Transcript Become Hot Spot Healthy

60-DAY
Group Wellness Program
sleep tight
Reasons for not getting enough
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Too much to do
Wake in the early hours and can’t get back to sleep
Second wind late at night
‘Tired but wired’ syndrome
End up watching television too late without meaning to
Kids or babies waking you up in the night
Partner snores
Have to go to the toilet in the night (nocturia)
Noisy street outside
Lack of physical exercise – mind is tired, but body isn’t
How much should we get?
• The average person in the USA gets just 6.7 hours of sleep per
night, according to the National Sleep Foundation.
• Between 50 and 70 million Americans suffer from sleep disorders.
• The National Sleep Foundation also reports that studies show that
sleeping for less than seven hours per night is associated with
increased risk of illness and death.
How much do we need?
• Between seven and eight hours is recommended, although it varies
between individuals and age groups.
• Teens need between eight and a half and nine and a half hours
each night, and older people tend to sleep less.
• Oversleeping is linked with chronic illness such as heart disease
and diabetes, and increased risk of death.
• One study of over a million Americans showed that those sleeping
either less or more than seven hours per night had an increased risk
of mortality, suggesting that seven hours could be the average
ideal. (Kripke et al., 2002).
How much do we need?
• However, needs vary and you yourself are probably the best
judge of how much you need in order to feel refreshed and to
function optimally.
• People in the Hot Spots get good sleep. They go to bed when it
gets dark and gets up when it gets light.
• A University of Rome study on sleep habits in Campodimele found
that locals slept eight hours per night on average. Campodimelani
were also found to have good circadian rhythms due to going to
bed during hours of darkness and being awake during hours of
daylight.
Good sleep = good health
Sleep reduces stress
• When we sleep well, we are less prone to becoming stressed, and
when we are stressed, we are less likely to sleep well.
• Stress is aging and encourages chronic disease.
Sleep is anti-cancer
• Good sleep boosts the immunity, which we need for destroying
cancer cells.
• It has been found that people working night shifts have a higher
risk of getting breast or colon cancer (Karbownik et al. 2001). This
is thought to be due to a lack of melatonin, the sleep-promoting
hormone we produce in darkness, which is antioxidant and has
anti-cancer properties.
• To boost your melatonin production, make sure your bedroom is
dark and turn off electrical appliances emitting light or put a dark
cover over them.
Sleep protects the heart
• Sleep deprivation is ‘a ticking time-bomb’ in terms of raising the risk
of getting heart disease or stroke, according to a recent large-scale
UK study, with those sleeping less than six hours a night having a 48
percent increased risk of having heart disease. (Cappuccio et al.,
2011).
• The likely reasons for this include increased levels of stress hormones,
excess inflammation, raised blood pressure, raised cholesterol and
unbalanced blood sugar levels.
• Over-sleeping is also linked with a higher risk of heart disease: the
Nurses’ Health Study involving 72,000 women showed that those
sleeping more than nine hours per night had a 38 percent increased
risk of getting coronary heart disease than those sleeping for eight
hours.
Sleep promotes repair
• During deep sleep, our levels of HGH, or human growth hormone,
reach peak levels.
• HGH is needed for repairing our cells and tissues. Sleep is
essential for our bodies to do any repair work they have been too
‘busy’ to do during the day.
Sleep boosts mental function
• We have better memory and concentration after a refreshing night’s
sleep.
• ‘Drowsy driving’ can be as dangerous as drink driving, with 100,000
crashes a year caused by insufficient sleep, according to the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
• Even if you think you need to work during the night time, you may
produce work more efficiently if you limit working hours to daytime
and make sure you get to bed at a reasonable hour.
• Some people find that over-sleeping can cause headaches; it is
thought that this may be caused by the effect of over-sleeping on
certain neurotransmitters. Both insomnia and over-sleeping are
thought to be linked to depression.
Keeps immune system working
• ‘Sleep is the best medicine’, the saying goes. When we are asleep,
the immune system increases production of certain disease-fighting
agents.
• Studies show that sleep deprivation lowers immunity, and it is
thought that when a nation as a whole is sleep deprived, this may
have far-reaching consequences for public health.
Helps keep you slim
• Getting enough sleep can help keep your weight down!
• In a study of 1.1 million Americans, it was found that sleeping less
than seven hours per night increases the risk of obesity. (Kripke et
al., 2002).
• Studies also show that not sleeping enough leads to lower levels of
leptin, the hormone which switches our appetite off, and
28 percent higher levels of ghrelin, the hormone which makes us
want to eat.
• Other studies show that sleep deprivation impairs glucose
tolerance, leading to weight gain. (Spiegel K, 1999, 2004).
Getting a good night’s sleep
Getting a good night’s sleep
Go to bed and get up at the same time each day
• Going to bed and rising at the same times each day helps our circadian
rhythms to function properly so that we are alert in the day and sleepy at
night. This way we are more able to produce the right hormones for being
awake and for sleeping.
• We are designed to sleep during darkness and be awake during hours of
light.
Have a bedtime routine
• Try having the same routine before bedtime most nights, in which you do a
relaxing activity such as reading, meditating or having a hot bath before
you go to sleep.
Getting a good night’s sleep
Have an electronic sundown
• Avoid watching television or browsing the internet before bed, since these
are stimulating activities which may keep you awake long after you turn
them off, and will also disrupt the production of melatonin.
Rules of sleep
Teenagers and sleep
• If you are a teenager or the parent of one, be aware that teens produce
growth hormone later in the evening which prevents the secretion of
melatonin. This is why teens often want to stay up late or cannot get to
sleep even if they want to, which can make them tired and irritable when
they have to get up early for school the next day.
Rules of sleep
Focus on the breath
• If you tend to lie in bed worrying, try meditating or simply focusing on the
breath. Let the thoughts which come into your head float past, and keep
returning to the breath.
• Example: Breathe in…breathe out. Breathe in…breathe out. ‘Oh my
goodness I totally forgot to boil the eggs for the kids’ packed lunches’.
Breathe in…breathe out. ‘I’m so annoyed with my neighbor for taking my
parking place when he knows perfectly well that I always park there’.
Breathe in…breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in…
• This can help you get to sleep and it can also make the times when you
are awake restful rather than exhausting, so that you wake up refreshed
in the morning.
Rules of sleep
Check your magnesium and calcium levels
• If you don’t have a problem falling asleep, but you regularly wake in the
early hours and have trouble getting back to sleep, you may be short of
magnesium and/or calcium. These are also known as the ‘calming’
minerals.
• Leg cramps or twitching legs are a good indicator, since magnesium and
calcium work together to help muscles relax.
• If you suspect you have this problem, try taking a magnesium and calcium
supplement before bed.
• Dark green leafy vegetables and seeds are also good sources of these
minerals.
Rules of sleep
Look after your adrenals
• Many people are tired throughout the day but have a ‘second wind’
during the night. This is also known as being ‘tired but wired.’
• This can be a sign of adrenal fatigue, which is common in people today as
a result of poor diet and chronic stress.
• A good diet, avoiding stimulants such as sugar or coffee, and adopting
healthy lifestyle habits can help the adrenals to recover. Going to bed
before 10pm is also recommended so as to help hormones to function
well.
Rules of sleep
Use ear plugs and eye masks
• Eye masks and ear plugs can solve problems with noisy street or
household sounds or light coming in through the window.
Take cat naps
• In the Mediterranean Hot Spots, many people take siestas during the
midday heat.
• A six-year study of 24,000 Greeks found that those who napped had a
37 percent lower risk of getting heart disease. This was thought to be
because having a nap reduced stress from work (Naska et al., 2007).
• Naps can also help you feel relaxed and less ‘wired’ at bedtime.
• If sleeping makes you feel bad when you wake, try just lying down for ten
minutes and meditating or focusing on the breath instead. Japanese office
workers do this in order to make their work day more productive.
Rules of sleep
Don’t go to bed too hungry or too full
• Digesting and sleeping do not make good bed companions. Therefore, try
to eat three or even four hours before you go to bed.
• Also avoid going to bed hungry as this may prevent you from getting a
good night’s sleep.
• Try having a warm drink and a small snack around bedtime.
• Avoid having caffeine, alcohol or sugar too close to bedtime, since these
are stimulants and may disturb your sleep.
• Eating some whole grains at the evening meal can promote sleep, since
carbohydrates encourage the release of serotonin which will help you
relax.
Rules of sleep
Don’t go to bed too hungry or too full
• A study conducted in the UK in 2005 indicated that eating cheese before
bed seems to promote good sleep as well as pleasant dreams, including
dreams about the film star Johnny Depp.
• The effect was put down partly to the presence of the amino acid
tryptophan in cheese, which is converted to serotonin.
• However, cheese is high in saturated fat and is not easily digestible, and it
comes as no surprise to find that this study was conducted by the British
Cheese Board.
• Tryptophan is also present in turkey, so eating some turkey at supper time
may be a preferable alternative.
NEXT WEEK:
how does this end?