Have you ever heard the phrase, “You can sleep when you are dead?” Or something like “Sleep is for the weak?” Well, I have and I believe most of us have at some point in our lives. But the reality is that sleep plays a big part in our overall health and life expectancy.
As a teenager, I was so proud of myself because I could wake up earlier like 3 am. I would sleep at ten and wake up at 3 am consistently and I never realized what it was doing to my body and mind.
One study shows that one partial night of sleep leads to insulin resistance, which is pre-diabetes which then leads to diabetes. That’s a scary thought for people like me who thought sleep was absolutely unnecessary. A lot of people are unaware of the fact that balance is the key until they face a health scare (like old me). If you are looking for how to sleep better, this article might help you.
What is sleep?
According to Wikipedia,
Sleep is a naturally recurring state of mind and body, characterized by altered consciousness, relatively inhibited sensory activity, reduced muscle activity and inhibition of nearly all voluntary muscles during rapid eye movement sleep, and reduced interactions with surroundings.
Our body goes through a lot of changes when we are asleep. Good quality sleep is crucial for our mental and physical well-being. Sleep plays a big role in our longevity and quality of life.
Why is sleep so important?
Sleep is one of the foundations of health along with nutrition, exercise and stress and sleep is the most important one. If we don’t sleep for two weeks, the body is going to shut down. Sleep deprivation affects the whole body because,
- Our brains detox when we sleep
- Our immune system heals
- The liver gets rid of the toxins in our body
- Our hormones get balanced
- The microbiome does its work
What happens to the body when you sleep?
When we sleep, we go through 5 phases. Stages 1, 2, 3, and 4.
- Stage 1: Transition state in which we go from conscious state to sleep.
- Stage 2: This is the longest stage of sleep. Since our brain waves become slower in this stage it is also called slow wave sleep.
- Stage 3 and 4: It is very difficult to wake someone during stages 3 and 4, which together are called deep sleep. The brain filters out all the unwanted information it acquired during day time at this stage.
- REM(Rapid Eye Moment): During REM our heart rate increases, our breathing becomes more rapid and our eyes move rapidly.
A complete sleep cycle takes 90 to 110 minutes on average. The first sleep cycles each night contain relatively short REM periods and long periods of deep sleep. As the night progresses, REM sleep periods increase in length while deep sleep decreases. This is one more reason to get to bed early. The most restorative sleep happens between 11 PM and 2 AM. So for someone who sleeps at 2 AM regularly, deep sleep never occurs.
What happens when we don’t sleep?
Sleep deprivation affects all aspects of our lives. It is linked to,
- Cardiovascular disorders
- Immune system disorders
- Problems with liver detox
- Depression, etc.
75 % of people who suffer from depression also have a sleep disorder.
How to identify sleep deprivation?
Sleep quality also plays an important role. Even if you sleep for 9 hours, if you get low-quality sleep, you will be tired in the morning. Caffeine and alcohol can considerably reduce sleep quality.
Experts say that if you feel drowsy during the day, even during boring activities, you haven’t had enough sleep. If you routinely fall asleep within 5 minutes of lying down, you probably have severe sleep deprivation, possibly even a sleep disorder. Microsleeps, or very brief episodes of sleep in an otherwise awake person, are another mark of sleep deprivation.
Habit tracking will help. There are two ways to track your sleep quality.
- Sleep tracking tools that are integrated into our smartwatches.
- Keeping a sleep journal and consistently tracking your sleep.
The problem with smart trackers is that the LEDs can affect your sleep quality. Many experts believe that Wifi and Bluetooth should be turned off at night.
Where are we going wrong and how to sleep better?
There are multiple aspects to sleep deprivation. Let’s look at each of them in detail.
Circadian rhythm
According to Healthline,
Your circadian rhythm helps control your daily schedule for sleep and wakefulness. This rhythm is tied to your 24-hour body clock, and most living things have one.
Studies show that genes are no longer the master conductors, but our behavior is. We live in a world where our circadian rhythm is interrupted by multiple factors. We don’t realize that our circadian rhythm even affects our life span.
We are no longer in sync with nature. We bring our work to the bedroom. We don’t get out of the house. All these habits have a detrimental effect on our health. Some important factors that affect our circadian rhythm are,
- Low sunlight exposure
- Melatonin levels
- Blue light exposure at night
- Excessive consumption of caffeine
- Irregular meal times, etc.
If you want to read more about how to balance our circadian rhythms, check out my blog post on how to build a healthy sleep routine.
Nutrition
In one word “we are what we eat“. What we eat, how we eat and when we eat affects all aspects of our health. There are several aspects of nutrition we have to consider when it comes to sleep.
- Unregulated blood sugar
- Excessive calorie restriction
- Nutrient deficiencies, etc.
If you wake up at 3 am and can’t go back to sleep, it’s probably your blood sugar crashing. When blood sugar reduces body increases cortisol and adrenaline, and they wake you up. Waking up hungry during the night is also a sign of a blood sugar issue.
Gut health
According to Dr. Mark Hyman,
We are more bacteria than we are human
Trillions of microorganisms live inside our gut. Their health is so important to our health. Gut bacteria regulate critical functions like,
- Vitamin creation
- Immune system regulation
- Metabolism
- Weight, etc.
Our microbiome won’t be happy when we consume things like antibiotics, chemicals from processed foods, sugar, acid blockers, etc. Gut bacteria produce serotonin, the precursor for melatonin (sleep hormone).
They say our immune system starts in our gut. In a healthy human gut, cells will turn over every 3 days. Things like alcohol and stress can damage this cycle. Low stomach acid levels, parasites, yeast, etc., can also wreck our microbiome balance.
The best way to heal our gut is through food. If you want a more detailed read, check out my article on how to heal your gut.
Hormones
Hormones in our body and sleep are very connected. One study shows that night shift workers have a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity. Sleep affects our thyroid, insulin, melatonin, cortisol, leptin, progesterone, testosterone, etc.
Thyroid
The thyroid controls our metabolism. And melatonin helps activate the conversion of T4 to T3. Sleep is essential for the proper working of the thyroid gland.
Insulin
One single night of sleep deprivation causes a 40 % reduction in your ability to handle glucose. And this will gradually lead to diabetes.
Cortisol
A prolonged increase in cortisol causes insulin resistance. Cortisol levels and sleep are very connected.
Leptin and Ghrelin
Leptin and ghrelin are appetite hormones. Leptin makes you satiated and ghrelin induces hunger. Sleep deprivation will lead to less leptin and more ghrelin, which will result in sugar cravings. So less sleep basically causes overeating.
Human Growth Hormone
HGH is essential in many functions of the body. HGH helps to maintain, build, and repair healthy tissue in the brain and other organs. Sleep deprivation reduces HGH production.
Progesterone and Testosterone
Progesterone-estrogen imbalance is common in women. An overactive mind could be a symptom of low progesterone.
A few things we can do to balance our hormones naturally are,
- Eat a hormone-balancing diet high in healthy fats, protein, and fiber and low in sugar.
- Avoid alcohol
- Avoid xenoestrogens that are in personal care products like phthalates and parabens. You can check EWG Skin Deep to get an analysis of the ingredients in our products.
- Prioritize exercise
- Manage your stress. Figure out the cause of your stress and work on it.
- Do something that you love and relaxes you every day (meditation, bath, music, etc.)
Environmental toxins
We are not so aware of the toxins that live in our homes and affect our sleep. You need to ensure the quality of our,
- Air
- Food
- Water
- Personal care products, etc.
Toxins get into our bodies from sources we don’t expect. Some of them are,
- Volatile organic compounds in mattresses
- Skincare products
- Kitchenware, etc.
Even EMFs from our gadgets and Wifi can affect our sleep. Some people say that our phones are a new form of smoking. What can we do here?
- Try to keep the gadgets away at night
- Turn off the devices 1-2 hours before bed
- Use a good-quality air purifier and water filter
- Be careful about the ingredients in personal care products
Immune system
Our immune health is also closely related to our sleep. If you are inflamed, you are probably not sleeping well. Inflammation is considered the root cause of all chronic conditions. It is a necessary mechanism for our survival. But when it becomes chronic, inflammation is detrimental to our health.
Our immune system regenerates when we sleep. Alcohol can interrupt this process. Our lymphatic system is more active when we sleep, cytokines are made during sleep. Underlying infections like Lyme disease, Epstein bar, etc., can trigger an immune response. Autoimmune disorders are also a reason.
A few things we can do to support our immune system are,
- Support our natural detox systems
- Get more sleep during winter since you have more chance of getting sick
Sleep and immune health go both ways. A healthy immune system can make you sleep well and good sleep can make your immune system healthy.
Brain health
It is no surprise that sleep is connected to your brain health. Sleep deprivation is linked to disorders like Alzheimer’s and dementia. It is probably because beta-amyloid is cleansed during sleep. Also, our neurotransmitters get regenerated when we sleep.
Chronic stress
Acute stress is good for our bodies. It is a necessary mechanism for survival. But when the stress becomes chronic, it is detrimental. Chronic stress can affect cortisol levels, and it will keep you up at night. How can we deal with chronic stress?
- Exercise can reduce core body temperature; it can reduce anxiety levels.
- Moderate aerobic training is associated with improved sleep quality.
- Exercising earlier in the morning is better for sleep. One more reason to remember the fact that a good night’s sleep starts in the morning, not at night.
- Outdoor workout is better for sleep because you get sunlight exposure which is another important factor in managing circadian rhythm.
- Make relaxation a part of your life. It could be anything like meditation, reading, taking a bath, or being outside in nature.
- Meditation and belly breathing are linked to stress reduction and improved sleep quality.
Sleep disorders
Sleepless nights can also be attributed by sleep disorders. Sleep apnea and Insomnia are major ones. There are sleep onset insomnia (ability to fall asleep) and sleep maintenance insomnia (ability to stay asleep).
Various reasons for insomnia include,
- Lack of sleep hygiene
- Stress
- Elevated cortisol
- Restless leg syndrome
- Pain
- Poor circadian rhythm
- Mouth breathing
- Breathing difficulties due to allergies, etc.
For example, sugar and dairy can induce insomnia in children. This is because sugar and dairy are highly inflammatory and they might cause an inflamed and enlarged tonsil which then can cause breathing problems at night.
Techniques like mouth taping have been popular recently as a solution for mouth breathing.
Tools & Supplements
Nowadays, sleep tracking is integrated into smartwatches, rings, and even beds. It’s okay to track but don’t obsess over the metrics. After all, listening to what our bodies tell us is important. There are chilly pads, mouth tapes, sleep apnea machines, and many more on the market but they won’t provide a permanent solution until we address the real issues.
Blackout curtains can be life-changing, especially since our body detects light. For example, even small LED lights disrupt our sleep even if we wear an eye mask. One more reason to keep the gadgets out of the room.
When it comes to supplements, things like magnesium, melatonin, etc. can help. Herbs like,
- lavender
- chamomile
- ashwagandha
- passion flower, etc.
can help. These are adaptogens that balance the adrenals. I personally like chamomile or lavender tea when I wind down.
My favorite nighttime teas are,
The bottom line
It’s all about the balance. A good restorative, relaxing night of sleep starts way before we go to bed. Good habits and a healthy environment are important. Even though we can’t fix everything, there are many things we can improve and habits we can cultivate. Listening to our bodies and acting accordingly at the right time can help us build a healthier, happier life.
Check out my blog post on how to build the perfect nighttime routine if you are interested.