If we could take all the benefits that came from a consistent good night’s sleep and put those benefits in a pill and sell it, you wouldn’t be able to manufacture enough to keep up with demands. When we first developed 8 Weeks to Wellness in 2002-2003, we knew sleep was important, but we didn’t realize how critically important it was to our metabolic health, in other words, how we use and store energy and how it helps us to keep our weight in check.
This mainly happens because chronic sleep deprivation, which is classified as consistently getting less than 6-7 hours of sleep per night, wreaks havoc on our hormonal system. Sleep is also critical to our cognitive and emotional well-being and long-term memory. Research suggests that beta-amyloid levels decrease during sleep and that this process may be important for clearing potentially harmful substances from the brain. A buildup of beta-amyloid in the brain is linked to Alzheimer's disease, and sleep is often disrupted in patients with the condition. In one study, researchers injected mice with labeled beta-amyloid and found that it disappeared faster from their brains when they were asleep.
So here is a great question when it comes to sleep, how long do we need to sleep to get the benefits that sleep affords us? If you asked your grandmother how much sleep you need to get each night, she would probably give you the correct answer, approximately 8 hours each night. One study from the University of Chicago that subjected healthy university students to less than 4.5 hours of sleep found that after 4 nights, their insulin levels (the hormone that regulates our blood sugar) were elevated to that of an obese middle-aged diabetic. This is why a good night’s sleep helps us avoid chronic metabolic diseases such as type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
High levels of stress, which activate our “fight or flight”, or sympathetic nervous system impact our quality and quantity of sleep. However, chronic sleep deprivation also causes us to feel more stressed, so it cuts both ways. Stress causes sleep problems and sleep problems cause us to be more stressed out.
Here is a good way I teach our patients if they are getting an adequate night’s sleep, if you need an alarm clock to consistently “alarm” you out of bed each morning, you probably aren’t getting enough sleep. Our bodies should naturally wake up at the same time each day and that’s not a problem if we are getting to bed at a reasonable time. For example, I get to bed usually each night between 9 and 10 pm and I usually wake up naturally by 5 am. I haven’t used an alarm clock for over 20 years.
Sleep happens in stages, most people normally pass through a stage of light sleep before going into what is called NREM (non-rapid-eye-movement) which happens in 2 phases, light and deep, the latter being crucial for our neurological health. Later in the night, we pass into a stage of REM sleep (rapid-eye-movement) where our brain starts to see images, and this is where we will dream. One important feature of REM sleep is that it helps us to process and down-regulate our emotional memories, in other words, it separates the emotions (positive and negative) from the events in which these emotions were created. This is why we say “Just sleep on it” because most negative emotions deflate rapidly after a good night’s sleep.
Sleep is critically important if dementia or Alzheimer’s disease runs in your family because research shows a connection between chronic cognitive diseases and poor sleep habits. Currently, the US market for sleep medications is about 28 billion dollars a year, which shows you how much we are willing to spend to get a good night’s sleep.
Here are some good tips that will contribute to an awesome night’s sleep.
1. Full darkness, no exceptions. Do what you must do to keep your room dark.
2. Remove LED (devices with a screen) from your bedroom.
3. A temperature drop signals us to sleep so keep your room cool (about 65-66°).
4. Stop all caffeinated beverages including coffee after about 12-1 pm in the day.
5. 30 minutes of light cardio before bed can do wonders for a good night’s sleep.
6. Doing 10 minutes of meditation (Dr. Dane likes the Calm app) before bed is amazing for sleep because it helps to down-regulate our “fight or flight” nervous system.
7. If you have access, use a hot tub or sauna right before getting into a cool bed.
8. Have a “sleep schedule”, a fixed wake-up time such as 5 am or 6 am then count backwards 7-8 hours so you know what time you need to be asleep by.
9. Try not to eat or drink (especially alcohol) at least 3 hours before you go to bed.
10. Down-shift before you go to bed, in other words, don’t do anything you deem too stressful (such as talk about a stressful work situation) at least 1-2 hours before you plan to go to sleep.
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