Зачем и Как Правильно Спать?
Coming across this topic.
Have you ever wondered why we spend 1/3 of our life on this thing called sleep? Why would mother nature induce us to this paralysing state every night and make us spend so much time on it?
A month ago I listened to the Joe Rogan Podcast with Matthew Walker, a professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. In this episode, Matthew explains why sleep is so vital, how it can improve our day to day performance and most importantly how lack of sleep dangers our health.
I wanted to learn more about sleep and how can I improve it, that’s why I read Matthew’s book “Why We Sleep”.
Understanding sleep.
Melatonin — First, we have to introduce melatonin to our story. Melatonin is a hormone that is released, into the bloodstream from the pineal gland, after dusk. It is a messenger that “shouts to the brain and body: it’s dark, it’s dark!” In this way, melatonin helps regulate the timing of when sleep occurs.
This example will help you understand better:
To make clear this distinction, think of sleep as the Olympic 100-meter race. Melatonin is the voice of the timing official that says “Runners, on your mark,” and then fires the starting pistol that triggers the race. That timing official (melatonin)governs when the race (sleep) begins, but does not participate in the race. In this analogy, the sprinters themselves are other brain regions and processes that actively generate sleep. Melatonin corrals these sleep-generating regions of the brain to the starting line of bedtime. Melatonin simply provides the official instruction to commence the event of sleep but does not participate in the sleeping race itself.
Once sleep is underway, melatonin slowly decreases in concentration across the night into the morning. The absence of melatonin informs the brain and body that the finish line of sleep has been reached. fig-1
The Sleep Cycle — After melatonin has been released, the sleeping stage can begin. The cycle is run by two types of sleep — NREM (non-rapid eye- movement) and REM. Sleep is divided into 4 stages. Each stage is basically a cerebral war between the NREM and REM which is won and lost every 90 minutes ruled by NREM sleep, followed by REM sleep. NREM sleep constitutes about 75 to 80 % of total time spent in sleep, and REM sleep constitutes the remaining 20 to 25 %. fig-2
Both NREM and REM sleep are important. When it comes to information processing, think of NREM sleep as reflection (storing and strengthening those raw ingredients of new facts and skills), and REM sleep as integration (interconnecting these raw ingredients with each other, with all past experiences, and, in doing so, building an ever more accurate model of how the world works, including innovative insights and problem-solving abilities). REM sleep is also considered an “overnight therapy” or an “emotional aid”.
However, REM sleep of all sleep stages is the most predictive when it comes to the longevity of your lifespan. For every 5% reduction in REM sleep, there was a 13% increase in mortality, both natural and accident causes.
The dangers of sleep deprivation.
The old maxim “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” is therefore unfortunate. Adopt this mindset, and it is possible that you will be dead sooner and the quality of that (shorter) life will be worse.
The 2 scariest consequences of sleep deprivation.
- Alzheimer’s disease, dementia. Getting too little sleep across the adult life span will significantly raise your risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Precisely this relationship has now been reported in numerous epidemiological studies, including those individuals suffering from sleep disorders such as insomnia and sleep apnea.
Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan — two heads of state that were very vocal, if not proud, about sleeping only four to five hours a night — both went on to develop the ruthless disease.
- The deadly, unspoken circumstance of getting behind the wheel. One person dies in a traffic accident every hour in the US due to fatigue-related errors, completely falling asleep or a lapse in a concentration called microsleep which lasts just a few seconds. They are usually suffered by individuals who are chronically sleep restricted, defined as getting less than seven hours of sleep a night on a routine basis. fig-3
Also, routinely sleeping less than 6 hours a night weakens your immune system, disrupts blood sugar levels, makes you gain more weight, develops bad habits, and contributes to depression.
Caffeine, Nicotine, Alcohol & Marijuana.
The most used psychoactive stimulant in the world. Caffeine is a common culprit that keeps people from falling asleep easily and sleeping soundly thereafter, typically masquerading as insomnia. Caffeine has an average half-life of five to seven hours. Let’s say that you have a cup of coffee after your evening dinner, around 7:30 p.m. This means that by 1:30 a.m., 50 per cent of that caffeine may still be active and circulating throughout your brain tissue. In other words, by 1:30 a.m., you’re only halfway to completing the job of cleansing your brain.
Nicotine is also a stimulant, often causing smokers to sleep only very lightly. In addition, smokers often wake up too early in the morning because of nicotine withdrawal.
- Alcohol fragments sleep, littering the night with brief awakenings. Individuals, therefore, fail to link alcohol consumption the night before with feelings of next-day exhaustion caused by the undetected sleep disruption sandwiched in between.
- Alcohol will often suppress REM sleep, especially during the first half or two-thirds of the night. People consuming even moderate amounts of alcohol in the afternoon and/or evening can inadvertently deprive themselves of dream sleep.
- THC also seems to block REM sleep. Everyday users that stop consuming THC will have “crazy”, detailed dreams. The reason is that there is a rebound mechanism, the brain is trying to get back all of the REM sleep that was lost. It never gets back all of the REM sleep, however, it tries.
- People who use THC to fall asleep develop a dependency tolerance, which means they will require more to get the same sleep benefit. Thus, when you stop using you will get severe rebound insomnia.
- CBD is thermo regulatory. It will create a “hypothermia” which basically cools down the body temperature. That will improve sleep.
- CBD is also an anxiolytic, which reduces anxiety.
At the of the day, everything that is done in moderation is okay for most people. Done at the incorrect times and incorrect amounts will greatly disrupt sleep.
The benefits of sleep.
- Heals emotional wounds.
- Sleep protects newly acquired information, affording immunity against forgetting.
- Helps find solutions to challenging problems.
- Sleep wards off colds and the flu, protects you from cancer and dementia. Lowers risk of heart attacks, strokes and diabetes.
- Makes you look more attractive.
- Keeps you slim and lowers food cravings.
- Improves creativity. Sleep provides a nighttime theatre in which your brain tests out and builds connections between vast stores of information.
- You will feel happier, less depressed and less anxious.
How to improve your sleep.
- First and foremost you should stick to a sleep schedule. That means you should go to bed and wake up at the same time each day, with no exceptions including the weekends. This maintains the timing of the body’s internal clock and can help you fall asleep and wake up more easily.
- Exercise at least 30 minutes a day. Avoid exercising 2–3 hours before sleep, otherwise, the body doesn’t have enough time to cool the core temperature. Also, taking a walk before sleep will help regulate your amygdala, which decreases anxiety.
- Avoid caffeine of any kind, coffee, colas, certain teas, or chocolate. You will need 8 hours to wear off fully.
- Avoid alcoholic drinks before bed. Drinking an alcoholic beverage before sleep can help you relax, but heavily robs you of REM sleep. Also, you can wake up in the middle of the night once the effects of the alcohol have worn off.
- Don’t be too full or too hungry before going to sleep. Too much food will start the “engine” and having no food in the system will make you too alert to fall asleep.
- Don’t take naps after 3 p.m. Naps can help make up for lost sleep, but late afternoon naps can make it hard to fall asleep at night. Note that naps shouldn’t be longer than 20–30 minutes. Andrew Huberman recommends getting an NSDR (Non-Sleep Deep Rest). Jocko recommends placing a pillow under your legs in order to make you fall asleep faster (it works!).
- Relax before sleep. Avoid any kind of stress related things, at least before sleep.
- Take a hot bath/shower before bed. After getting out, the drop in body temperature will help you feel sleepier.
- Temperature. You should be sleeping in a cool environment of around 17–18 °C. You should lower your core temperature to about 1 °C.
- Maintaining complete darkness throughout the night is critical. You shouldn’t be exposed to any light 2 hours before sleeping, as it suppresses the release of melatonin. Set your devices to “night shift” or lower the light exposure. Also, wearing a sleep mask will help you fall asleep faster.
Conclusion
Improving my sleep has helped me perform immensely better during the day; I no longer require naps; I fall asleep in less than 10 minutes; I wake up without the need for 2–3 snoozes and overall I feel better.
Sleep is important. All the things that I have mentioned about the dangers, as well, however, having once in a while a sugary snack, a smoke, or maybe some drinks before sleep is ok. Yes, you will wake up and feel the consequences but sacrificing a few nights won’t cause any significant damage to your body.
I can’t recommend enough Matthew Walker’s book, the Joe Rogan episode & the Huberman Lab episode with Matthew. This will honestly change your life for the better.