Going Down the Sleep Rabbit Hole
Photo by Cris Saur
For the last three months, I have been diving deeper and deeper into sleep research. Some of what I discovered seemed worth sharing and so I have blogged about it here.
Most of the research featured are open access. Feel free to jump to a section that interests you most using the contents list.
Contents
Journaling about your tasks for the next day helps you fall asleep faster
Not sleeping well makes you hungrier and less satiated leading to obesity
Better your sleep quality in one step (after another for 30 minutes)
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Journaling about your tasks for the next day helps you fall asleep faster
In the paper [1], the authors acknowledge that rumination or bedtime worry is a big factor contributing to why people have difficulty falling asleep. A big driving factor to this is because of incomplete tasks in ones to-do list (a physical one or a mental one).
The more specifically participants wrote their to-do list, the faster they subsequently fell asleep, whereas the opposite trend was observed when participants wrote about completed activities.
-Scullin et al.
How to implement this
Five minutes before you get to your bed, take out a notebook and write down the tasks you wish to do the next day in as much detail as possible. Use a timer if you feel you may get carried away.
Catch-up sleep isnāt as effective as a good sleep routine
Catch-up sleep is when sleep during the week isnāt adequate and you sleep longer during the weekend to make up for lost sleep. Many researchers have studied this concept by recreating the scenario described in a lab setting. The results from those studies seem to suggest that this practice isnāt effective.
To start off with, it looks like most of us who donāt get adequate sleep during the week donāt bother to sleep longer during the weekend. In this study [2], 12,367 respondents were surveyed over the phone. Of those who were severely sleep deprived (one in five participants), only 25% were catching-up with more sleep during the weekend.
Even for those who did get extra sleep in the weekend, studies suggests that it does not reverse effects on weight gain or insulin sensitivity [3], increased stress [4], cognitive performance [5], and cardiovascular function [6].
Only this study [5] showed that weekend recovery sleep can improve daytime sleepiness, fatigue and stress although this does not account for long term sleep deficit.
How to implement this
Instead of habitually sleeping in on weekends to make up for lost sleep during the week, consider allowing eight hours in bed every day.
Not sleeping well makes you hungrier and less satiated leading to obesity
In Western societies, where chronic sleep restriction is common and food is widely available, changes in appetite regulatory hormones with sleep curtailment may contribute to obesity.
-Taheri et al.
This study [7] shows an intimate connection between hours slept and Body Mass Index (BMI). Average sleep duration reducing from 8h to 5h increased BMI from 31.3 to 32.4. This could be explained by the interaction shown in the image below.
To explain the graph above, you first need to understand leptin and ghrelin. In a nutshell, leptin makes you feel satiated and ghrelin makes you feel hungry. As you can see from the graph, decreasing the number of hours you sleep increases your ghrelin levels and decreases your leptin levels.
How to implement this
Youāll never guess how you can leverage this study. Are you ready? BRACE YOURSELF ā¦ get 8 hours of sleep.
Better your sleep quality in one step (after another for 30 minutes)
This study [8] compared the effects of 30 minutes on the treadmill at moderate intensity at different times during the day.
Results from the study showed that exercising at 7am showed the most beneficial response to blood pressure and resulted in more time spent in deep sleep.
How to implement this
Consider a 30 minute exercise routine at 7am. If you arenāt used to waking up before 7am, you could exercise as soon as you wake up.
Sleep better and deeper by indulging in classical music
This study [9] had participants listen to 45 minutes of soothing music prior to sleep. Their sleep quality was assessed by industry standard sleep questionnaires.
The study found that people who listened to soothing music for 45 minutes before bed reported better scores of sleep compared to those who didnāt listen to music. They reported better perceived sleep quality, longer sleep duration, shorter time to fall sleep, lesser sleep disturbances and less daytime disfunction.
How to implement this
This can be integrated into your routine by playing some classical music which lasts for about 45 minute when you are in bed ready to sleep.
Iād love to hear from you, what was your key takeaway from this post? What did you find most shocking? Leave them in the comments below orĀ tweet at me. If you did, consider leaving a like and sharing it with someone who might find it useful!
Until next time,
Tony
Additional ResourcesĀ
Weekend catch-up sleep: [2] Survey; [3] Weight gain; [4] Increased stress; [5] Cognitive performance; [6] Cardiovascular function
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