The Benefits of Better Sleep
How many times have you said or heard someone else say things like, "I don't get enough sleep", "I have trouble falling asleep" or "I sleep but I'm still tired all day". At one time or another I've said all three.
Sleep is one of our most basic functions, but most of us aren't doing it right. That might sound silly, but it's true. Not sleeping correctly (or well) is a product of modern day society. It all started with the lightbulb. Suddenly people could stay up later to get more done. Before that, people went to bed when it was dark and woke with the sun. Then came the TV and people could stay up later and get nothing done.
I remember as a child thinking staying up late was somehow a sign of being grown up. And you were really cool if you could make it till midnight. My young adulthood was filled with many nights staying out late with my friends, but still having to get up early in the morning. This led to terrible sleep habits. I would tell people I was a night owl, because I seemed to function better at night. I was more productive from 10pm to 2 am and couldn't function in the morning. At least not without cup after cup of coffee. This was the early stage of adrenal fatigue as I would learn later (and I'll write more about in a future post).
Then came stress.... another thief of sleep. Jobs, relationships and other drama came into my life heaping on the stress. Add to that, parenthood. An infant's feeding schedule is demanding and you never really fall soundly asleep as one ear is always on the baby monitor. Soon it becomes impossible to catch up on sleep debt.
So things like lifestyle, stress and even health problems can contribute to poor sleep. But there are ways to change that, or at least help improve the situation.
I made it my mission last summer, to improve my sleep habits because sleep has so much benefit to health. Sleep is practically free and you do it anyway, so why not make the most of it.
Sleep benefits your health in so many ways and the lack of enough deep quality sleep can cause a lot of problems.
STRESS- I mentioned stress causing problems with sleep, but did you know that the lack of sleep can actually cause stress on your body, the same way as any physical or emotional trauma. And lack of sleep can also affect the way you handle stress and make you more prone to emotional outbursts, depression and rage and can affect you physically leading to high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. Lack of sleep causes stress...stress causes lack of sleep. You have to break the cycle.
HORMONE IMBALANCE- many of our hormones are produced during sleep. Not sleeping enough hours or not staying asleep can interrupt their production. Even the time we go to sleep can affect this. Melatonin is the sleep hormone. Our body produces this around 9:00 pm to get us ready for sleep and it peaks at 10:00. If you stay up late it may be hard to fall asleep because you missed that boat. Around midnight our cortisol levels begin to steadily rise, peaking around 6 or 7 am, telling our bodies to wake up. If we are not asleep before midnight we might start to ride that cortisol wave, especially if our adrenals are already out of whack. Feeling that increase while still awake can make it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep.
ENDORPHINS- Endorphins are the feel good chemical. They effect our mood, help us deal with pain and are also important to the immune system. Endorphin production also peaks while we are asleep. In fact 90% of our daily endorphins are produced during this period.
HEALING- Our body does most of its reconstruction during sleep. This is why very ill patients are encouraged to rest and sleep as much as possible. It's why we have an overwhelming need to sleep when we have the flu. It's the same regenerating effect that young children and infants have and why they need so much more sleep than adults.
WEIGHT LOSS- There are many reasons why our weight is affected by sleep or the lack of it. But if you work out, it's especially important to get proper sleep, because weight loss as a result of exercise happens during the recovery period during sleep.
My issue last year had been getting to bed after midnight, then laying there for what seems like hours. Once I'm asleep I sleep pretty deeply, but then sleeping as late as I want is not an option for me on my Gerson schedule. I am usually up by 8:00 because that's when Scott has my first juice ready.
HERE ARE SOME TIPS FOR BETTER SLEEP
DONT EAT TOO LATE AND EAT THE RIGHT THINGS Try not to eat to close to bed time, there are many schools of thought on the time for this, but I have a problem if I don't have at least a small snack before bed. Celery is a great choice, because it's high in many minerals that promote relaxation and deeper sleep. It's also high in natural sodium which is great for the adrenals.
COMPUTERS, TVs and other electronics. Try turning these off at least an hour before bed and keep them in another room to charge during the night.
DARK AND QUIET make sure your room is as dark as possible. Even a little bit of light can confuse our brains into thinking it's daytime and mess up the production of certain hormones which may cause us to not sleep deeply or to wake up frequently.
DRINKING And speaking of waking frequently. Try not to drink to much liquid before bed. You get the idea...
If you still need a little extra help, here's a few more...
DEEP BREATHING
and relaxation techniques. Try breathing slowly and deeply to help your body relax. Some people do this with relaxing music or sounds of nature. This video by Dr. Eric Berg demonstrates the breathing technique. He also has an app on his website which times your breathing to music or ocean waves and is very relaxing.
LAVENDER I used to do this for my son when he was little to help him sleep. I forget the reason why this works, but if you put a lavender sachet or a few drops of lavender oil on a cloth and stick it under your pillow, it relaxes you and helps you sleep.
ACCUPRESSURE This is one that's worked for me in the past. You can do it on yourself or have someone do it for you. Here's the video where I learned about this. You don't need the device he uses, but I can testify that it does help. The link to buy it is on his you tube video but I'll post it here as well.
And as a last resort MELATONIN or SERIPHOS
MELATONIN If all else fails melatonin can safely be used short term if used properly. if you're on Gerson therapy check with your coach, Gerson doctor or call the Gerson institute to make sure it's ok before you try it. Take 0.5 mg, at 9pm for 2 weeks or less to get your sleep schedule back on track. And shoot for a bedtime of 10pm. Most people only need 0.1 to 0.5mg. If it's hard to find that low dosage you can open the capsule into distilled water and dissolve. For example, a 3mg capsule mixed with 3 tsp. of distilled water (shake well before each dose) and taking a half teaspoon. This will give 0.5mg. You can begin tapering the dose instead of just stopping and this will allow your body to adapt to its own melatonin a bit easier than stopping cold.
Here are some good sources of melatonin. Little or no fillers.
SERIPHOS
Seriphos helps calm the adrenals. If your cortisol is high at night you may have trouble falling asleep or if your cortisol spikes during the night, you might find yourself waking up suddenly at 3 or 4 AM. For falling asleep, try 1 capsule at 6PM. For staying asleep, try 1-3 capsules an hour before bedtime. Since this is a non-Gerson supplement, if you are on the Gerson Therapy, make sure to check with your practitioner. Both Seriphos and melatonin should be short term solutions and a last resort.
When I undertook this plan last year my sleep improved almost immediately. The accupressure seemed to have the biggest impact for me and within 2 weeks I was falling asleep and staying asleep. I noticed the biggest improvements in my mood. Most of these tips cost little or no money, so it's definitely worth a try. And no matter what your goal is, (better health, more energy, weight loss or even looking younger), sleep will help get you there.
