How many of us are in awe of those people that sleep through the night? Count me in. Being in awe, that is. I can’t remember the last time I actually slept through the night. Now I know that’s not an ideal way of starting off a blog to help you sleep better (!), BUT, there is no question that the steps I have taken over the last couple of years have definitely improved my sleep. It’s a work in progress, though.

Excess Energy

According to Rubin Naiman, PhD, a psychologist, clinical assistant professor of medicine and Sleep and Dream specialist at the University of Arizona’s Center for Integrative Medicine, we over-consume energy. Specifically, the amount of food and drink we consume, the information we consume and the excess light we consume through our skin and retina (poor indoor light during the day, and significant overexposure to LAN (light at night)), combined with a lack of release for this energy. He feels this excess energy literally heats us up, causing chronic inflammation on many levels, also affecting our circadian rhythms (aka sleep patterns). We are constantly hyped.

Chronic hyperarousal

This state of chronic hyperarousal contributes to the following symptoms, leading to a disrupted sleep cycle:

Increased body and brain metabolic rates
elevated heart rate
elevated core body temperature
elevated night-time cortisol (stress hormone which should be low at night)
decreased serum melatonin
nocturnal sympathetic activation (fight or flight activation)
overactivation of the HPA axis (hypothalamus pituitary adrenal axis) - controls reaction to stress

Sleep basics

In the scheme of things, we know very little about sleep, but there are certain things we do know. Most of our deep sleep happens in the first 3rd of the night. This deep sleep supports our immune system, cleanses our brain and is critical for physical renewal, hormone regulation and growth. Without this stage, people are more prone to depression, weight gain and illness.

And we are all familiar with our REM (rapid eye movement) stage, which occurs in the last 3rd of our sleep. This stage is critical for consolidating memory, information processing and assimilation, learning and emotional healing.

REM and dreaming

Dreaming is as critical as sleep, says Raiman. We are as dream deprived as we are sleep deprived, as often this is the part of our sleep that we miss. It’s when we dream that our brain digests and assimilates information. And when we suppress dreaming (through lack of sleep, getting up too early, alcohol, sleep aids and other medications, etc), it can lead to fatigue, weight gain, depression and emotional imbalances.

Metabolism and sleep

Ideally, we should be getting 7-8 hours of sleep. Among many things, short sleep duration (less than 6 hours/night) disrupts our metabolism. The increased risks of metabolic disruption include:

impaired glucose tolerance
insulin resistance
increased gherlin (the hunger hormone)
decreased leptin (the satiety hormone)
increased BMI (body mass index)

Ultimately this can lead to obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and mood disorders, to name a few.

Nutrition and sleep

What we eat can also affect our sleep patterns.

Sleep apnea - sleep apnea has been significantly linked to long term chronic inflammatory environments in the body. There are ongoing studies making strong connections about the positive effect of diet and exercise on reducing or eliminating sleep apnea.
GERD - Gastroesophageal Reflux Disorder (heartburn!) - GERD can be a big disruptor in sleep. There are many ways to treat GERD without medication, and diet is one of them. There is evidence that a low carbohydrate diet could help, but this is a topic for another day!
Gut Microbiome - there is a lot of evidence that the activity in our microbiome is strongly linked to our circadian rhythms. Another reason to have a healthy gut!
Caffeine and Alcohol - we know that alcohol and caffeine can interfere with our sleep. Alcohol is a stimulant and can raise our cortisol levels, causing us to wake either often during the night, or much earlier than we should. Caffeine of course is a stimulant as well, although affects everyone differently. The rule of thumb is to not have caffeine after 12noon.

What to do?

There are many things that we can do to help us sleep better. Some tips are as follows:

Dark room

Either have a completely dark room with black out drapes, OR wear eye shades. Your room should be as dark as possible. If you are old school and have an actual alarm clock, cover up the LED panel with something at night to block the light.

Shut down screen time early

Try to leave at least one hour, if not two hours, between the time you last look at a screen (computer, phone, TV) and the time you go to sleep… too much exposure to blue light at night suppresses our melatonin production, the hormone that regulates sleep. If this is impossible, try the blue light blocking glasses.

Eat earlier

Try to finish eating at least 2 hours, if not 3, before you go to sleep – no snacks if possible.

Cool temperature

Our sleep, sleep quality and dreaming are driven by our core body temperature and melatonin… we need our bedrooms to be cool so our body temperature can come down at night.

Develop a routine

A rhythm/routine is very important – going to sleep at the same time every night and waking up at the same time every morning helps with sleep.

Be calm

Often people are excessively energized at night, and need to find ways to calm themselves – meditation, reading, no screen time, etc.

Meditation

Meditating helps reduce the “noise” and calms the mind. Most of us know what it’s like to wake up in the middle of the night, not being able to “turn off” the chatter. If you are new to meditating, start with Headspace, or a free app called Insight Timer. Or check out Tara Brach’s meditations.

Physical exercise and fresh air

Increased activity, especially outside, helps us sleep better (note: exercise done too late in the evening does the opposite – keeps us up and energized)

Sleep apnea

As mentioned earlier, many people suffer from sleep apnea, which is often due to long term inflammation in the body. Suggestions include going on an anti-inflammatory diet or the Mediterranean diet and getting more activity during the day.

Reduce caffeine and alcohol

Try to limit caffeine to 1-2 cups/day - especially try to not have any after noon. As mentioned, alcohol increases our cortisol level, which is supposed to be lowest when we go to bed, so we can sleep… hence the disrupted sleep when we are over-served.

Gut Bacteria and our Circadian Rhythm

As mentioned, there is a lot of evidence now stating that the activity of our gut bacteria is strongly linked to our circadian rhythms – which of course is critical for sleep. Feed it good food!

Breathing Exercises

Breathing helps lower our cortisol levels, helping us relax. Do this breathing exercise when you first wake up and just before you go to bed to help you learn how to relax your body and calm your mind. It can also help you get back to sleep if you wake up in the middle of the night.

NOTE: there are many different breathing exercises online to help you sleep better.

Any other suggestions? I would love to hear them. Let me know via email at gillian@gbwellness.ca or click on Comment below.

If you would like to find out more about how I can help you kickstart your journey to health, please feel free to get in touch with me for a free 15 minute consultation.

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