get your zzz's, naturally

Everyone knows a good night’s sleep is a requirement for optimal well-being. A poor night’s sleep has an immediate impact on how one feels the next day, and multiple night’s of poor sleep can lead to major health problems from heart disease to cancer.

Rather than focus on long-term concerns, let’s simply focus on how we feel. A poor night’s sleep makes for a miserable next day, and the issue compounds when it becomes the norm. This is true of our children as well, a recent study showed that a child that get one less hour of sleep per night functions at a grade level two years behind. Meaning that a 6^th grader sleeping one hour less than they should has the cognitive function of a 4^th grader.1 Likely a similar effect in poor sleeping moms and dads as well.

There is no doubt that a good, consistent routine has an impact on quality sleep. Try to be consistent each evening and get started early enough to allow yourself the time to wind down. Be sure that your sleeping space is as dark as possible to allow a full pulse of melatonin, the sleep hormone stimulating a deep and restful sleep. Use a mask if you need one.

Lifestyle factors weigh heavy in quality sleep as well. People that spend the day eating processed grain products and refined sugars have spiking blood sugars, shown to increase the risk of restless leg syndrome and other sleep disturbances. Regular exercise also promotes good, quality sleep at night. Sleep apnea is a major contributor to sleep problems and should be managed with lifestyle change first. Not sure if sleep apnea is a culprit? Ask your doctor to order a free, in-home overnight oximetry test.

For most, reaching for a pharmaceutical to sleep becomes the last straw. Taking something allows them to achieve a decent night of sleep, and doctors, realizing the benefits of good sleep are quick to write the prescription. But is this the best laid plan? Recent evidence would suggest that in fact, sleeping pills may be too good to be true. People prescribed 18 or fewer doses of sleep aids per year were 3.6 times more likely to die than those who took none (18-132 doses = 4.3 times and more, and 132 doses were 5.3 times more likely to die). In addition, the high dose group was 35% more likely to have developed major cancer.2

Gotta sleep and can’t? Start by setting a course of lifestyle change, but sometimes more help is needed. I look at insomnia as two separate sleep problems: falling asleep or staying asleep. There are certainly cases of a combination, but often people suffer from one more than the other. Determining which affects you more will help in choosing the best starting point.

 Problems Falling Asleep:

- Breathe: Learning a series of breathing exercises can have great benefit in starting the sleep process. Read my blog post on breathing for more.

- Chamomile tea: Drink 1-2 cups while preparing for sleep. Caution in those with hay fever.

- Avoid caffeine after noon

- Herbal products that contain Valerian, Hops and/or Passionflower have been used for centuries without the concerns of modern sleep aids and can work well for assisting with sleep onset.

 Problems Staying Asleep:

-Melatonin: This sleep hormone is best in helping achieve a deep and restul night’s sleep. I prefer a controlled-release version to cover the whole night. Start at 1-2.5 mg and safely increase up to 10mg if needed. Ideally this is a temporary need for 4- 6 weeks.

 Mind Racing: Racing mind can be the culprit in either type of insomnia.

- Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy: An amazing form of therapy that has strong evidence for insomnia as well as depression, post-traumatic distress and behavior change.

- Overworking adrenals: Measuring bedtime salivary cortisol can help determine if its your adrenals, by stimulating inappropriate night time cortisol release, and driving restless sleep. If this is the case, some great assistance can come from:

            - Ashwaganda: A great herb for promoting calming and relaxation.

            - Phosphatidylserine and L-Theanine: Nutrients involved in the calming of an over-stressed system.

On the path toward optimal health, good quality sleep is essential. Start first with making the lifestyle changes you have been considering anyway: whole foods nutrition, regular exercise and practicing relaxation. After that, identigy the roots of your sleep issue and consider natural agents to help support good sleep. Consider them temporary support while you continue to work on your overall health.

Have you successfully improved your poor sleep? Please share your story below...

References:
1. Avi Sadeh, Reut Gruber and Amiram Raviv. The Effects of Sleep Restriction and Extension on School-Age Children: What a Difference an Hour Makes. Child Development Vol. 74, No. 2 (Mar. - Apr., 2003), pp. 444-455
2. Kripke DF, Langer RD, Kline LE. Hypnotics' association with mortality or cancer: a matched cohort study. BMJ Open Volume 2 Issue 1, 2012

when exercise hurts you

the relaxation breath

Breathing is one of the most powerful tools we have for promoting relaxation and calmness. So often we spend our days in short, quick rapid breathing. This is part of the fight-or-flight, stressed state that so often plagues our days.

The body is composed of two opposing neurological systems, the sympathetic and parasympathetic. The sympathetic nervous system is in charge of the fight-or-flight reaction. If you are in a stressful situation, like the classic example of the encounter with a bear in the woods (who's met a bear in the woods? the textbooks should switch to using a more appropriate analogy: you have 4 days of laundry to do, pay the bills, respond to 8 message on facebook, pick the kids up from school, settle the argument with your spouse, try to get some sleep and do it all again tomorrow), it's the sympathetic nervous system that takes over. It increases your heart rate, dilates the pupils, stimulates short, rapid breathing to try and get as much oxygen in as quickly as it can and diverts blood flow from places like the digestive system to the muscles to give your body the best chance of escape.

The parasympathetic system, on the other hand, is in charge of balance and homeostasis of the body. It's in charge of digestion, sleep, blinking your eyes and breathing. Only two things driven by the parasympathetic system can be taken off of auto-pilot and done forcibly: blinking eyes and breathing. I have not heard of any relaxation techniques involving forced eye blinking, so breathing becomes the best way for you to strengthen the parasympathetic system in its never ending desire to match wits with the sympathetic, over-stimulating overdrive.

The bottom line is spending time breathing more slowly, deeply and regularly will have great benefit in promoting peace. In addition, Dr. Weil teaches a relaxation breath on his audio CD, Breathing: The Master Key to Self-Healing. This is a great guide in helping you use your breath for health. I have successfully used the 4-7-8 technique both in my life and those of patients I have worked with.

Here's is a quick guide for strengthening your parasympathetic nervous system:

1. Find a quiet and relaxed atmosphere. 
2. Stand, sit or lie in a position that keeps the back straight.
3. Clear your mind of all thoughts and focus only on your breathing. Imagine the air coming into and then leaving your lungs. Do this for several minutes, getting into a relaxed state.
4. Try to make your breathing as slow, deep, quiet and regular as possible.
5. The Relaxation Breath:
   1. The tip of your tongue should be against the roof of your mouth, right behind your teeth, during this entire exercise.
   2. Close your lips and breathe in for 4 seconds.
   3. Hold that breath for 7 seconds.
   4. Open your mouth and push your lips out, exhaling that breath for 8 seconds.
   5. Repeat steps a-d for a series of 4 breaths.
   6. Finish by breathing regularly, continuing to focus on your breathing.
   7. You should notice an immediate feeling of peace after completing this exercise.

c'mon fort wayne, there's work to do

A recent Gallup index shows that Fort Wayne remains the fattest city in Indiana. That means our message is not loud enough. C'mon Fort Wayne, let's start making some serious commitments and lower this ranking, for the sake of March Madness:

1. Switch to plain yogurt from any type of non-plain, flavored, sweetened stuff

2. Have 2 dinners per week completely void of potatoes, rice, and bread products

3. When you have a craving for carbonated beverages, choose club soda with a lime

4. Once every day, do 15 wall slides (squats), 15 pushups (on floor or against wall) and 20 situps

5. Drink coffee black, or add a touch of heavy cream

6. Two days week snack only on: raw nuts, kale chips, grassfed beef jerky, 70% dark chocolate

7. Use Green Bean Delivery for one month and make 2 meals per weekly exclusively from whole foods

8. Spend a week avoiding all drive throughs. Instead, walk into a grocery store and buy cut vegetables, a rotisserie chicken and a bottle of water and have a meal and save the rest for dinner or tomorrow.

9. Order at Chipotle: Burrito Bowl, no rice. Choose your beans, meat and add only salsas, lettuce and guacamole (optional, and extra cost).

10. Split an entree out to dinner with your partner. Say, "No Thanks" to the complimentary bread.

11. Stop ordering for your kids off the Kids' Menu.

12. Pack your kids' lunch twice weekly.

Pick 2 or 3 of these and start today. Then add 2 or 3 more next week. C'mon Fort Wayne, we don't deserve to be first.

Have other ideas? Please leave some comments below...