April 2025: Why We Need S-l-e-e-p

A lot of Americans, are not getting enough sleep. The 7 to 9 hours of sleep, recommended by the National Sleep Foundation, is what many of us can only wish for. For sure, our ancestors (before TV and nighttime sports), were packing in some good solid sleep.

Sleep depravation has become part of our modern lives due to the availability of hundreds of entertainment channels, plus the World Wide Web and other countless distractions. Also, we now have an enormous amount on our minds at sleep time. For many, sleep has become a scarce luxury. It's a major critical element for our healthy well-being.

Continuous lack of sleep is guaranteed to deteriorate all the markers for continued physical and mental good health. This greatly affects Brain and energy performance, as well as raising the risk for common diseases.

WHY SLEEP ?

There are reasons we spend about a third of our lives sleeping.

For one thing, we have been constantly on the go for 16 hours, mentally, and physically. Sleep can be best expressed as a resetting and rejuvenating period for the Brain, which uses almost a quarter of our energy.

Brain cells require nightly housekeeping to sweep out all the residues and toxins from the days activities.

THE FIVE STAGES OF SLEEP

A typical night's sleep consists of five stages:

• Stages 1&2, light sleep

• Stages 3&4, deep-slow wave sleep

• Stage 5, REM, or deep sleep and dreaming.

REM gets longer during the night. Non-REM periods get shorter.

This suggests REM has a super important job to do consolidating new information from the days work and allowing all Brain components to refresh themselves for the next new day.

QUALITY VS. QUANTITY

If you want to wake up full of vitality, it's crucial that our Brains have time to remove all metabolic waste products and toxins left over from the previous days activities. This renewal action is called autophagy", which literally means,

"taking out the trash". A clean sweep during deep sleep periods means you are ready and refreshed to take on anything the next day.

Fitful, or light sleep nights of any length, are not good for mental, or physical health. Lack of solid sleep changes the appetite control hormone leptin, creating an abnormal desire for sweets and other kinds of junk food. The buildup of metabolic debris and toxins that accumulate in the brain can lead to brain fog, or more serious Brain disorders. Long-term chronic insomnia may require professional medical help.

GET UP - READY TO GO

A few easy steps are needed to overcome AM grogginess. You want to be fully refreshed and ready to take on the day.

• Aim for a regular sleep schedule. Bedtime to dawn sleep hours should be similar throughout your life. Huge studies show that 7 to 9 hours sleep works best.

• Avoid alcohol 3-4 hours before bedtime. Alcohol before bedtime interferes with your metabolism causing a disruption in sleep stages 3&4 (first page). This is when the body clears out unnecessary brain proteins, like amyloid plaque, insuring a clean-toxin free brain for the new day.

•   Over-the-counter sleep aids are not always effective. Some contain ingredients that may leave you groggy in the AM.

Melatonin (a hormone) has a good track record by enabling circadian sleep rhythms and many other functions. Melatonin diminishes with age and may require supplementation. Always check with your doctor before taking any sleep aid.

•   Drink water (not coffee) first thing upon arising. This overcomes the 7-9 hours of dehydration occurring during sleep and will help overcome grogginess upon waking.

•   Get some sunshine, first thing, upon awakening. Sunshine triggers a re-set of your circadian rhythm causing your hormones and enzymes to synchronize. If possible take a nice walk and get some vitamin D. This will make you feel fresh and alert the entire

PRODUCTIVE DREAMING

To get more our of your sleeping hours, join the trend to take control of your dreams. Lucid dreaming opens the door for busy people to meet life's complexities.

The concept of lucid dreaming is popular with college students who are constantly facing exams and memory problems. Lucid dreaming adherents report the ability to dig into deep REM dreams that occur about every 90 minutes. The idea is to enhance memory and solve problems.

Steps to reach lucid dreaming are complex, but possible with dedicated application. A guide book is recommended:

"The Beginners Guide to Lucid Dreaming", by Damian Blair.

SLEEP TIPS

•   Keep the bedroom as dark as possible.

•   Sleep a little on the cool side. This acclimates oneself to temperature variations.

•   Remove electronic devices from the room.

•   Wake up with the sun. This helps to regulate one's body clock with the planets normal rhythm.

•   It's impossible to catch up with lost sleep. Resume a normal sleep pattern as soon as possible.

•   If you like to nap, try to do it in the early afternoon. Try to keep it within 30 minutes, so it doesn't interfere with regular sleep.

This sleep bulletin by Roger and Arlene. Remember, we are on the web: www.newhealthorder.org.