More on Sleep

Dear reader

The last two blogs have given you lifestyle tips to help you have better quality sleep. Sometimes, though, that’s not enough, at least not right away. So in this blog, I will let you know about nutritional supplements that help, plus the downside of taking sleep medications.

Have you ever heard of sleep architecture? That means there are different stages of sleep with different brainwave activities with different effects. There are actually 4 stages of sleep. REM or rapid eye movement and 3 non-REM stages.

Your sleep consists of 4 to 6 repeated cycles of these 4 stages. Each cycle is approximately 90 minutes in length. Optimally, you should sleep 6, 7.5, or 9 hours to complete each 90-minute cycle.

REM takes up approximately 25% of your sleep time and Non-REM sleep takes up the other 75%.

Stage 1 of non-REM sleep is the lightest. It’s the transition time from being awake to being asleep. That hopefully takes only a few minutes. This is an alpha brain wave state.

Stage 2 is light sleep, which accounts for about 50% of your sleep cycle. Your heart rate normalizes and your temperature decreases. Your brain is making spindle and K complex waves during this stage.

Stage 3 is deep sleep. That’s delta wave sleep. This stage of sleep is restorative. It’s crucial for physical repair, growth, and immune system health. You get most of your delta sleep in the first 1/3 of the night. So if you’re not getting stage 3 delta sleep, you ‘owies’ will have a hard time getting better. What needs to grow can’t grow, and you won’t be able to fight off nasty bugs, so you’ll keep getting sick.

During REM sleep, your brain activity is high with the most dreams. Your body has temporary muscle paralysis. I never heard of that before! Kind of scary, right? It likely happens to prevent you from acting out your dreams. This stage of sleep is necessary for memory consolidation, learning, and mood regulation. That means if you don’t get your REM sleep, it will be hard to remember things, you won’t be able to learn new things easily, and you’ll be in a bad mood.

Sleep architecture is influenced by:

Age – the older population has decreased stage 3, and an increased number of awakenings.

Health – sleep apnea, restless legs, and pain, for example, disturb sleep quality.

Substances – caffeine, alcohol, and sleep medications depress REM and deep delta sleep. After my hip replacement surgery, I was given Tramadol to decrease pain and help me sleep. But it made me feel like I was awake all night long. So I stopped taking it.

Lifestyle – see our last two blogs.

Physical activity – regular exercise improves sleep architecture, leading to more restorative and non-REM sleep. The type of exercise that improves sleep architecture are:

Aerobic

Resistance or strength training,

Mind

Body

Exercise

Yoga

Tai chi

Breathing exercises

Be cheerful, though. High-intensity exercise should not be done for 1.5 to 3 hours before bed.

Consistency is the key! Your brain and body need to learn and integrate these new habits to be successful in generating good quality sleep.

Now onto sleep supplements:

1. Melatonin - is our sleep hormone. It can be very helpful.

2. Cortisol Manager – if your mind is racing at night, Cortisol Manager helps to lower excess cortisol levels that keep you awake at night.

3. GABA with Theanine – if your body is tense and you’re not able to relax, GABA with Theanine will help.

All of these supplements can be ordered through your Fullscript account, or you can create an account to receive a 10% discount and free shipping for orders of $50 or more. Here’s your Fullscript sleep supplement order link.

Sweet Dreams is the product I now use for a restful night's sleep. It contains 2.5 mg of THC as well as CBD, the part of CBD that promotes deep restorative sleep. You can order Sweet Dreams with this link.

May you rest well and have awesome health! Happy and safe holidays.

Dr. Linda.

FUN FACT

Humans are the only mammals that deliberately delay sleep

Dr. Linda Berry Healing Arts Chiropractic Nutrition Trauma Healing

Please note: This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for medical care. Always consult with your healthcare provider for advice before you begin taking new supplements. You are responsible for all of the health choices you make.