IMPORTANCE OF SLEEP (& Tips to sleep better)
Most people realize sleep is important, but not how important it is.
No matter how good your diet is, without sleeping well you will not be healthy.
8 hours of sleep is a non negotiable for me.
Here's why and some of my best tips.
Humans are like mushy electrical batteries and sleep is the charger.
Sleep does so much more than help you feel rested.
It's critical for the function of every single physiological system in your body.
Sleeping poorly is linked to higher rates of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, alzheimers and being a big, annoying loser.
During deep sleep, cerebro-spinal-fluid washes through your brain and flushes out toxins that are linked to neurodegeneration.
This is part of the reason that you feel so heavy and so much brain fog when you don't sleep well.
Like a phone with 1% battery, nothing functions well when you're low on sleep.
One of the first things that goes is cognitive function and your mood.
Your brain doesn't have enough energy to be kind & happy.
So for everyone's sake, get some sleep...
BEST SLEEP TIPS
#1. No blue light before bed.
Blue light signals to your pineal gland that it is daytime, shutting off melatonin production.
Use only candle light or red lights before bed. We adapted sleeping next to fires and red light doesn't block melatonin production.
#2. Stop eating foods that irritate your gut
Gut irritants are one of the most common reasons people can't sleep.
Gut irritation increases adrenaline and will keep you up at night + cause you to wake up in the middle of the night.
Don't eat a big meal within 2 hours of bedtime
#3. Salty fruit before bed
With that being said, some salty fruit before bed can lower stress and help a lot.
If you're waking up at 2am constantly it's usually because your liver runs out of glycogen and adrenaline spikes.
Carbs before bed can help with this.
#4. Sunlight in the AM & sungazing at night
Most people are waking up groggy and going to bed wired. This is because their circadian rythyms are off.
Seeing sunlight first thing in the AM and sungazing at sunset can help restore proper sleep / wake cycles.
#5. Go to bed earlier
There's not too much science to back this up, but anecdotally every hour I sleep before 11pm feels like 5x more powerful than every hour after 11pm.
#6. Improve thyroid function
This is a longer term solution, but improving thyroid is key to storing more liver glycogen and lowering cortisol.
The better your thyroid, the better you will sleep.
#7. Exercising and bright light in the afternoon
Exercising raises your body temperature which helps to lower stress around night time.
Bright light in the daytime and then dimming them at bedtime prepares your nervous system for sleep.
#8. Sleep cocktail
Magnesium glycinate & chamomile tea are a powerful sleep combo.
Magnesium helps activate GABA for relaxation, glycine acts as an inhibitory neurotransmitter and chamomile has apigenin which helps with sleep & relaxation.
#9. Listen to a joe biden speech
Do something that really bores you before bed, like listen to a joe biden speech.
Let me know if you have any questions or other favorite tips.
Stay rested kings & queens.
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