Self-Care Month Making Sleep a Priority in Your Life

One of the best ways you can take care of yourself is by getting good quality sleep. Unfortunately, sleep issues are on the rise due to added stress in our lives and recent events around the world. Most adults need seven to nine hours of sleep every night, according to Dr. Daniel J. Gottlieb, MD, MPH, an associate physician in the Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH).

Sleep is so important but many of us still tend to make it less of a priority to other things in our lives. According to the National Sleep Foundation, American adults make work, fitness and hobbies more important than their sleep. Their research is showing that we are sleeping even less than previous generations and our quality of sleep has significantly decreased as well. The CDC’s findings found that one in three adults are not sleeping the minimum seven hours a night to maintain overall well-being. Not getting enough quality sleep may take a serious toll on your health.

Sleep deprivation can impact how you feel and function each and every day. When you can get good quality sleep you will ensure that your brain and body can perform at optimum. Good, quality sleep means you do not toss or turn during the night. You dream, but you don’t wake up after the dreams or remember them. The more you wake up in the night, the easier to remember your dreams, but that means you are waking up in the night. The most common form of insomnia is when you wake during the night with a racing brain and find it difficult to go back to sleep. Those who have acute sleep deprivation may suffer from sleepiness or exhaustion during the day, excessive yawning, poor judgement, irritability, poor reflexes and other serious health issues. The key is to get to the root of the racing brain and calm it down, so your entire body can slow down and sleep deep and peacefully through each night.

Here are 7 reasons why sleep should be a priority in your life:

Boost Your Immune System

Especially since the COVID-19 virus is here and present you will want to increase your immune system as much as possible. One of the best ways to do this is by getting good quality sleep (no tossing/turning or waking in the night). Poor sleep habits can suppress and deplete your immune system. When this happens you are at an increased risk of catching a virus, cold or infection.

During sleep your body completes phases of regeneration including; muscle repair, memory consolidation, regulated hormones for growth and appetite. When we wake during the night and the sleep cycle is cut short, our body doesn’t have time to complete all the phases needed to help you perform at 100% the next day. You may wake up not able to concentrate, focus, make decisions or engage in a friendly manner with others.

During your sleep cycle your body makes cytokines, a type of protein that targets infection and inflammation, which is needed to boost your immune response. Cytokines are produced and released during sleep, so if you are not getting enough sleep you will reduce your immune response and this can even make that flu/vaccine shot less effective because your body’s ability to respond is reduced.

Lower Inflammation

Sleep can help solve your pain, swelling or your body’s inflamed areas. There is a direct connection between sleep and reduction in inflammation. Chronic inflammation is linked to heart disease, cancer, diabetes and stroke. When the body is chronically inflamed the immune system is in uninterrupted fight mode which can activate disease-fighting cells that do not have an external threat to fend off. If this continues, these fighter cells can attach, wear down and cause significant damage to any healthy cells, tissues, organs and systems in your body which leads to chronic ailments. Lack of sleep along with poor diet, stress and environmental toxins all lead to chronic inflammation in the body.

Sleep and inflammation are regulated by the same bio rhythms. Sleep is regulated by circadian rhythms that drive hormones and other physical changes that help us shift from sleep to wakefulness during a 24-hour period. Our circadian rhythms work behind the scenes, but when they are out of sync, your sleep will suffer. Circadian rhythms also regulate your immune system along with your body’s inflammation levels. We can become more prone to inflammation and have a higher risk for heart disease, cancer and metabolic disease (increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist, and abnormal cholesterol or triglyceride levels.)

Our bio rhythms prosper on consistency and one way to keep our circadian rhythms in sync is to keep a consistent daily sleep routine. Going to bed at the same time and waking at the same time will boost healthy circadian rhythms. This will also help lower your inflammation in your body. Lack of sleep will raise inflammation levels in the body. The body isn’t able to calm down enough to allow the muscles to relax and the blood flow to increase through the body during the sleep phases. This is important in order to keep inflammation down.

Increased Risk of Heart Disease and Stroke

That tossing and turning during the night increases your blood pressure and could put your heart at risk for serious life-threatening diseases. Getting too little sleep will increase the release of cortisol, that stress hormone. Too much cortisol can increase your heart health issues.

Sleep apnea, a condition where a person may experience pauses in breathing five to 30 times per hour or more during sleep, can increase the risk for a stroke and heart attack. The episodes can wake the sleeper and increase their blood pressure. It is associated with heart failure, stroke and arrhythmia. Donna Arnett, PH.D, chair and professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and president of the American Heart Association stated: “The evidence is very strong for the relationship between sleep apnea and hypertension and cardiovascular disease.”

During the N3 phase of sleep, your deepest and most restorative phase, your blood pressure drops and your breathing becomes slower. Your muscles become relaxed and more blood flow is sent to the muscles. Tissue growth and repair occur during this stage and energy is restored to all areas of the body. Hormones essential for growth and development are released. If you are not able to stay asleep during this stage, you interrupt this process and your body never fully repairs itself.

Weight Gain

Those who are not getting enough sleep tend to eat more calories than those who are getting adequate amounts of sleep. In order to keep a tired body motivated, moving and awake some may drink more coffee laced with sugars and sweeteners throughout the day. They may find themselves snacking on complex carbs more to give them a boost to stay awake in the afternoon. If you are trying to lose weight and/or have noticed that you gained weight, sleep deprivation could be the cause to your issues. If you are well rested you will lose more body fat and eat less than when you are sleep deprived.

Adequate sleep will give you the energy to exercise more and make better decisions on what to eat during the day. Choosing a nutrient dense diet will also help create better sleep. Processed foods and those with a lot of sugar will disrupt your blood sugar processing, making it harder for your body to use the foods effectively for fuel instead of for fat.

Boost Memory Retention

I think we have all felt the ramifications the next morning when you realize you tossed and turned all night. Lack of sleep has been found to decrease memory retention. Can’t remember where your phone is? Forgot your lunch or coffee on the kitchen counter? Forgot to pack your child’s lunch? These are all caused from the lack of repair and growth in your brain during the phases of sleep.

When we sleep, our brains will take all our information and organize it in different compartments. Similar to cleaning and organizing your inbox by sorting through the important pieces of information versus the spam files you received during the day. When we can get good, quality sleep our brains are able to stop, relax and make those connections.

Not only will this help you be more productive the next day at work, you will also be more creative and focused. You will be able to communicate and connect with your colleagues in a better manner. It is those people who will be promoted, admired and asked to work on other projects. Good adequate sleep can help boost you in your career.

Increase Athletes performance

Good quality sleep will help boost the performance of any athlete. Along with the diet regime and workout routine, a good sleep routine can make or break the performance of any athlete. Without adequate sleep an athlete’s body will not repair torn ligaments, tendons or muscles. Blood flow does not replenish the muscles if sleep is interrupted, making inflammation higher and possibly increasing the likelihood of injury. During that REM phase, the body will repair and boost energy to the muscles and organs making it easier to do their passion the next day. This is great to remind your teen athlete, who may still like to stay up late instead of getting adequate rest.

Decrease Your Stress Levels

Have you found that you are cranky, snippy or rude on the days you didn’t get good, quality sleep? Do you snap at colleagues for minor issues? Do you panic to meet deadlines? Do you grumble or mutter frustrating words when you accidently do something dumb? Everyone will react to stress in different ways. This can make it hard to unwind before bed to be able to fall asleep and stay asleep during the night. This can cause the cycle of poor sleep, stress the next, poor sleep, stress the next day.

When you decrease your stress during your day, you can then create a better path to deeper sleep at night. Create a stress management “tool-box” that you can pull from during your day when stress hits. You could:

·        Take a brisk walk around the block

·        Do a crossword puzzle or color in a detailed picture

·        Enjoy a cup of tea while daydreaming

·        Take a power nap of 6-20 minutes

·        Journal about three things that you are grateful for and one thing you accomplished that day

·        Light stretches you can do at your desk or outside

·        Sit in nature, under a tree, in a park or lay in the grass and watch the clouds

·        Write a letter or card to a friend

·        Do a workout on your way home from work

All of these will help you keep your stress levels at bay and your mind from racing.

Tips to How to Get a Quality Night’s Sleep

1.      Eat a nutrient dense diet. Eliminate processed foods and sugar. Increase proteins, vegetables and fruits.

2.      Avoid caffeine after 12pm. Caffeine, of any type, can stay in your system up to 12 hours after taking it. If you are having a hard time sleeping at night, take a look at the last time you had caffeine during the day.

3.      Avoid large meals before bedtime as it will make it harder for your body to calm down as it is digesting the meal.

4.      Avoid alcohol at night. Some may think that the glass of wine, mixed drink or beer helps them “unwind” and calm down, but in reality it makes your body work twice as hard at detoxing during the night. If you are waking up between 1-3am, your liver is working hard at detoxing and if you have had too much to drink it will wake you while it is doing this detox.

5.      Try light yoga stretches before going to sleep, but no high intensity workouts after 7pm. High intensity workouts will elevate the blood pressure and heart rate, which can take too long to calm down before your 10pm bedtime. Light yoga stretches or progressive relaxation can help your muscles relax and prepare your body for rest. Plus it will help your brain stop racing around with all the thoughts of the day.

6.      Turn off all electronics an hour before your head is suppose to hit the pillow. The blue light from these devices will trick your brain into thinking it is still daylight and your circadian rhythm will be thrown off. Instead, do your light exercises, take a walk around the block, take a bath or shower, read a real book or newspaper/magazine article. All of these will help your brain calm down and realign your circadian rhythm.

7.      Create a bedroom sanctuary. Use blackout curtains, comfy sheets, invest in a new mattress and pillows. Paint the walls a calming and soothing color. Make the room cooler than the other rooms and sleep in light clothing. Use ear plugs or a mask as well as a weighted blanket to get your entire body to calm down and rest comfortably. Tuck a pillow under your knees to support your low back if you have back issues.

8.      Go to bed at the same time every night, even on the weekends. Keeping a sleep schedule all week will help keep your circadian rhythms in sync. Trying to make up for sleep on the weekends can worsen the sync. If you can’t, due to meetings, obligations or travel schedule, see if you can throw in a power nap of 30 minutes the next day to help make up for the lost sleep.

9.      Journal before going to sleep. One of the best ways to stop your brain from racing is to journal right before bed. Keep a notebook or journal near your bed and every night jot down at least three things you are grateful for and one accomplishment from that day. You can also just pick up the pen and start writing about your day. The “Highs” and “Lows” and everything in between. Don’t judge yourself for what you write, in fact, you don’t even have to read it, you just need to write it to get it off your mind and on to paper so it doesn’t flutter through your head all night.

10.  Use a natural sleep supplement like melatonin, a tincture of Valerian root and Skullcap or even a Hemp CBD product that has a higher level of CBD and the lowest level of THC. All of these will help give your central nervous system a hug and get you into a deeper sleep. The Skullcap will stop your brain from racing as the Valerian root helps you fall asleep. You can have some pretty deep and bizarre dreams with Valerian, so if you are not a fan of vivid dreams, see if you can find a skullcap supplement you can take. The Hemp CBD will help bring your endocannabinoid system back into balance supporting your central nervous system, the system that is responsible for slowing down so you can get to sleep and stay asleep.

If you are getting six or fewer hours of continuous sleep, you may be setting yourself up for some serious health issues. Insufficient sleep can cause poor concentration, emotional instability, increased inflammation and decreased immune functions.

Make sleep a priority in your self-care regime. If you are having serious sleep issues reach out to me and set up a time to chat about how I can help you create a sleep self-care regime for yourself or a loved one.