Sleep

Can we sleep ourselves thin? Could sleep be our secret weapon against the corona virus? Let me unpack with you the incredible science around sleep and how essential it is for all aspects of our health.

Now I am a firm believer that we need solid foundations in all the areas we are looking at:

• nutrition, 
• movement, 
• rest
• connection. 

Each foundation has the potential to feed and strengthen other areas, carving a pathway towards feeling great. 

But from my understanding of the science and my clinical experience over the years: sleep has to come first. It can just be too hard to make adjustments to how we eat, how we move, how we rest, and how we connect when we are sleep deprived.

As a nation, we are currently sleeping 1-2 hours less sleep than 60 years ago, that's a whopping 25% cut in the zzzz.

The consequence of our chronic sleep deprivation is nothing short of catastrophic.

Twenty years ago, we didn't understand even why we needed to sleep. We knew that if we didn't sleep, we died. We knew it to be a great form of torture. But that was it.

The research has now exploded on to the medical stage, and it is utterly stunning. What happens while we sleep is nothing short of miraculous! No drug in the world that can rival its power. It begs the question of why do we wake up, not why do we sleep!

Unfortunately, maybe due to a lack of our understanding, we have not valued sleep as a culture. With the pressure on work productivity, a busy social life while maintaining a home and family life, sleep has been squeezed. 

30 years on, we are literally feeling it physically and mentally and without a doubt, is it a significant contributor to all disease.

 A whole lot of essential activity goes on while we sleep affecting nearly every system in the body. The evidence of the impact of sleep deprivation and its link with many chronic diseases is irrefutable. It is driving our rates of heart disease, obesity, chronic pain, fibromyalgia, diabetes, depression and anxiety. 

So, what's the fuss?

It is a bit like the local supermarket when they restock the shelves at night. If this doesn't happen, they may get by the next day, but after a few days, the supermarket can't operate as a supermarket as it has nothing to sell.

So, it is with our bodies. When we sleep, our body is very busy healing us, preparing us for what is to come mentally, physically and emotionally i.e. restocking the shelves for business. 

We know that adequate, good quality sleep is linked with:

• Reduced risk of being overweight
• Improved immune function (the body's ability to fight disease)
• Reduced risk of developing a chronic illness such as diabetes, heart disease and Alzheimer's.
• Better memory and concentration.
• Increased life expectancy.
• Fewer sugar cravings
• Reduced risk of anxiety and depression.
• Enhancing our ability to problem solve
• Essential to our creativity
• Better physical performance
• Better sexual performance

This is to name a few of the benefits. This is why it is often an excellent place to start as we are working towards the goal of feeling and looking great.

So how much is enough?

This is individual to each person. It sits somewhere between 7.5 - 9 hours.

Now let me be clear here. I am not talking about 7.5 -9 hours in bed, but asleep. Even the most efficient sleeper will only sleep 90% of the time they are in bed. We need to account for this.

Some simple questions to ask yourself when working out if you have slept well enough would be:

• Do I feel refreshed?
• Do I need a coffee to wake me up?
• Do I wake up without an alarm?
• Am I falling asleep in the daytime?

Now, for some, there is a need to go to bed earlier, switch off Netflix ahead on up. But for others, I included, sleep can be an elusive thing.

If you would like to hear more about how to recover your sleep, head over to my you tube channel and listen in here