Episode 06: Sleep Makes You Smarter, Stronger And Healthier
Transcript:
Welcome to my podcast, asking the question, if not now, when? This is Cindie Brown and thank you for joining me today. For more information, visit me at www.ifnotnowwhen.best.
Way back when I was earning my bachelors' degree at California State Polytechnic University, one of my required courses was hotel law. So, never forget this, was at my friend's house Zia, she was from Iran and we were studying late at night and she gave me a cup of Turkish coffee. Never had had Turkish coffee before, literally this stuff was like mud. It was good because she put a bunch of sugar in it along with the coffee. And kind of how you read the tea leaves, they have this wonderful tradition of reading the coffee grinds. But as a result of having that coffee late at night, you could have pealed me off the ceiling, I was wired. So, ended up, we pulled an "all-nighter" studying for this law exam. The next morning, well eleven o'clock was the test so at that point is was exhausted around eight o'clock so instead of going home, I thought if go home I would fall asleep so I went straight to school and I went to the library. And in the library they have these bean bag chairs so I put my book bag down, sat in that chair and literally just passed out. Woke up in a panic at about 11:45am and just hauled ass to the class. I mean full out run, panicked. Walked into the classroom and the professor looked at me and he had a mirror so he put the mirror in front of my face. Half of my face was marked with the plaid fabric, it was a wool plaid fabric on the beanbag chair. I looked ridiculous. Half my face was printed with this plaid fabric. But anyway, I think he felt sorry for me. I think it was a blessing. I fell asleep as the excuse for why I was late and he proceeded to let me take the exam. I ended up passing but I really think that falling asleep was a blessing in disguise because it allowed me to at least remember what I had learned. I think if I hadn't fallen asleep, I'm not sure I wouldn't have remembered everything I had studied the night before. Or crammed for the night before.
But anyway, so with my five pillars of good health which are: Feed your body good food, feed your mind good thoughts, exercise, loving relationships and sleep. Those 5 pillars of good health used to be really three which was: Feed you body good food, feed your mind good thoughts and exercise. And by the way, the feed your mind good thoughts and your body good food was an expression from Louis Hay, who I absolutely love! So then I was reading about the importance of human connection so I added that as a forth pillar. But then when I listened to quite a few podcasts and various guests talking about the importance of sleep and then read the book Sleep Smarter by Shawn Stevenson. Wow! That was a game changer! Unbelievable how important good sleep is to our overall health. It was shocking. So then that was my fifth pillar, get good sleep. So I then realized that my five pillars of good health are not only connected but interdependent and the subject of sleep is really what brought it all together for me. Sleep touch's every aspect of our lives from how hungry or satiated we are, the types of foods we crave, keeping us slim or causing weight gain, increases or decreases the risk of Alzheimer's, cancer, heart disease and diabetes, how our body recovers from a work out, helps us increase muscle mass, it regulates growth hormone, our energy level, alertness, moves our day's activities from short to long term memory, keeps us mentally agile, to how it impacts our sex lives. Quoting Matt Walker, "it's like a broken water pipe in your home, sleep loss will leak down into every nook and cranny if your physiology."
Yet, most of my life, sleep was not respected or appreciated. In the corporate world, the macho kind of attitude was the person who sleeps less got the badge of honor. Conversations like, "I was up late and out of bed again at 4am ready to go". To be successful, to be the best, you have to work harder than everybody else and sleeping less seemed to be the avenue to gain more hours to work. I never heard one conversation of how important sleep was to overall performance and health. It was almost considered someone was lazy if they slept for 8 hours.
This is hilarious, the first time l listened to Matt Walker, who's known as the sleep diplomat by the way, was on a Ted Talk about the value of sleep and the first thing he said was, "I would like to start with testicles. Men who sleep 5 hours a night or less have significantly smaller testicles then men who sleep 7 hours or more. In addition, men who routinely sleep just four to five hours will have a level of testosterone which is that of someone 10 years their senior." At that point I couldn't help but thing of all those "tiny-testicled" macho men who continued to brag about how little sleep they got. BTW, chronic lack of sleep impacts both male and female reproductive health.
Most of the information I'll be sharing with you in this episode has come from the book Sleep Smarter by fitness and nutrition expert, Shawn Stevenson. It's the most comprehensive book and study I've read on the subject of sleep and a pivotal moment for me understanding the critical role sleep plays on our overall health and longevity and quality of life. He takes a deep dive into every aspect of sleep sighting so many studies connecting the dots for us. Really powerful. Another resource is Matthew Walker PhD. He's a British scientist, a professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. His research focuses on the impact of sleep on human health and disease. Previously, he was a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. A third resource is Dr. Jose Loredo MD UCSD Medical Center Sleep Medicine Specialist.
As I had shared with you before, the reason I started this podcast was to share what I have learned to help make the second half of your life amazing which really is relevant at any age but as I had talked about in my first episode, we start our second half of life wiser, more financially stable, moving to the "wanna dos" from the "suppose to dos". "Wanna dos" meaning the things we want to do verses the work, the car the education all of the growth type of activities in the "suppose to dos". It truly an amazing time in our life. One of the ways to take full advantage of this wonderful time in our lives is embracing my 5 pillars of good health. All pillars are important but sleep is the thread that ties them all together and yet we take sleep for granted. In this episode I will talk about how to be intentional about getting quality sleep, benefits of quality sleep and the advise I've taken that has really made a difference in the quality of my sleep and how much better I feel when I get 20% to 25% of my sleep in that Delta wave, deep sleep state. It really has been eye opening for me. With my tracking device that I use, I can measure the quality and quantity of my sleep daily and it's so interesting to see how the numbers correlate and vary based on my activities the prior day. Examples are; if I drink wine before I go to bed or not, if I don't stop drinking coffee say about 12 noon, or if I exercise at night verses in the morning, they all make a difference in the numbers. I'll be talking more about sleep hygiene and all the things you can do to improve your sleep quality.
First, let's briefly talk about the stages of sleep so we are all on the same page understanding and importance of getting enough rem and non-rem sleep and the significance of each stage. How these stages are measured is through brain waves and frequencies in Hz. I promise I won't get into detail about Hz like I did in the episode about the Law of Attraction.
So during an ideal night’s sleep, you go through several 90-minute cycles that sample each phase of sleep. Each cycle plays an essential role in maintaining our mental and physical health. The amount of each phase of sleep can vary significantly between nights and individuals.
Sleep's been traditionally divided into two categories: Non-rapid eye movement and rapid eye movement. Both are exactly what they sound like, your eyes are either still or moving rapidly under your eyelids. Together, these two types of sleep make up a single cycle where your brain progresses sequentially through each stage of sleep: wake, light sleep, deep sleep, REM, and repeat. The quality of our sleep is regulated by the changes in your brain waves. The brain frequencies called beta, alpha, theta and delta. We need all of these stages for good sleep and we spend a certain percentage of time in each of these stages to rejuvenate our body and mind. The first winding down stage of getting ready for bed is the beta waves. Once in bed and our eyes are closed, you start to transition into the alpha wave pattern no longer processing visual information, the brain slows down. Once you fall asleep you enter of non-rem sleep. This state of reduced consciousness is called theta. Next is deep sleep called delta wave non-rem sleep. This is the deepest stage of sleep where you lose all bodily awareness. Then you enter into rapid eye movement or rem sleep, the dreaming stage where your brain is active.
So let's take a look at all the health benefits of quality sleep. Bold statement from Shawn Stevenson, "I know now that our sleep quality is more important than our diet and exercise combined, what it does for our health and our physical appearance." Wow, that is a bold statement.
Studies have shown, and I quote: "When one sleeps, the brain reorganizes and recharges itself. It removes toxic waste byproducts which have accumulated throughout the day. This evidence demonstrates that sleeping can clear the brain and help maintain its normal functioning. Each phase of the sleep cycle restores and rejuvenates the brain for optimal health." This is an article called the neuro-protective aspects of sleep. I have shared the link in the show notes. It's a fascinating article.
It's been found that sleep deprivation causes your memory to shut down. Conversely with quality sleep, your memory is enhanced. In the brain, we have these synaptic connections. The data we absorb during the day becomes physical structures in our brain. When we sleep, this stuff called myelin, which is a mixture of proteins and phospholipids form a insulating sheath around nerve fibers, increasing the speed at which impulses are conducted. So our synaptic connections become like a slippery slide or a super highway and a lot of this happens when we're asleep. This memory processing happens mostly during rem sleep converting your experiences into short term memories and then long term memories. If you are not sleeping well, you are going to miss a lot and much of what happens to you during the day will not be converted long term memories. You know I've noticed, people with dementia have good long term memory but not short term memory.
You know it just came to mind, it's been a while now but I remember a segment I heard on NPR about older Jewish people that were part of the holocaust. I can't remember which hospital it was here in Miami but what they said was these patients with sever dementia and Alzheimer's would literally freak out (I'm sure they used a different term) when the doctor would walk in. They finally realized it was the white coat. Once they stopped wearing the white coat when they went in to see these patients, all was fine. The white coat triggered their long term memory of their horrific experiences during the holocaust but these patients couldn't remember what happen a few minutes ago.
But in any case, here's another part of this brain health thing as it related to sleep. As you know, our lymphatic system cleans out all our metabolic by products. Well there's this thing called the Glymphatic System which is a lymphatic system for the brain. What separates these two systems is called "the blood brain barrier" so the stuff from you body doesn't get into your brain. Your lymphatic system stops at our neck. So when we're in deep sleep our brain literally shrinks to assist in eliminating toxic waste byproducts from the brain. The glymphatic system is 10 times more active when you are asleep. So another quote from, The Neuro-protective Aspects of Sleep: "Each phase of the sleep cycle restores and rejuvenates the brain for optimal function. When sleep deprived, the active process of the glymphatic system does not have time to perform that function, so toxins can build up, and the effects will become apparent in cognitive abilities, behavior, and judgment." No wonder those macho sleep deprived men came up with some really crazy ideas. In any case, that same study concluded that, "when individuals sleep abundantly throughout the night, cellular waste byproducts which have accumulated in the interstitial space and in the brain cells are thoroughly removed. From this, it can be concluded that the fundamental purpose of sleep is to act like a garbage disposal for the brain. Essentially, sleeping acts as a garbage collector that comes during the night and removes the waste product left by the brain. This allows the brain to function normally the next day when one wakes up for slumber."
So let' talk about how sleep impacts longevity. As we get older our ability to learn and remember declines. If you remember my episode regarding longevity, Dr. Jose Loredo talked about the importance of deep sleep and as we age the amount of that deep quality regenerative sleep declines and declines more in males than in females which nobody really understands why at this point. Ideally we should get 20 to 25% of our sleep in the Delta state or deep sleep state. In our 80's the average for females is 15% and males is only 5%. This fact has been underappreciated as a reason for cognitive and memory decline. It's also been discovered this is a contributor of Alzheimer's disease as well. A simple truth…"the shorter your sleep the shorter your life" according to Matt Walker. In the previous episode addressing longevity we looked at the Blue Zones, areas with the largest population of centenarians and the amount of sleep they traditional get was not discussed or reviewed. However, subsequently, conversations with groups of centenarians all seem to have regular sleep schedules and good sleep hygiene. I think previously sleep was not considered one of the biomarkers of good health. I don't know, just my opinion.
Just as a side note, for those that take sleeping pills, they do knock you out but unfortunately they don't produce the necessary regenerative deep sleep waves.
Sleep and your immune system: This is really near and dear to my heart and I've spent a lot of time on this because making my immune system strong is critical to staying healthy and making sure my body fights all the cancer cells that try to grow in my body. So there are cells called the natural killer cells. They are my hero's! Dr Walker calls them "secret service agents of your immune system". They are very good at identifying unwanted dangerous elements and killing them. But with limited quality sleep these killer cells are not as strong or abundant. Dr Walker discovered with 4 hours of sleep it's a whopping 70% drop in natural killer cells. Ouch! The more sleep deprived you are the faster cancer cells multiply. For all of us, especially now, a strong immune system is critical and a lack of sleep compromises our immune system and makes us venerable to all kinds of viruses and infections.
Next is weight management. When you don't get enough sleep you are more prone to gain weight and here's the reason. There's a hormone called ghrelin known as the hunger hormone that sends messages to your brain to let you know you are hungry. When you don't get enough sleep you secrete more of this hormone making you hungry and you end up craving sugar and simple carbohydrates. I know and I've noticed when I don't get enough sleep I am hungrier and I do crave more of the carbohydrates and sugars. Conversely when you get enough sleep, leptin is active, the satiety hormone. This is a huge influence on weight management. Various studies have shown that you lose more weight when you get good sleep. There's a Canadian study with two groups of exercisers given the same diet and same exercise regimen. One group got 8 hours sleep and the other group got 5 hours per night. The group that got the 8 hours of quality sleep lost more weight. Shawn sites this study in his book. One of the reasons for this is human growth hormone. We get the biggest secretion of human growth hormone when we go to sleep. It helps with lean muscle growth, it also helps with longevity slowing the aging process. I'm all for that!!!
Also, sleep makes you recover faster after a workout because it helps repair the muscles.
Another hormone is melatonin which helps us get through the four stages of sleep. Just as a side note, melatonin has been found to inhibit the growth of certain cancer cells. Although it's not recommended to supplement with melatonin. You know if you're traveling overseas and you need to take melatonin to regulate your sleep schedule once in a great while that's fine but really not a good idea to take it on a consistent basis.
So you've heard me use the term sleep hygiene. What it refers to is what we do to maximize the quality of our sleep. So here's some good sleep hygiene suggestions that have worked for me.
First is regularity. It's so helpful going to bed at the same time and awake at the same time. It'll anchor your sleep and improve the quantity and quality of your sleep.
Another proven way that I had never imagined before to improve the quality of sleep is to keep a cool temperature. So I always like things nice a warm and I was like this is crazy but what happens is your body needs to drop it's core temperature by two to three degrees to initiate sleep and then to stay asleep. It is easier to fall asleep when it's too cold then too hot. Believe it or not 65 degrees is ideal for sleep. Oh my goodness. There's a study of insomniacs and they put a body suit on them reducing their core temperature by 1 degree and it eliminated all symptoms of insomnia which was amazing. And I have lowered the temperature in the house and it does impact the quality of your sleep.
Another that's very interesting is the most efficient hours of sleep or the anabolic window as it's called is generally between the hours of 10pm and 2am. These times are more aligned with our melatonin secretion and it's also when more of the growth hormone is secreted. Some say it is twice as much value per hour. If that timing doesn't fit your lift style get as close as possible and stack the other things in your favor. For me, this isn't so easy when I dance since most of my dance is at night. A trade off I guess. The joy dance brings me is worth the trade off.
Once I understood the importance of sleep to our overall health, weight management and longevity, I took this subject very seriously. Also with lymphoma, it's critical in making my immune system as strong as possible. As a result, my immune system rocks! So one of the first things I did is I bought the Oura Ring. There are various wearable devices that measure the quality of our sleep, but for the price I found this to be the most comprehensive. It lets me know how much deep Delta wave sleep, rem sleep and light sleep I get each night along with a wealth of over all health information as it relates to activity levels, heart rate variability, body temperature and on and on. With this device I can see the impact each change in behavior on my sleep quality. You know, mindful that my father passed away with Alzheimer's and saw how debilitating that was I am acutely aware of the correlation between the amount of Delta Deep sleep we get each night and this disease. One habit I changed was I would exercise in the evening, shower and watch TV with a glass of red wine before bed. Before the corona virus, I would dance four nights a week, class starting at 8 or 9pm and then social dance. So I would be getting home around one o'clock in the morning. Under both scenarios my deep Delta wave sleep was 15% to 20%. The changes I made were, I exercise in the morning glass of wine earlier in the evening, I read before I go to bed rather than watching TV and I turn off all the "blue light" screens, cell phone, tablets, computers about an hour before I go to bed. And while I'm reading I have a cup of Four Sigmatic Rishi tea. Wow! With those changes, I am averaging 25% to 30% Deep Sleep. I really couldn't believe it. It's amazing. It really is true that a good night sleep has a lot to do with what you do in the morning. I've shared the Oura ring information in the show notes. Also with where you can find Four Sigmatic Rishi tea.
Another great suggestion is getting sunlight in the morning. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter, a feel good compound. But serotonin gets converted to melatonin. So serotonin is enhanced with sunlight. Sunlight also helps to normalize your cortisol rhythm. It helps keep your cortisol lower in the evening if you get sunlight during the day which will elevate your cortisol. When melatonin is high, cortisol is low and when melatonin is low cortisol is high so getting sun in the beginning of the day helps with sleep. Again it's what we do during the day that helps get us a good night sleep. Also, for the same reason, exercise in the morning will give you a better night sleep because you are activating cortisol in the morning and you lower melatonin in the morning. It is like a teeter totter so at night melatonin is up and cortisol is lower which is ideal for sleep. An Appalachia State University study took three groups of people, which is so interesting, one group exercised in the morning the second group exercised in the afternoon and the third in the evening. The morning exercisers got 75% more deep sleep than the other groups.
Avoid screens before bed, cell phones, TV, iPads computers. The blue light from your screens surprises melatonin and inhibits quality sleep. There is a thing called blue light blocking glasses you can use if you are going to stay up and watch TV and there is an app for your phone called f.lux that reduces the blue light. Both are highly recommended. These are hacks but if you are really intent on getting the best sleep possible, the best recommendation is avoid screens 60 to 90 minutes before bed.
Also, the caffeine curfew as Shawn Stevenson calls it. You can go to sleep but your nervous system is still active. After 8 hours of drinking a cup of coffee half the caffeine is still in our system. The caffeine can keep you out of the normal stages if rem sleep and deep sleep. Everyone is different in how we metabolize caffeine but recommended to have your coffee before 12 noon to optimize sleep.
I had mentioned before about keeping your room cool. Some recommend 62 to 68 degrees is ideal. I just bought a chili pad, many call it a game changer. I have not tried it yet but I will let you know how it goes when it arrives. Also, you sleep better when your room is completely dark. Also, your room is for sleep and for sex. So working in bed is not a good. Psychologically when you go to your bed, you want your brain to know it is sleep time.
Also before bed, I mentioned Rishi tea, there's chamomile tea and Valerian tea all have calming effects and can help you sleep. Also topical magnesium has a calming effect. I learned about topical magnesium called EASE from Shawn's book. I just got it and started using it and I'll let you know if it helps with the quality of sleep. However, Magnesium is a mineral that is so beneficial for you that if I don't see it making any difference in my sleep quality I'm still going to use it because of the other benefits.
You know there is so much information on this topic. In the show notes I have listed quite a few references that I think might be helpful in you are interested in improving the quality of your sleep.
I know there is a whole host of reasons that precludes so many from getting a good night sleep weather it's sleep apnea, hot flashes during menopause, chronic pain, medications, worry and I know it so much easier said then done getting past these issues but the sooner you can focus on those issues and get past those to get a good night sleep it will start you on the road to better health and starting that spiral up.
I am so grateful for you joining me today, I hope you found the information helpful.
I'll leave you with this quote from Thomas Dekker, "Sleep is the golden chain that ties health and our bodies together."
Wishing you love, wishing you peace and joy and a really good night sleep. Goodbye for now.
Shawn Stevenson: https://sleepsmarterbook.com/
Dr. Jose Loredo MD UCSD Medical Center Sleep Medicine Specialist: https://providers.ucsd.edu/details/11645/jose_s-loredo-pulmonology_lung-sleep_medicine-san_diego
Dr. Michael Breus, PhD "The Sleep Doctor" https://thesleepdoctor.com/
The Canadian Obesity Network .Sep 17, 2012 Adequate sleep helps weight loss -- ScienceDaily
Melatonin and Cancer https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5503661/
Effects of exercise timing on sleep architecture and nocturnal blood pressure in pre-hypertensive tps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4270305/
From The Neuroprotective Aspects of Sleep NCBI: <https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4651462/
Stages of sleep <https://ouraring.com/sleep-stages>
The “game changer” as it relates to sleep is chiliPAD. For more information and to purchase go to: https://trk.chilitechnology.com/SH3V The following promo codes provide a discount. For chilePAD - chilipad25, for ooler - ooler15 and for chiliblanket - chiliblanket10
EASE Magnesium https://shop.activationproducts.com/products/ease-magnesium
Four Sigmatic Rishi Tea https://us.foursigmatic.com/products/instant-reishi
