvement in anything, requires sleep, not missing sleep to “get more done”. No humans are exempt from the physiological requirement for rest. Now that we are past that common myth, let’s be clear on what happens if we don’t get adequate rest, what is needed out of your wake rest patterns, how to get in enough rest, or at least improve it, and a few simple tricks for neurological rest we can use as a backup for life’s little hectic bumps in the road, which impact our ability to get sweet dreams.

What happens if we are chronically low on sleep?

NEGATIVE HEALTH EFFECTS OF DIMINISHING SLEEP... STUDIES BY THE NUMBER

HEART HEALTH and SLEEP

1) A 2011 study tracking 500,000 men and women demonstrated a 45% increased risk of heart disease with those lacking sleep.

2) 4000 Japanese workers showed a 500% increased chance of heart attack if sleep average was below 6hrs.

3) More heart attacks are registered on the day after we push the clocks forward one hour for daylights saving time than any other day of the year. Let that sink in. One less hour of sleep one day a year can literally kill you.

SLEEP LOSS and METABOLISM (weight loss)

1) When controlled for all other factors sleeping just 5-6hrs per night will cause an average of 300 more calories consumed per day. That is about one extra pound of weight gain in 17 days.

2) During weight loss (dieting) in individuals getting only 5.5hrs of sleep the lost weight was 70% lean mass (muscle), compared to 50% fat and 50% muscle in those who slept 8hrs. We want fat loss not muscle loss.

3) 3 year olds sleeping less than 10.5hrs per day have a 45% increased chance of being obese by the age of 7.

SLEEP LOSS and the IMMUNE SYSTEM and CANCER

1) California study where a rhinovirus (common cold), was boosted into the nose of healthy individuals showed those who previously slept an average of 5hrs had a 50% chance of catching the cold while only 18% of those sleeping 7hrs contracted the virus.

2) European study of 25,000 individuals showed those sleeping less than 6hrs per night had a 40% increase in developing cancer compared to those sleeping over 7hrs.

3) Mice with tumors who were sleep deprived, increased tumor size and rate of growth by over 200% when compared to those controls who where well rested.

Let’s be a little more precise in our language when we talk about how much sleep we require, and I will explain why I prefer the term rest. “Sleep” is an umbrella term for the measurable physiological wave changes which occur in our brains when we attempt to shut down and sleep. Most have heard of REM sleep, this is the deep sleep we require to get a shut down, and a refreshing rest delivered to our highly overworked central nervous systems (CNS). As we sleep, we fade in and out of specific, predictable and measurable changes in brain waves. The deepest waves, gamma waves, are what we commonly assume we are getting when we sleep at night. There are in fact 4 levels of sleep, and we don’t always get all the way down to the best waves that are most required, even when we do, we rarely stay there for a prolonged time. In fact, we cycle progressively, down to each level of deeper waveforms and back to near wakeful waves multiple times on a good night. Each time we dip deep and back up it’s called a sleep cycle, and completing this cycle is what our bodies and brains truly require, not just the lying in bed “sleeping”. Knowing this is liberating because we can immediately stop thinking about sleep as hour requirements and start emphasizing improving the number of sleep cycles we need. The magic number is 35 cycles. We require 35 sleep cycles per week. This breaks down to 5 per day/night. The even more liberating fact is that we can tuck in extra, more time efficient cycles to our weeks total that don’t require a bed and pillow.

Sleep by the numbers looks like this: For every 90 minutes of sleep we get about 1 sleep cycle, typically in a healthy individual who isn’t taking any kind of medication/drug (many medications don’t allow for deep gamma wave sleep, this is highly problematic, often poorly understood by professionals giving recommendations and at epidemic levels but an entirely different blog.) by this simple equation we can say 7.5 hours of sleep is needed to acquire our 5 sleep cycles per day/night. We can and should be more precise with our measurement of actual sleep cycle accumulation. Enter technology, and biometric sensors which are highly accessible and capable of measuring our sleep cycles. What we measure we manage, and there are few things we can measure as beneficial to our quality of life as our variable and dynamic stress and rest levels. I have expounded on this fact in far more detail in my blog earlier this year about how the rapidly expanding accessibility of wearable biometric sensors are in the process of changing how your health care is delivered in every conceivable aspect. Take read a read here : BIOMETRIC SENSOR BLOG. http://www.hphealth.ca/blog/2018/11/22/biometric-sensors-blog. If you already have an Apple Watch I recommend the AutoSleep app and wearing the watch every night. This will show your sleep quality. As in life, quality trumps quantity, knowing the amount of deep sleep you are getting along with quantification of the numbers of cycles you are getting, is simply more accurate and precise. Be farther ahead than simply knowing hours spent in bed. With a mind shift toward the value of deep sleep, measured in cycles we can better approach accomplishing our requirement more effectively. 35 deep sleep cycles per week, 5 per day is the goal. Ok, let’s explore the actionable changes we can make in our lives to make this sleep goal a reality.

How to Sleep Effectively:

A shift in thinking toward accomplishing more deep sleep cycles will allow us to come at the common lack of sleep issue from an alternative stand point moving us away from attempting, to simply obtain more time in bed at night. Although that simple goal is also worthy of pursuit. The benefits of central nervous system rest, and the implications and consequences of having a deficit here are the most directly linked to the current body of sleep research base. With this in mind, CNS rest through accumulation of restful brain waves will be identified as the primary goal of value. Our central nervous system is the leader and conductor of the symphony of process which occur by the trillion each day to keep our bodies thriving, growing, and minimizing degeneration. We need to ensure our CNS is getting adequate quality reprieve from the sensory overload we rain down on it each and everyday. Clearly our favorite devices and screen addictions are a major contributor to accumulation of overload here. Our biology simply can’t keep up to our technology without mindful dedication to intervention. We are all creatures of habit, the habits we create are what we become. Sleeping requires a consistent dedication just like any other aspect of our lives we wish to change and improve upon. Set a reminder timer to go to bed, we set one to remind us to wake, do the same for sleep. This may be the single most important thing we can do to become more consistent in getting the rest we need.

Respect the Sun. We can agree it is that big burning star that gives and maintains all life on this planet. Every living creature has a sun and light sensitive internal clock which further binds us to the day and night cycles associated with sleep and wake cycles. This internal clock is referred to as our circadian rhythm and it’s impact on the our individual circulating hormone levels is profound. When our hormone levels are maligned we are structurally and functionally different versions of ourselves and this can be attenuated with some respect for the sun’s light. Get sun on you as soon as possible upon waking, add an early brief burst of physical activity (I like 50-100 body weight squats for this see my previous blog: 20 reasons to do body weight squats. http://www.hphealth.ca/blog/2017/1/10/20-reasons-to-do-bodyweight-squats) completed and finish your day by exposing yourself to the darkness. These exposures set off our circadian hormone sensors to feel wakefulness and then sleepy. This is how is was, is and will always be. All living beings are slaves to the sun, respect, acknowledge and address this fact. The light from our homes and our screens cause a similar blue light as the sun and confuses and corrupts our delicate hormonal balance and this leads to difficulty sleeping and getting the deep rest we all need. No screens in the bedroom keep it dark, the bedroom is for sleeping, resting, and sex only.

Being consistent in our approach to sleep time and wake time along with a healthy respect for the sun will help us sleep at night more effectively, however, there will be exceptions. No ones schedule is exempt from work or social constraints which can impact our night time sleep, so we need some daytime hacks which can help supplement those nights we were less than perfect. Were have 3 powerful and effective ways to gain valuable CNS rest without required a bed or traditional sleep: 1) Meditation, 2) Binaural Beats and 3) naps.

Meditation is a powerful tool which not only allows for great brain and body rest, it allows for mental clarity, which even sleep cannot provide. Meditation stops the rumination on things from our lives and our past and the anxiety worry cycles about things that are coming in the future, which allows us to connect with our bodies and be in the now. The more we are present in the now, or be in the moment, the more we can have focus on the current tasks at hand without mental clutter. The clarity, focus and lack of mental clutter obtained through daily meditation is the reason the most common trait amongst the most successful people in the world is in fact that they are meditators. Meditation is a very simple to learn practice. Try the Headspace app for 10 free lessons on how to start introducing the restful benefits of meditation into your life.

Binaural beats are a way to force our brains into those deep restful brain wave cycles that give our brains and bodies a break. By putting on a set of headphones playing a 30min binaural track and allowing our ears to be exposed to specific wave forms, we can sync our brain waves to what they hear. This means we can get down into the deep REM brain waves which complete a full sleep cycle without sleeping at all. We require 5 deep sleep cycles per day and we can use binaural beats to be one of them. So if we are only able to get 6 hours of sleep a night (remember 90min of sleep is one sleep cycle) that’s 4 cycles one 30min binaural beats session adds one extra cycle for a total of 5. Binaural beats are a great time trade off for a full sleep cycle as well. We can literally condense what normally takes 90min of typical sleep into 30min. For those that don’t have the time to spare for sleep I would highly recommend a week trial of binaural beats in the afternoon. ( Here is one option which also explains how it works. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SrCrJZwCE80).

Napping can be seen as something for the lazy, young children and the elderly, unfortunately these negative connotations limit the use of a very powerful tool. I don’t need to explain to you how to nap, but I will tell you the research shows the ideal nap time is 10minutes. We don’t want to get into the sleep style brain waves here as the full 90min needed for a sleep cycle is rarely available for a nap so we must avoid even hitting those lighter sleep brain waves that can leave you groggy upon waking simply set a 10min timer and lay back and relax.

I hope you understand what sleep and rest should be a little more clearly, the health impacts of not getting it, and the simple ways we can improve our health through your sleep and rest and even a few little biohacks to be better than yesterday, after all this is the goal, not perfection. I will give you the recommended reading of Mathew Walker’s best selling book: Why We Sleep, but if that’s too time consuming, here are his 12 sleep tips which are essentially a summary of his entire book. Sleep well my friend!

Sleep expert Matthew Walker’s 12 tips for a healthy sleep:

Stick to a sleep schedule. Go to bed and wake up at the same time each day. As creatures of habit, people have a hard time adjusting to changes in sleep patterns. Sleeping later on weekends won’t fully make up for lack of sleep during the week and will make it harder to wake up early on Monday morning. Set an alarm for bedtime. Often we set an alarm for when it’s time to wake up, but fail to do so for when it’s time to go to sleep. If there is only one piece of advice you remember and take from these 12 tips, this should be it.

Exercise is great but not too late in the day try to exercise at least 30 minutes on most days, but not later than 2 to 3 hours before bedtime.

Avoid caffeine and nicotine. Coffee, soda, certain teas, and chocolate contain the stimulant caffeine, and it’s effects can take as long is eight hours to wear off Fully. Therefore, a cup of coffee in the late afternoon can make it hard for you to fall asleep at night. Nicotine is also a stimulant, often causing smokers to sleep only very lightly. In addition, smokers often wake up too early in the morning because of nicotine withdrawal.

Avoid alcoholic drinks before bed. Having a nightcap or alcoholic beverage before sleep may help you relax, but heavy use robs you of REM sleep, keeping you in the lighter stages of sleep. Heavy alcohol ingestion may also contribute to impairment in breathing at night. You also tend to wake up in the middle of the night when the affects of alcohol have worn off.

Avoid large meals and beverages late at night. A late snack is OK, but a large meal can cause indigestion, which interferes with sleep. Drinking too many fluids at night can cause frequent awakenings to urinate.

If possible, avoid medicines that delay or disrupt your sleep. Some commonly prescribed heart, blood pressure, or asthma medications, as well as some over-the-counter and herbal remedies for coughs cold or allergies can disrupt sleep patterns. If you have trouble sleeping, talk to your healthcare provider or pharmacist to see whether any drugs you’re taking might be contributing to your insomnia and ask whether they can be taken at different times during the day or early in the evening.

Don’t take naps after 3 PM. Naps can make up for lost sleep but late afternoon naps can make it harder to fall asleep at night.

Relax before bed don’t over schedule your day so that no time is left for winding down and relaxing. Activities such as reading or listening to music should be part of your bedtime ritual.

Take a hot bath before bed. The drop in body temperature after getting out of the bath may help you feel sleepy and the bath can help you relax and slow down so you’re more ready to sleep.

10.

Dark bedroom, cool bedroom, gadget free bedroom. Get rid of anything in your bedroom that might distract you from sleep, such as noises, bright lights, an uncomfortable bed, or warm temperatures. You sleep better if the temperature in the room is kept on the cool side. A TV, cell phone, or computer in the bedroom can be a distraction and deprive you of needed sleep. Having a comfortable mattress and pillow can promote a good night sleep. Individuals who have insomnia often watch the clock. Turn the clocks face out of view so you don’t worry about the time while trying to fall asleep.

11.

Have the right sunlight exposure. Daylight is key to regulating daily sleep patterns. Try to get outside in natural sunlight for at least 30 minutes each day if possible wake up with the sun or use very bright light in the morning. Sleep experts recommend that if you have problems falling asleep you should get an hour of exposure to morning sunlight and turn down the lights before bedtime.

12.

Don’t lie in bed awake. If you find yourself still awake after staying in bed for more than 20 minutes, or if you are starting to feel anxious or worried, get up and do some relaxing activity until you feel sleepy. The anxiety of not being able to sleep can make it harder to fall asleep.