Dear Dad,
If there was one health tip that every person should find easy to implement it’s GO TO SLEEP! Sleeping has wide ranging, profound, and immediately impactful health benefits, yet we often find ourselves willing to cut an hour here or there without much thought. I’m just as guilty as the rest and remember uttering the phrase many times, “I’ll sleep when I’m dead.” Welp, for those who don’t sleep, the latter may be approaching sooner than desired.
The amount of sleep one needs is somewhat individual but I promise the person who claims to function normally with less than six hours of sleep is lying, or doesn’t know what it feels like to function optimally. Adults need 7-9 hours of sleep and you should certainly aim for the upper bound of that suggestion. 1
Unfortunately, over 33% of American’s report sleeping less than the recommended 7-9 hours, which is remarkably close to the percentage of American’s who are obese (39%), which does not appear to be purely coincidental. Poor sleeping habits affect the amount of calories that you eat, your risk of heart disease, and energy levels; making the person who spends too much time awake more likely to suffer detrimental health consequences.
Calories Consumed
Ever wonder why it’s much harder to make wise food choices late at night? Sleepiness actually affects the amount of food you eat and the types of food you choose. Studies show that people consume nearly 400 extra calories on days they’ve reported bad sleep the night before and the reason is biological. Short sleep leads to elevated ghrelin, a hormone that increases appetite, and decreased leptin, a hormone that moderates satiation.2 In lay terms the less you sleep the hungrier you will be and the less full food will make you feel, which makes sleepy eating almost irresistible. If you don’t get enough sleep you are destined to fail at making healthier food choices.
Heart Consequences
Hunger hormones are not the only ones affected by insufficient sleep, as a tired person will also trigger hormonal changes that increase blood pressure, blood sugar, and blood inflammation markers, all of which boost the risk of heart disease. In fact, consistently sleeping less than six hours a night was linked to a 20% higher incidence of heart attacks.3 Another study found that middle-aged people with a combination of sleep issues, including sleeping less than six hours per night, may have nearly three times the risk of heart disease.4 Higher blood pressure, sugar, inflammation, and more calories consumed while feeling less full is not a good health prescription, and it gets worse…
Toxic Build-up
When you sleep your body deploys its brain waste removal system, specifically, “the brain resets itself [and] removes toxic waste byproducts which may have accumulated throughout the day.”5 Cerebrospinal fluid flushes your cranium and with the help of the lymphatic system, toxins such as chemical by-products and free floating proteins are washed away and eliminated. The cleansing process marginally reduces the size of your brain which makes you feel fresh, alert, and comfortable. The effects of poor sleep on long term brain function are inconclusive based on the available research though some studies suggest that poor sleep increases your risk for brain related diseases such as dementia or Alzehimer’s.6 Research studies or not, it’s not a large logical leap to surmise that poor sleep will negatively effect the health of your brain over the long term if the short term leaves you with an enlarged toxin infused brain. Regardless, the refreshing feeling of clearing the “cobwebs” after a goodnights sleep are easily identifiable results of the scientific importance of sleep.
With sleep being elusive to most of us at times, how can we make sure that we get enough? Here are 5 tips to improve your sleep immediately.
Stop eating at least 2 hours before bed. When you’re sleeping you want any energy your body is expending to go toward restoration and recovery. If you eat too close to bedtime your digestive system will churn while you sleep. Not only does this impair the full benefits of sleep recovery, but it’s also harder to fall asleep with your stomach churning.
Regulate Light Exposure. The daily patterns of light and dark play an important role in regulating your sleep clock. As soon as light hits your eyes in the morning your body is prompted to awaken and your clock starts ticking toward bed time. Darkness at the end of the day signals that sleep is near. Unsurprisingly, our daily artificial light exposure disrupts this natural flow. Expose yourself to natural light within an hour of waking up (through windows is fine but being outside is best) and start to turn off or dim lights in the house two hours leading up to bed time.
Leave screens out of the bedroom. In the same vain, blue light emanating from the screens of our devices provokes us to remain awake (just as the providers wish). Not only is the light exposure a sleep disrupter, but so too is the information stimulation. When it comes to scrolling on your phone in bed, how can one expect to have the information of the world at their fingertips, cast the phone to the nightstand, then immediately fall asleep. If you’re daring, make a hard line no phones in the bedroom rule. At the very least, prohibit yourself from using your phone while laying on your bed.
Exercise Regularly. The more tired that you feel the better you will sleep. Being active and burning energy induces your body into a sleepier state at the end of the day. ATP (adenosine tri-phosphate) is your body’s energy currency. As ATP is used for energy its bonds are broken leaving behind its component parts in your body. Adenosine on its own acts as a central nervous system depressant that binds to receptors in your brain to make you sleepy. The ATP reaction and the adenosine left behind is the scientific reason that you are more tired after a hard days work. Use a consistent exercise routine to build up adenosine in your body and regulate your sleep patterns.
Know your caffeine cut off. Caffeine is a stimulant that fights off sleepiness. A molecule in caffeine mimics the structural make-up of adenosine and competes to bind with the same brain receptors (see #4 above), which effectively blocks sleepiness for a time. Caffeine has a “half-life” in your blood of between 5-6 hours, meaning that after 5-6 hours, half the dose of caffeine will still be ilcirculating in your body. Therefore, if you have a cup of coffee at 4 p.m., you will still have the caffeine of a half cup of coffee circulating and competing for the adenosine brain receptors at 10:00 p.m. Individuals metabolize caffeine at different rates. My personal caffeine cut-off is noon. I know through experience that caffeine consumed after noon is going to obstruct my sleep. This will differ between individuals and it’s important to find your own cutoff. Coffee is the main source of caffeine in the average person’s life, but be on the look out for teas, chocolate, and soda, which also have substantial doses of caffeine.
The easiest diet and health advice to ever follow: Go to sleep!
With Love,
JSR