We will spend 1/3 of our lives sleeping - how do we get the most of out it?  

What I’ve learned about sleep has changed my life - I hope you enjoy it. This newsletter is longer than normal but packed with great information. It’s one of those you may want to save and reference as needed. 😴 

• Sleep is restorative - it is an anti-aging fountain of youth when done correctly.

• Think of sleep in 90-minute cycles instead of just hours. So, your goal is to get at least 35 cycles in per week and stop stressing about 8 hours every night according to elite athlete sleep coach Nick Littlehales

• During sleep our brains are effectively washing away all the toxins in the body - physical ones and chemical ones that are derived from toxic emotions like stress, worry, and anxiety.

• Studies show failure to get enough sleep and clear out these toxins is linked to neurological disorders and Alzheimer’s disease.

• Perhaps more important than the time we go to sleep, is the consistent waking time we have each morning - there’s science to show it is the key to recovery, and it’s shown to be the key to resetting your circadian rhythm.

• The Siesta – the afternoon powernap - aka A Controlled Recovery Period (CRP’s) in the sports world– can count towards your weekly cycles if you get 26 minutes in somewhere in the 2-4 pm window. A NASA study showed that this power nap improved performance in pilots by 34% and increased alertness by 54%.

The longest-living people on earth have some sleep habits – I want to show you what they are and why they matter.

Oh Sleep? Where art thou?

Tell me if that sounds familiar. You wake up with your alarm, you grab your phone, you check the weather, the latest headlines, last night’s scores, scroll through social media, and check your email – then the emotions start rolling – oh man did your colleague send that email – are you kidding me?

Then your brain and body realize the day is already racing ahead. You start to stress a little with all you must get done.

The average American gets 6.5 hours of sleep per night. More than half of us are lying awake at night – not sleeping- due to stress or worry.

In the modern Western world, we are stacking the deck against our mental health perhaps with just the reach for our phone each morning. The longest-living people in the world have a morning ritual, a morning routine where they get their day started on the right side of the bed – with as little technology in the bedroom as possible.

Cycles not Hours?

How many 90-minute cycles per night and per week are you getting in? These cycles should be uninterrupted - and so many things can interrupt them - noise, light, medication, aging, stress, drinking liquid too late and therefore having to pee, breathing through your mouth and not your nose, (through the nose helps with preventing having to wake up to pee) eating late which means your stomach has to do its work before it can focus on restoring your body, caffeine in the blood which with a half-life of caffeine can mean that cup after lunch or if you had enough - even this morning’s coffee.

How many of us are in love with the ritual of coffee but recognize that the addiction element isn’t healthy for us? Are we masking our exhausted bodies with a morning or mid-day cup of coffee? I’m not here to condemn coffee, just that if we need it to maintain normalcy, we should be concerned about what’s happening in our bodies over the long term.

REM Cycles of Sleep – The Science of Sleep

Here is why you need those 90-minute cycles and what is happening in each. The longest-living people and the top athletes in the world get at least 5 on average per night – in a row – That’s 7.5 hours per night.

Stage 1 – Non-REM (NREM) – Dozing Off

This is somewhere between awake and asleep. This opens the door to sleep and we need to walk through it.

Stage 2 – NREM – Light Sleep

Your heart rate starts to slow down, body temperature starts to drop, and we spend most of our time in this stage through the night. Information consolidation and improved motor skill performance are linked to this stage.

Stage 3 and 4 – NREM – Deep Sleep

Like the dream within the dream within the dream of Inception – it’s difficult to wake us up at this stage without a serious ‘kick’. This is when sleepwalking occurs. This is when if you get woken up here you feel drunk, groggy, and disoriented. The science says this is when we produce delta waves in the brain – the slowest frequency brainwaves. We want to enjoy as much time in this sleep wonderland as possible because this is where the magic happens. This is when and where the restorative benefits of sleep are happening. This is when Human Growth Hormone is released into the body. This is the Superdrug we would all pay high dollar for if it was legal, and every athlete would kill to use it daily. But our body makes it naturally if we get to this stage of sleep multiple times through the night. HGH helps grow new cells, repair tissues (injuries), and help us feel rejuvenated. The goal is to spend about 90 minutes in this stage of sleep per night – but remember it’s only possible if we go through the doors of stages 1 and 2 uninterrupted and can enjoy this place – uninterrupted.  

REM Sleep – Defcon 5 - Welcome to Never Neverland

This is where dreams happen. The body is all but paralyzed and some believe this is where the juices of creativity come from. Fascinatingly enough, we often wake up after this stage even for a moment – maybe to toss or turn and then we go back to stage 1 and start it all over.

I’ve always been told since I was a kid that sleeping before midnight was better somehow. There is evidence that the body prioritizes deeper sleep in the early cycles and more REM sleep in later cycles. I wonder if there is something in those details of why before midnight is more restorative or beneficial. Keep reading. 🙂 

The Superdrug: Human Growth Hormone

The idea that sleep before midnight is better has been a topic of debate, with the underlying principle being that the quality and timing of sleep are crucial for optimal health. The concept often emphasizes that sleep in the earlier part of the night, which is rich in non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, is particularly restorative. So what does the science say?

Research indicates that the production of growth hormone (GH) in humans is significantly linked to sleep, particularly the slow-wave sleep phases that occur early in the night. One study found that the most reproducible GH peak appears shortly after sleep onset, closely associated with the first phase of slow-wave sleep (SWS) (van Cauter & Plat, 1996)

Another study confirmed that GH secretion during sleep is closely related to slow, synchronized sleep stages, suggesting that the secretion mechanism is intertwined with neural processes associated with deep sleep (Sassin et al., 1969)

These findings underline the importance of the first few hours of sleep, which typically include substantial slow-wave sleep, in stimulating GH secretion. Therefore, sleep occurring before midnight, which can include significant portions of SWS, might be particularly beneficial for GH production.

Why Sleep Before Midnight is So Important 

Recent research supervised by Exeter University showed that those who fell asleep between 10 pm and 10:59 pm had a lower risk of cardiovascular disease than those who dozed off earlier or later.

Dave Gibson says - “the reason being is that when we sleep out of line with our body clock we experience increased inflammation, problems with glucose regulation, and insulin resistance, all of which contribute to and are risks for cardiovascular disease.

Gibson goes on to say “We now know that the optimum window, for most people, falls between 10 pm and 11 pm."

Our body and brain tend to repair better too before midnight - one study followed 400,000 people for 6.5 years to validate this. Other research shows that those who get to bed before midnight tend to live longer than those who don’t. 

Research into the sleep habits of athletes before competitions suggests that individuals who sleep 7-9 hours per night with at least one hour before midnight experience more favorable daily physical activity levels, hinting at the positive effects of early sleep on physical performance (Insogna et al., 2015).

Sleeping before midnight is often touted for its benefits, which are supported by some scientific findings:

1. Alignment with Circadian Rhythms: Sleeping before midnight aligns better with our natural circadian rhythms, promoting more restorative sleep cycles, particularly the deep and REM sleep stages (Arnal et al., 2015) 

2. Increased Sleep Quality: Early sleep can lead to improved sleep quality, as indicated by increased sleep efficiency and changes in REM sleep latency (Flausino et al., 2012) 

3. Better Physical Performance: For athletes, sleeping adequately before midnight has been linked to enhanced physical performance and greater daily activity levels (Insogna et al., 2015)

4. Mental Health Benefits: Adequate sleep, particularly when commenced before midnight, is crucial for cognitive function, mood regulation, and overall mental health. 

5. Enhanced Learning and Memory: Sleep plays a vital role in memory consolidation and learning. Sleeping before midnight may optimize these processes, given the distribution of non-REM and REM sleep cycles throughout the night.

Research has demonstrated a significant relationship between sleep, specifically the early phases of slow-wave sleep (SWS), and the secretion of human growth hormone (GH). One study found that the most consistent and significant peak of GH secretion in adults occurs shortly after sleep onset, particularly during the first phase of SWS (Takahashi, Kipnis, & Daughaday, 1968)

Pre- and Post-Sleep Routines

They are just as important as sleep itself. Ideally, you should have a 90-minute pre-sleep and 90-minute post-sleep routine to maximize your sleeping window. This is especially important for those of us who are night owls or those of us who are Speedy Gonzalez the moment the alarm goes off.

A few key tips for an ideal pre-sleep routine - don’t eat late and if for some reason you do, give your stomach 90+ minutes to adjust before you lay down flat in bed even if that means going to sleep later than normal. Digestion takes priority in the body over sleep cycles or neither will be accomplished correctly.

Alcohol, caffeine, and sugar influence our quality of sleep for the worse - the less the better.

Screentime at night affects our quality of sleep by disturbing the melatonin production needed for optimal rejuvenating sleep. If you want to start winning – keep your phone out of your bedroom.

Stress from the day and to-do lists for tomorrow can affect our sleep. To help with that, keep a journal by your bed to write things down so you don’t forget them but also so that they get from your head and thoughts onto paper to be handled tomorrow. I think of Jesus’ words here - today has enough trouble of its own, don’t borrow from tomorrow.

Another key element to a great pre-sleep routine is finding a way to prepare for lowering body temperature. When you sleep you want the temperature to be cooler than normal - your body temperature needs to drop a few degrees for your best sleep. If you have a programmable thermostat – turn it down a few degrees while you sleep and raise it back up when you wake up.

As for post-sleep routines = the key is getting out of bed, into as much natural light as possible, and having a morning ritual and routine that is devoid of stressful inputs and is full of inspiration and gratitude. For example, start with prayer and meditation instead of emails and newsfeeds.

Blackout

For most of the world living in an urban environment, light somehow finds it way into our bedrooms at night. This is not acceptable. You must find a way to block out all light so that your bedroom is pitch black. There are fascinating studies on just the light from a nightlight leading to an increase in health issues.

Here is one study - “Can Avoiding Light at Night Reduce the Risk of Breast Cancer?" by Keshet-Sitton et al. (2016) – that suggests that exposure to artificial light at night might be linked to increased breast cancer risk. It recommends minimizing nighttime light exposure to potentially reduce this risk (Keshet-Sitton et al., 2016).

Another was for children - titled "Association of Outdoor Artificial Light at Night With Mental Disorders and Sleep Patterns Among US Adolescents" by Paksarian et al. (2020) - ALAN was positively associated with the prevalence of past-year mood and anxiety disorders among adolescents, suggesting that exposure to ALAN may negatively affect mental and sleep health in this age group (Paksarian et al., 2020).

Invest in blackout curtains or a sleep mask to help keep melatonin production at a maximum which is a super drug on so many fronts to help the body sleep better and be overall healthier. But don’t forget in the morning, you need as much light as possible to stop melatonin production and get the engines going for your day. So get those curtains open asap after you wake up or even better have a daylight lamp or similar that uses light to help you wake up. 

Snoring and Breathing

It is vital for your sleep and overall health that you breathe through your nose. If you snore at night, this is disrupting your sleep and so much more. It would be like if you were limping every day as you walked around – eventually, you should get it checked out and find a solution.

Breathing through your nose is something I covered in a recent newsletter - here - and it shares why this is so important, so I won’t repeat it here. But if it takes taping your mouth shut at night, do all you can to find a way to breathe through your nose. 

The Accoutrements of Sleep – Your Pillows, Sheets, and Mattress

My wife and I have had the same mattress for 17 years. The industry of today would tell us that is way too long. The industry of decades ago would say we still have life on our mattresses. We love it. If you’re going to spend nearly 1/3 of your life on one piece of furniture – you better love it.

Nick Littlehales in his book Sleep – makes a point that we need to be careful thinking amazing sleep must cost $10,000 for a mattress. The key is finding a mattress where when you lie down your spine is aligned without much need of a strategic pillow system for every section of your body. After reading his book, I bought a new pillow that wasn’t as thick as what I had before. And if you want to splurge on something, Cozy Earth makes the most comfortable sheets and pajamas imaginable.

Takeaways: Action Steps for Awesome Sleep

1 – Consistent Wake Time

Pick a wake time that you can stick to 7 days per week. Every time you sleep in, it throws your body off like it’s jetlagged, or daylight savings time just kicked in.  

Reverse engineer that time to get at least 5 sleep cycles which are 90 minutes each. This allows the body to cycle through all 5 stages of restorative sleep and then start over.

For example - if you picked 6:30 am, you would need to be asleep by 11 pm each night to get 5 cycles in per night and 35 cycles per week which is the recommended average based on elite athletes sleep coach Nick Littlehales.

But I would say that if you want to align with the longest-living people - they are in bed not too many hours after it gets dark i.e. around 10 pm. If you then tried for 5 sleep cycles that gives you a wakeup time of 5:30 am where you should feel refreshed. Maybe that longevity secret is because Physical restoration occurs between 10 pm to 2 am. Mental and emotional restoration between 2 am to 6 am.

I’ve recently been trying different times and have found that after a few days of trying for a routine, you get used to it and can feel more rested on less sleep – especially if you got to bed earlier.

Could the problem be that for some of us, we are waking up after 5:30 but before 7 am in the middle of one of those 5 sleep cycles, and therefore the body and mind feel unrested - unresolved? Could it be that less sleep would help us feel more energy? This thought to me felt contrary to what I have believed but I think there may be something to it.

I also think it’s important to realize how long it takes you to go from lying down in your bed, to being asleep. If you’re still on your phone - that doesn’t count towards sleeping hours. So if you lay down at 10:30 pm but probably don’t doze off till 11 then your 5 sleep cycles will end at 6:30 am.

2 - Pre and Post-Sleep Routines

These may be just as important as the sleep itself. They help you get into sleep and get you out of sleep. The biggest being stop using screens at least 90 minutes before bed time to maximize natural melatonin production.

3 – Avoid a Dependency on Drugs and Supplements

It’s tempting to use supplements or drugs to help you sleep each night and there may be a place for that here and there, but don’t get to the point where you find yourself relying on those to get good sleep.

4 – Dark, Cool and Quiet

Whatever it takes to make sure your room is completely dark, cooler than normal and that you won’t be interrupted by noise – even if that means using something like a fan to make white noise – you want to sleep uninterrupted.

5 – Back, Stomach, or Side?

There seems to be some rationale as to why sleeping on your non-dominant side is best. So if you’re right-handed, sleeping on your left side.

6 – Want more refreshing sleep?

Eat clean and healthy and not too late. Exercise often – it seems to have some amazing connections with a better quality of sleep.

7- Fresh Air

They say one of the most health-inhibiting things about sleeping indoors is the recirculated air. John Harvey Kellogg hacked this idea - he would vent in fresh air from outside just above a guest’s bed at night - and they would breathe fresh air all night. That may be a little much for your room today, but opening a window even just a little will allow some fresh air into your room each night. You can tell the opposite of this as true when you stay in a hotel with no ability to let fresh air in through the windows - you wake up stuffy often times.

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I’d love to hear from you 👋

I’m always looking for feedback. What would you like for me to cover? Anything in the newsletter you like or want to see more or less of?

Hit reply - I’d love to hear from you.

-Jared

P.S. - This newsletter does not provide medical advice. The content, such as graphics, images, text, and all other materials, is provided for reference and educational purposes only. The content is not meant to be complete or exhaustive or to be applicable to any specific individual's medical condition.