The Profound Impact of Sleep
Posted On July 14, 2023 By Joel Flint
Article # 3 in our Healthy Habits Nutrition Series
By Clinical Nutrionist, Tammy Spiller
It’s common for sleep to change as we get older, experience stress, eat unhealthy foods or drink alcohol. Studies are clear that we need between 7 and 9 hours of sleep per night – not to be confused with the time spent in bed.
With sleep deprivation comes the risk for cardiovascular disease, brain and mood changes, a struggling immune system and much less ability to deal with stress (ironically).
As human beings we usually find it difficult to focus on the idea of how our actions today impact our risk of future illnesses. However, in a more immediate time frame sleeplessness is directly linked to increasing weight gain, interfering with our hunger, ability to recover from exercise, diminishes stress resilience and plays havoc with our hormones.
In fact research shows that sleep deprivation is linked to higher levels of ghrelin (hunger stimulating hormone), salt retention, inflammation and lower levels of our satiation/fullness hormone Leptin and much poor insulin sensitivity (insulin moderates our blood glucose and fat storage).
Improving your Night’s Rest
I’m sure by now everyone knows about keeping their environment dark, using lamps or very low wattage bulbs rather than overhead lights at night. It’s also a good idea to lower our body temperature and avoid the stimulation that comes with scrolling our phones or watching late night TV. These are the most obvious solutions but often overlooked.
It goes without saying – but I’ll say it anyway – if you are trying to manage the physical changes that come as we age, keep stress down, manage your body composition and get a good night’s sleep alcohol is not your friend. Alcohol often becomes an afterwork ritual, seen as a de-stressor or a little bit of pleasure at the end of the working day. Yet, we know from excellent research in this field that over time alcohol actually increases stress and anxiety, negatively changes body composition towards fat, increases risk of cancer, risk of poor mental health and it’s slight effect on helping to initiate sleep is followed by increased awakening through the night whether you are aware of it or not. If you want to keep the ritual I suggest seeking out the abundance of non-alcoholic alternatives on the market. The sober curious culture is spreading as are quality choices.
What you may not know about developing a sleep routine is how your daytime habits, food choices or exercise is impacting sleep.
Our day/night pattern or circadian rhythm is impacted by light, when we eat, what we eat, when we exercise and our stress, so current research in this area points to the following suggestions:
Eat at roughly the same time each day, within a 12 hour window, during daylight hours (in summer at least). This is linked to reduced body fat, lower late night rises in blood sugar, better recovery after training and improved sleep.
A diet high in fish, vegetables, fruit and wholegrains has been shown to be a sleep promoter. High sugar diets or sugar eaten in the evening impairs sleep quality, disrupts your day/night pattern and is an overall negative impact on metabolic health.
Eat higher starchy carb meals earlier in the day to reduce sleep impact. Simple carbs ie. white rice, pasta, bread, crackers, desserts, interfere with the transport of the essential protein molecule, tryptophan across the blood brain barrier. Tryptophan is important to produce serotonin and then melatonin, a sleep hormone. At night have complex carbs which include vegetables, salad, wholegrains, legumes.
Do high intensity workouts in the morning (getting sunlight early) or after work at least two hours before bed. They improve energy expenditure, manage metabolic health and improve stress responses. Too close to bed and we will activate cortisol and adrenaline making sleep hard to come by. A gentle after dinner walk or low grade night time exercise is however a sleep promoter.
Consider winding down your nervous system with some mindfulness techniques such as meditation or breath-work. iRest has free meditations and the Breathwrk App has a short series of breathing exercises for calm, sleep and more. Repeat these short sessions, persisting as you may not feel calm on your first round. Try to accumulate around 10mins of breathing. These can both be done in bed, lights out, leading immediately to sleep.
Sleep is so profoundly linked to good health and improved resilience that there are now plenty of resources to help out.
Books – The Circadian Code – Dr Satchin Panda (simple & direct); Why We Sleep – Dr Matthew Walker (in-depth)
Podcasts – Huberman Lab Podcast – Dr Andrew Huberman interviewing Dr Matthew Walker; Sleep by Shea – simple non-sciencey interviews with health professionals on different aspects of sleep.
Apps – iRest; Breathwrk.
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