If you are a parent, you may know the book, Go the F@*K to Sleep by Adam Mansbach. It is written like a children’s book, but is really a book for parents. The book is a reflection of just how exhausted parents are when their kids don’t sleep, and thus, the parents get no sleep. In our house, if our teenager should be in bed, we say “GTFTS!” (Good parenting? Bad parenting? That’s for you to decide, but our family finds it hilarious.)
Sleep is one of the most important things we can do to optimize our brain, optimize our body, and optimize our life. If you generally feel overwhelmed, fatigued, irritable, have mood swings, and can’t focus, the first thing to work on is getting enough sleep. Adequate sleep is the simplest way to feel better, yet it is one of the lifestyle interventions that we struggle with the most.
Our culture does not value sleep and glorifies overworking, over studying, and not needing to sleep. You know the common quote: “I’ll sleep when I am dead.” The reality is, the less sleep we get, the faster we physically and mentally deteriorate. And, most of us are sleep deprived, but may not know it. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health found that 40 percent of Americans get less than five hours of sleep, and 75 percent suffer from some form of sleep disorder.
Here are just a few of the many reasons why we need sleep:
- Not enough sleep makes us feel disoriented, overwhelmed, and often dizzy and shaky.
- Inadequate sleep leads to unstable moods, irritability, and an inability to focus on tasks.
- Sleep is when the brain clears out the amyloid plaques that contribute to dementia.
- Sleep is when the brain organizes and stores memories.
- Sleep is when the brain solidifies learning.
- Adequate sleep increases work performance.
- Adequate sleep increases test scores in teens and kids.
- When you sleep, your hormones repair organs and rebuild muscles.
- Sleep activates human growth hormone (HGH), which is important for proper development in kids and teens. Human growth hormone also helps your body burn excess fat.
- A single night of inadequate sleep can decrease your natural killer cells (immunity) by as much as 70%.
- Poor sleep increases confusion and poor reaction time, leading to an increase in the risk of getting into a car accident. (This is especially important for our new teen drivers to know.)
In general, infants and babies function best with 14-17 hours of sleep a night, primary and elementary kids with 9-11 hours a night, teenagers with 9-10 hours a night (and they need to go to bed later and sleep in later than kids and adults do due to their internal clock changing at this age), and adults over 20 years old with 7-8 hours a night in the summer and 8-9 hours in the fall and winter.
If you are having trouble sleeping, here are some basic sleep hygiene tips for you:
Sleep Consistency: Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, even on weekends.
Adjust Slowly: It can be hard to suddenly increase our sleep by an hour, so adjust your bedtime by 10 minutes at a time. For one week, add in an extra 10 minutes of sleep by going to bed 10 minutes earlier. Then the next week, add in another 10 minutes. Keep with this pattern until you are getting enough sleep.
Cut Blue Light: Blue light from the tv, phones, tablet, and indoor lighting does not allow our body to produce melatonin, which is a hormone that triggers sleep. Wear glasses that block blue light 1-2 hours before you go to sleep. Change your kids bedroom light to a blue block light bulb if they won’t wear glasses.
Prep Your Room: Your bedroom should be comfortable and calming, and not have excess light from devices and windows. Install blackout curtains and cover the light from your chargers, clocks, and other devices with a scarf or tape. (We put black electrical tape over all of the power lights on our chargers.) We sleep better in colder temperatures, so set your thermostat to 60-65 degrees.
Have a Sleep Ritual: Start getting ready for bed a half-hour before you want to fall asleep. Have a typical routine such as washing your face, brushing your teeth, writing down three things you are grateful for that day, then sitting quietly and doing some deep breathing for 2-5 minutes before you try and fall asleep.
Cut Alcohol Before Bed: Alcohol is a sedative, but sedation is not the same thing as actual sleep. Sedation does not allow our brain to go through all of it’s sleep cycles, such as REM sleep, which are needed for proper brain function.
To hear more about how our family increased our sleep hours and sleep quality, and what products we use, check out our YouTube video here.
Yours in Health and Happiness,
Coach Katie
Resources and References:
“The End of Alzheimer’s” by Dr. Dale Bredesen
Why You Should Aim to Avoid Inflammatory Foods
“Memory Rescue” by Dr. Daniel Amen
“Why We Sleep” by Dr. Matthew Walker
The Impact of Daily Sleep Duration on Health: A Review of the Literature