Guidelines to getting the best/most sleep you can
As we introduced in our last post, although getting plenty of rest can be challenging, it’s no less vital to our overall health! Our bodies need sleep to detox and regenerate for the next day. More than 30% of Americans suffer from lack of sleep, which begs the question: am I sleeping enough every night?
The recommended amount of sleep for adults sits at 7-9 hours per night, whereas children need up to 10 hours per night. In fact, this is less of a recommendation and more of a requirement! Without adequate rest, we set ourselves up for a variety of health-related problems.
Tidying Up
Last month we talked about sleep cycles. Today I want to focus on stage three, or deep sleep. During deep sleep, our brains relax and allow for the space between neurons to increase by as much as 60%. This allows the fluids in the brain space to wash the brain of any harmful substances such as amyloid proteins, the waste product created when our cells work hard. These proteins are often linked to disease processes such as Alzheimer’s disease, so it’s good to get rid of them!
Some studies suggest that since deep sleep is where these proteins are cleaned, a buildup of amyloid proteins in the brain can actually cause a lack of deep sleep, in turn resulting in less cleaning! In addition to cleaning house during deep sleep, your brain uses this time to form new pathways to store information. The brain also makes space for learning new skills by dumping information that isn’t needed. Therefore, getting plenty of rest helps you to make better decisions, have more creativity, and concentrate better! Who wouldn’t want that?!
Finding the Right Rhythm
Learning how the body regulates our sleep helps us develop better habits. Our bodies have a natural circadian rhythm that helps the body coordinate processes such as producing digestive enzymes at appropriate times connected to meals or to regulate hormones required for energy expenditure. It functions as a master clock, located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN, for short!) of the hypothalamus. This clock is responsible for regulating many activities in our body!
The SCN is very sensitive to light, helping to coordinate the release of appropriate proteins and hormones to regulate our activities. For instance, during the day, light exposure stimulates the SCN to send signals to the brain to keep us alert. When the light wanes in the evening, the SCN signals the brain to release melatonin, a hormone that helps to produce sleep and then continues to maintain the melatonin levels to maintain sleep throughout the night.
Because our circadian rhythm is controlled by natural light exposure, many of us have adversely altered our body’s natural clock by utilizing artificial light sources to defy natural day/night cycles, thus robbing our bodies of sufficient time to relax, reboot and detox. Because of this, we may wake up during the night, struggle to fall asleep, or even to stay asleep.
What can I do?
Addressing the causes for the interruption of the body’s circadian rhythms could be key to resolving sleep issues. Since the SCN is incredibly light sensitive, let’s look at some ways to support our normal sleep/wake cycle:
Natural sunlight is vital! Expose your face to direct, bright light (particularly early in the morning) by doing simple things such as choosing to sit by a sunny window to eat your breakfast or sitting outside for your morning coffee.
Consider adding a daily exercise program. Daily exercise helps support the internal clock for activity-related hormones as well as make it easier to fall asleep.
Get as much natural light as possible into your work space by doing something like moving your work space close to a window.
Consider a light therapy box which simulates natural light.
When it is time to sleep, make sure the room is dark. Consider installing a night light to use if needed for moving around at night to avoid stimulating the brain to release hormones to wake you up.
Check out this handy bedtime calculator to help you go to bed at the right time.
Follow our Core Thinking blog so you can stay tuned in as we talk about more conditions related to sleep loss and ways to improve your quality and quantity of sleep. Have questions? I have answers! Contact me here or on our Facebook page!
Photo by Lukas Blazek on Unsplash