According to Matthew Walker, sleep is the FOUNDATIONAL PILLAR OF HEALTH. Matthew is a Professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of California, Berkley, the director at the Center for Human Sleep Science and bestselling author of "Why We Sleep". Professor Tim Spector's latest Instagram post, echoes Walker's findings with: "If you do one thing for your health today, go to bed earlier". He is a professor of Genetic Epidemiology at King's College London and a well- known author of "The Diet Myth" and "Spoon Fed". As a Nutritional Health Coach, sleep is something that always comes into the discussion with my clients sooner or later. Once explored and improved, it never fails to make a very positive impact on their health and wellbeing.
Surviving on very little sleep and burning the candle at both ends used to be a badge of honour for some of us. It was the sign of an exciting life lived in the fast lane. Luckily, due to better research and knowledge, most of us realise that good quality, regular sleep is the best recipe for optimal health, happiness and being able to live life to the full.
In a recent podcast, Matthew said that “Sleep really is the tide that raises all the other health boats”. Apparently if you are getting a consistently good quantity and quantity of sleep every night, then there is a high chance that you will be in good health too. He went on to say that the experts tell us that sleep effects your brain, hormones and genetic expression. Many of us take drugs in order to rectify or keep health conditions at bay. In fact, it seems you can improve or even cure a lot of them by simply improving the quality and quantity of your sleep.
Professor Walker reveals that today in the UK we have cut our sleep per night by almost twenty percent. Back in the nineteen forty's, most people were getting an average of seven point nine hours of sleep per night. Now, we sleep for an on average of six hours and thirty minutes per night. Walker goes on to say that "In medicine and research in pharmaceuticals we are often trying to manipulate one pathway in one area of the metabolic system or one aspect of the immune system or one feature of the cardiovascular system and sleep affects all of those". You can see therefore what a winning formula just making sure we get enough of it can be, if good sleep can target and improve all three things at once.
The Immune System and Sleep Facts
The immune system and sleep are inextricably linked and affect our health in the following ways, according to Professor Walker. You might be surprised by some of the following, quoted from a recent podcast:
"If you only get five hours of sleep a night, you are four times more likely to catch a cold than those sleeping eight hours or more".
"It does not take one week of short sleep deprivation, just one night is enough to cause an effect".
"If you take healthy individuals and limit them to just four hours of sleep for one single night, there is a seventy percent drop in critical anti-cancer fighting immune cells called natural killer cells. These cells are wonderful immune assassins that help decrease our cancer risk and fight infection. Part of that critical innate immune response".
"When we get enough sleep – there is a change in the autonomic nervous system, this automatic part of our nervous system. This system works in two branches –
The accelerator pedal which gets us revved up and triggers the fight or flight response.
The break that calms us down. When we go into a deep sleep, we apply that break to the nervous system. Our heart rate decreases and everything calms down. This is the best blood pressure medication on the planet! The levels of cortisol also drop down. During this time the body goes into an “immune stimulation mode”. You are restocking the armament of your immune army".
Have you noticed that when you are ill, have a cold or are injured, you are much more tired and just want to sleep? Our bodies are so clever and work with our brains to signal that this is what we need to get better. This in turn enables our immune system to fight off infection and recover. It really does not matter what is wrong with us, sleep will enable our body to heal itself successfully with larger than usual doses of it. It is such a perfect response and shows the genius of the human body. Whatever ailment you are facing, it is more than likely that sleep has a tool in the box to try and help fight it.
Another Interesting Fact
If people are trying to lose weight and are dieting, but are not getting sufficient sleep, seventy percent of all the weight they lose will come from lean muscle mass and not fat. This is because your body becomes very loathe to give up its fat when you are under slept. So in fact dieting does not have the desired effect in this situation. You want to keep the muscle and lose the fat, but sleep deprivation will do the opposite to you.
The reason for this is due to two hormones. Without sufficient sleep, two critical appetite hormones, namely leptin and ghrelin go in opposite bad directions. Leptin signals to your body that you are full and ghrelin signals that you are not full and want to eat more. The levels of leptin drop down and ghrelin levels go up steeply if you are sleep deprived, so we end up eating on average two hundred - three hundred extra calories every day.
As if this was not enough, if you are sleep deprived and feel tired, it is less likely that you will be motivated to exercise. Even if you do exercise, the intensity of your workout will not be as strong. It will therefore be less effective and less efficient.
Therefore, improving your sleep can improve your diet and exercise. Improving your diet and exercise also improves the quality of your sleep. It is a win-win situation!
It is safe to say that whatever you are suffering from – sleep is going to help you with it! It will also help to reduce the risk of getting disease in the future.
Top tips for improved sleep and health
Have a routine – going to bed and waking up at the same time is key
try to avoid what Matthew Walker calls "social jet lag” at the weekend.
Temperature is key – eighteen degrees centigrade is apparently the optimal temperature for good sleep.
Darkness – this allows the release of the hormone melatonin. This helps time the healthy onset of your sleep. Blue light emitting devices are definitely things to stay away from an hour before bed. Overhead lights and any kind of bright light, including spot lights in the bathroom will make us wake up again and confuses our brain. Make sure you have good curtains that do not let the light in, as this can wake you up in the summer when it gets light very early.
Walk it out - if you are awake in bed for twenty to twenty five minutes do not stay in bed. Your brain is an associative device and it will start to learn that being in bed is about being awake rather than asleep. If you have this problem then go to a different room in dim light, read a book or listen to a podcast and only return to bed when you are very sleepy. That way your brain will relearn that your bedroom is the place of sleep.
Caffeine – if you have a cup of coffee at noon, one quarter of that caffeine is still circulating around your brain at midnight. It is like drinking a quarter of a cup of coffee just when you go to bed and hoping for a good night’s sleep. Often people don’t think caffeine affects them but if they reduce or eliminate it, their sleep quality goes up. Decaffeinated drinks still contain some caffeine and can effect your sleep. Tea and many other sports and soft drinks contain a lot of caffeine.
Food - eating too close to bed time can really effect your sleep. Some people find intermittent fasting and time controlled eating where they start and finish eating at particular times each day can make a huge difference to the quality of their sleep.
You may have to change three to four things together in order to get a better night’s sleep.
For example, no alcohol or caffeine together can be worth trying. We are all bio-individual and so it is good to experiment yourself and find out what helps you get the best night's sleep for optimal health.
Sources:
Why We Sleep by Professor Matthew Walker
"Feel Better Live More" Bitesize podcast with Professor Matthew Walker, "Get Better Sleep"
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