Are You Suffering from Sleep Debt?
You may recognize the perils of financial debt, but did you know that you can also build up debt when it comes to sleep? Getting short-changed occasionally on your sleep isn’t a serious problem, but when it happens night after night, you build up a back-log of needed sleep. This sleep debt adversely affects your mood, health and safety.
The average person needs around eight and one-half hours of sleep every night. You might need a little less or a little more, but you need this sleep every day, just like you need water and oxygen every day. Losing just one hour of sleep per day (seven hours instead of eight, for instance) builds up your sleep debt.
It’s not just the quantity of sleep that you need, it’s also the quality of that sleep. You need several hours of REM (rapid eye movement) sleep every night to be healthy. This is the sleep where you dream. When catching up on sleep debt, your body will often compress sleep patterns to catch up on this much-needed REM sleep.
You also need a certain amount of deep sleep. During the deepest stages of sleep, your body releases growth hormone to stimulate tissue repair and regeneration. This means that if you don’t get enough good quality sleep, it will adversely affect your physical health.
For instance, sleep debt makes you more likely to catch a cold or the flu. In fact, sleep deprivation can actually cause flu-like symptoms without an infection. Sleep debt even makes you more prone to heart disease and stroke.
Lack of sleep also affects your mood and your performance. It makes it harder for you to concentrate, which means you’re not as productive at work. Sleep debt can make you irritable or depressed and otherwise affect your mood. You even age more quickly when you don’t get enough sleep.
Another major problem with sleep debt is that it causes you to be more accident prone. About 100,000 automobile accidents occur due to sleep deprivation every year resulting in 1500 deaths and about $12.5 billion dollars in damages. Numerous industrial accidents are also caused by a lack of sleep. The famous Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska was not caused by alcohol as most people think. In the trial, it was found that sleepiness was the actual cause. It cost $2 billion dollars to clean up that spill and Exxon was fined $5 billion.
The bad news is that one-half of all Americans suffer from some degree of insomnia and about one-third suffer from life-disrupting insomnia. So a large percentage of the population is suffering from sleep debt and/or poor quality sleep.
There are many factors that contribute to sleep problems. These include stress and anxiety, dehydration, a sedentary lifestyle, poor nutrition, the over use of stimulants like caffeine and artificial lighting. If you’re having trouble falling asleep, staying asleep or sleeping soundly, it’s important to examine your lifestyle and determine what you can do to get the sleep you need. Here are some tips to help you get a healthy night sleep every night.
Designed to help you get the sleep you need, sleeping pills do just the opposite. Studies have shown over and over that the most important sleep is stage four and REM sleep—stage four sleep is vital for growth and repair of the body; REM sleep is crucial for growth, development, and repair of the brain. But sleeping pills suppress this deep sleep and you lose out on the sleep you really need. The lower sleep quality these pills give leaves you with a “hangover” the next morning.
Sleeping pills are also addictive, and the body builds up a tolerance to them. Soon you are taking more and more pills for less and less sleep. Insomnia can actually be a side effect of these drugs. For these reasons, few sleep specialists prescribe sleeping pills for insomnia.
Set a Bedtime
Establish a bedtime and rising time and stick to it. Don’t keep your body’s clock guessing. Chances are, if you teach your body that certain hours are for sleeping and others are for waking, your body will respond naturally. And to help you set your body clock, try spending some time in the bright sunlight between 7 and 9 am. This should help your body conform to a cycle of light/dark. Also, remember that the best quality sleep starts before midnight.
When your sleep cycle is disrupted, such as the jet lag you experience after crossing multiple times zones when traveling, try taking Melatonin Extrashortly before it’s time to go to sleep. This will help reset your sleep cycle.
Watch What You Eat
Next, take a look at what you put into your body. Insomnia, as well as tossing about or crying out at night, can be a sign of food intolerance. Some of the most common foods to watch out for are dairy products, wheat, corn, and chocolate.
The caffeine in chocolate could also be causing sleep problems. In fact, you may need to cut caffeine entirely out of your diet. That means no coffee, tea, or cola. Sometimes even a few cups of coffee in the morning can be stimulating enough to interfere with the quality and quantity of sleep you get. In fact, if you want better sleep, avoid any stimulant in the evening, including spicy foods.
Exercise
Regular exercise can also put you on the path to better sleep. It helps relieve tension and anxiety and can relax the body. In a study of 50 men and women over age 67, half performed 45 minutes of aerobic exercise 3 times a week, and half did stretching exercises with the same frequency. After 6 months, those in the aerobic group were getting 33% more sleep than before. They were also secreting 30% more human growth hormone (hgh) which spurs cell division and organ growth, and has an overall rejuvenating effect. No one in the stretching group showed any changes in sleep quality or hgh.
It appears that exercise helps you sleep because it heats you up. Exercise in the afternoons raises body temperatures very slightly till bedtime and this extra heat seems to drop the body into deeper sleep.
Another study tried heat without exercise and found similar, though not as dynamic, results. Nine female insomniacs over age 60 were treated to a half hour soak in a hot bath (105ËšF) about one hour before bed. That night, they woke fewer times and got a few more minutes deep sleep. The second night, they got even more deep sleep—an average of 18 minutes more per person. As with the study on exercise, heat seems to be the key. Lukewarm baths had no effect.
Still, if you are capable of participating in moderate aerobic exercise—a long walk after dinner may be enough to get you sleeping better—consider making it a part of your daily life. People who are reasonably active shouldn’t have problems sleeping even in their eighties.
Relax in the Evening
Make sure that when you do exercise, it’s not too close to bedtime. Exercise’s stimulating effect might not have enough time to wear off, and, come bedtime, you could be wide-awake instead of lost in sleep. In fact, avoid all activities that would get your adrenaline pumping in the evening. This includes watching exciting TV shows or movies, listening to loud stimulating music, playing video games or even reading thrilling novels. Instead, pick evening activities that help you wind down, such as listening to relaxing music, reading uplifting books or sharing a massage with your partner.
Also, seek to make your bedroom a place that is conducive to rest, not work or recreation. Remove TVs, computers, cell phones and other distractions from your sleep area and keep your bedroom uncluttered. Most importantly, don’t work or keep work materials in your sleep area. Also, keep electrical equipment, including digital clocks at least three feet away from your bed to minimize electromagnetic influences while you sleep.
Darken Your Room
The natural way to fall asleep is for your body to convert a neurotransmitter called serotonin into melatonin. Melatonin puts you to sleep. Your pineal gland starts converting serotonin to melatonin when it gets dark. Even a pilot light and the light from an LED clock will inhibit this process and help contribute to keeping you awake.
Unfortunately, with the advent of electric lights, we extend our day into the evening hours. This prevents us from falling asleep naturally. Watching TV, staring at a computer screen and artificial light all inhibit sleep. So, make your bedroom as dark as possible and as the time for sleep approaches, turn off the TV and computer and get into a darkened room. You may even want to try wearing a sleep mask.
If darkening the room doesn’t work, try taking 5-HTP Power about one hour before bedtime. 5-HTP is a precursor to serotonin, which will increase production of melatonin when you turn out all the lights and make your bedroom as dark as possible.
Hydration
Not drinking enough fluid can make you feel anxious and tense. Proper hydration calms the brain and promotes better sleep. Try drinking at least 1/2 ounce of pure fluids per pound of body weight per day. In other words, two quarts (64 ounces) is the right amount for a 128 pound person.
If you have a problem with waking up to urinate, drink more fluid during the day, but not a lot in the evening. You may also need to take something to strengthen your kidneys, such as KB-C or work on your adrenals and blood sugar as explained below.
Herbs and Nutrients for Better Sleep
When lifestyle changes aren't enough, herbs and supplements may help you get the sleep you need. Stress can be a big factor in sleep deprivation. Try taking Nutri-Calm, with it’s B-Complex vitamins and vitamin C during the day to help your nerves. Many people are also magnesium deficient, so adding Magnesium Complex to your supplement program may also be helpful. Liquid Calcium, taken at bedtime, may also help you relax and sleep better.
If you have a hard time relaxing at night, try taking some nervine herbs in the evening. A good choice is Herbal Sleep which contains three soporific (sleep-inducing) herbs: hops, valerian and passion flower. Try taking two to four capsules about one hour before bed.
Another relaxing remedy is kava kava. If you have a lot of muscle tension, this is a good remedy to help your muscles to relax so you get a better night’s sleep. Take one to two capsules about one hour prior to bed, either by itself or with the Herbal Sleep suggested above.
If you’re still having trouble getting your mind to quiet down, GABA Plus orpassion flower may be helpful. Take these supplements about one hour before bedtime. If you are easily distracted by small things (such as a dripping faucet or other small noises), try taking two capsules of Magnesium Complex, emptying the contents under your tongue about one hour before bedtime. Let the magnesium sit in your mouth for ten to fifteen seconds before washing it down with some water.
If you don’t have trouble falling asleep, but wake up easily and have a hard time going back to sleep, this can be a sign of adrenal exhaustion from long term stress. One of the best remedies for this is Nervous Fatigue Formula. Taking four capsules of the regular Nervous Fatigue Formula or one capsule of the concentrated formula two to three times per day (including at bedtime) will often have people sleeping more soundly within three to four nights.
For more serious adrenal exhaustion, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, Adrenal Support may be helpful. A typical dose is one capsule two to three times daily, including one at bedtime.
If you wake up in the middle of the night thinking about your problems and unable to get back to sleep, this can also be a sign of blood sugar problems. What is happening is that your blood sugar is dropping too low in the middle of the night and your adrenal glands are firing off stress hormones (adrenaline and cortisol) to elevate your blood sugar. Avoiding sugar, white flour products, alcohol and caffeine will help. Take two licorice root and two Super Algae with breakfast and lunch to stabilize your blood sugar.
Also eat a small protein-rich snack at bedtime, such as a couple of tablespoons of almond butter, peanut butter or cottage cheese or a few raw walnuts.
Hopefully these suggestions will help you pay off your sleep debt and get the much-needed rest you deserve.