HOW IMPORTANT IS SLEEP?

So many people have issues with sleep in this day and age. Sleep is so important and especially if you are trying to lose weight. Not only that it really affects everything in our lives if we don’t get enough sleep. 

WE NEED TO FALL BACK IN LOVE WITH SLEEP AND MAKE IT IMPORTANT AGAIN!!

Dr Rubin Naiman suggests that sleep is one of the four cornerstones of health along with nutrition. Sleep and nutrition are complementary of each other as both are very important.

Food does impact our sleep and dreams and also sleeping habits impact eating, metabolism and weight. Who would have thought what we put into our bodies would impact our sleep. I know that if I eat a heavy meal my body feels unrested in the morning and that is because your body is not resting during the night it is trying to digest all the food you have forced into your body sometimes right before bed.

Women are twice as likely to seek food when they are hungry than men when they have had no sleep. This is an interesting fact because when I am tired I fill up on food that is not so healthy. Now that I understand that my body acts in this way I always try to make sure that I get at least 8 hours of sleep a night. These foods are high glycemic foods that push are energy upwards quickly such as high sugar foods.

People have forgotten what rest is, it is not recreation. Rest is not drinking alcohol or smoking. To truly rest we must stop what we are doing and just be able to sit and be in the quiet even if it’s for a short period of time. This is why meditation is so good because we can quiet the mind. So many people struggle to sit quietly even for a few minutes.

Insomnia is associated with increased body and brain metabolic rates, elevated heart rates, elevated night time cortisol and decreased melatonin production. People who don’t sleep well generally have an elevated body temperature. People who sleep well are generally cooler in temperature.

We need to know how to release all this energy and heat at night time to be able to sleep well.   Sleep disorders in America are the number 1 health problem today.

There is all sorts of data being released about diseases that are associated with lack of sleep such as increased risks of infections, insulin resistance, obesity, cancer, arthritis, mood disorders and cardiovascular disease and autoimmune disease.

Sleep used to be in the rhythms of nature when the sun went down we went to bed and fell asleep only to wake when the sun came up. Our sleep is very artificial today. We put ourselves to sleep with medications and all sorts of devices. There is nothing natural about sleep today.

We get most of our deep sleep in the first part of the night and our dream sleep in the last part of the night (so approaching morning). 

Dream is as critical as sleep. When we wake up during the night or towards the latter part of the night we miss out on the dream part of sleep. Dreaming helps us to consolidate our memories. Dreams are also involved in our emotional healing.  As the body digest and assimilates food the brain as we sleep digests and assimilates information this is how we learn.

Some medications, sleeping pills, alcohol and anti-depressants suppresses dreaming.

Make some good bedtimes habits that will help you have a good night sleep such as

·        Go to bed at the same time every night

·        Make sure your room is cool and dark

·        Have a shower or a bath with Epsom salts to wind down.

·        Make sure you have hydrated yourself during the day.

·        It’s nice to have clean sheets and a warm bed.

·        Check to see if your mattress supports your body during sleep or is it time to change it over.

·        Try food combining so the body can digest the food easily