Sleep Bytes & Blog

Sleep is the New Sex You know you want it…but are you getting enough? Everybody’s thinking about it. Our bodies need it. But no one is getting enough. Like it or not, sleep is a natural life rhythm essential to your survival. But despite thousands of years of study, sleep remains one of the great, unsolved questions of the life sciences. Why do we spend nearly one-third of our lives in a semi-conscious state? And what happens when we don’t get enough? Similar to diet and exercise, a good night’s sleep is vital to a healthy lifestyle. Getting enough shut-eye is the single most important thing you can do to reset your brain and body every day.   The Trouble With Not Getting Enough Sleep So why doesn’t our culture appreciate sleep? We obsess over healthy diets, exercise regimens, and the latest health-promoting gadgets. Yet, we feel powerless when it comes to adequate sleep. But the effects of sleep loss dwarf the effects of splurging on a meal or missing a day at the gym. The truth is, sleep loss makes it more difficult to make healthy decisions during the day. Just imagine your mood the last time you didn’t get enough good sleep! Snapped at your partner? Made a snide remark to a colleague? Trouble multi-tasking? Poor food choices? Lack of sleep may be to blame. Over the past 20 years, the science behind the importance of sleep has exploded. In the brain, the benefits of sleep span from memory consolidation to psychological wellbeing. Sleep even helps to control your appetite. Sleep loss particularly affects the prefrontal cortex – the part of our brain that helps with coping, impulse control, decision making, and good judgment. When the prefrontal cortex isn’t working well, we experience a double whammy, and often don’t even recognize that our behaviors are impaired!   The Perks of Sleeping Well Life is better when you get enough sleep. Imagine waking refreshed, engaging in your work, and creatively solving problems. Sleep allows us to cope with life’s challenges and learn from our mistakes. Unlike the heavy, foggy feeling of sleep deprivation, adequate sleep generally puts a positive spin on life and allows us to be our best selves. Sleep is a natural phenomenon that, like sex, is as fundamental to human nature as life itself.

Top 3 Ways To Use A Sleep Tracker Are you obsessed with your sleep tracker app like me? You are if the first thing you do each morning is to reach for your phone to see how well you slept. Whether accurate or not, many of us obsess over our sleep tracker’s data. Instead of noting how we truly feel upon awakening, we allow our phone’s algorithm to determine the quality of our sleep. And often, we let our sleep tracker impact how we feel about our day. Should we trust this information? And how can we use this data to help improve our lives rather than add another stressor? How Sleep Trackers Work Wearable sensors, such as a Fitbit or Apple Watch, provide valuable data about our activity. Using a motion sensor, or accelerometer, the wrist-worn device is basically an activity monitor. It can count steps fairly accurately; however, measuring sleep is much more complicated. Newer devices (Oura Ring, advanced watches) track heart rate and temperature to improve the accuracy of sleep reporting. They often report stages of sleep or a “sleep score.” Traditional trackers use the absence of a motion to calculate sleep time. Less movement equals an increasing depth of sleep. One problem with this method is that many of us spend hours awake at night lying very still. Another problem is that many of us also experience body jerks, common movements that occur while we are still asleep.   Is the Data on Your Sleep Tracker Accurate? A sleep tracker collects large amounts of data each night and uses formulas to sort the data into “light,” “deep,” and “REM” sleep stages. These formulas are unique to each watch company and are not available to the public. This makes it impossible to confirm the accuracy of data or verify if conclusions are based on the best science.  Sleep studies done in a lab are the “gold standard” for getting accurate sleep data. But even they aren’t perfect. What we do know from “in-lab” sleep studies is that the more naturally active you are while sleeping, the more inaccurate your sleep tracker data will be. For example, if you have a disorder like sleep apnea, your tracker may underestimate your sleep time due to body jerks or overestimate sleep time because it doesn’t pick up associated brief awakenings that occur when breathing stops.   How Can Sleep Trackers Help Us? Even under routine circumstances, we don’t have much control over our specific sleep stages. Focusing on the intricate details of whether we’re getting enough of one stage or another can be counterproductive. For example, “light sleep” is necessary and normal and does not suggest poor sleep quality. Sleep tracking is a widely available and relatively inexpensive way to help people learn about sleep and monitor trends in sleep time.    Here are the top three ways to use your sleep tracker:  Help you keep a regular sleep schedule. Going to bed and getting up at approximately the same time every day contributes to better sleep.  By monitoring bedtimes and wake times, your tracker can help you stick to a routine schedule.  Help you get more sleep. Prioritizing sleep can be difficult.  A sleep tracker can help you stay focused on your goal.   Get feedback on your general sleep quality in different situations. It’s helpful to learn how your body sleeps after a night of heavy drinking, or better yet, meditating.  Keeping Your Sleep Tracker Data In Perspective The impact of sleep deprivation and sleep disorders is real – they both can negatively impact the heart, the brain, and even our weight. Sleep is as important as diet and exercise. So if we can improve sleep health through wrist-worn feedback, I am in favor. But be cautious putting too much emphasis on data that is not scientifically proven, especially if it can cause harm. Fretting about sleep scores and precise sleep stages without understanding the accuracy or science behind the numbers isn’t useful. It’s classic fake news, even if there is a version of the truth in there somewhere.

Have you heard of COVID-somnia? This new term applies to the sleep disturbances that developed, or worsened, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Both insomnia (trouble sleeping) and hypersomnia (daytime sleepiness) are commonly reported in patients who have been sick with COVID-19, but are also being reported in the general public. Everyone has been affected by this pandemic. There are many factors that contribute to COVID-somnia. Changes in routine, stress and anxiety, and weight gain are just a few. Each of these factors can lead to poor sleep. And poor sleep leads to poor concentration, low energy, and a depressed mood, all of which can further disrupt sleep — a vicious cycle! Changes in RoutineWith pandemic lockdowns and ongoing stress, you may have started going to bed later and moving or exercising less. Irregular bedtimes and lack of physical activity are scientifically proven recipes for poor sleep.  Stress and AnxietyWhen we can’t relax our body and mind, it’s difficult for our brain to calm down enough for sleep to take over. Ruminating on fears or stressing about how to get it all done can really cut into sleep time at the beginning of the night or in the middle of the night. Weight Gain When you mix changes in routine with stress and anxiety, then add a larger-than-normal helping of food and drink (especially alcohol), you might also experience weight gain. Gaining weight can lead to increased snoring and worsening sleep apnea, both of which contribute to poor sleep and the likelihood of COVID-somnia.   What to Try to Eliminate COVID-somnia In addition to impacting your sleep, all these changes and stressors also pose a risk to your overall health and increase your chances of developing more serious diseases.  If you find yourself suffering with new or worsening sleep trouble, here are a few ways to lower your health risks and the chances of COVID-somnia: Get outside and expose yourself to sunlight every day. Choose your favorite activity and move your body. Skip the doom scrolling and opt for brain-calming activities like meditation, reading, or an easy walk.  Preserve your normal routines, including a set bedtime and wake time.  Avoid anxiety-provoking news programs at night and instead engage in relaxation techniques such as stretching or deep breathing.  Avoid napping, even if you had a bad night since daytime sleeping can make it more difficult to fall asleep at night.  If your sleep problems persist beyond a month or two, talk to your doctor or look online for a reputable cognitive behavioral therapy program for insomnia.

The Truth About Weighted Blankets As we enter into the fall season, many of us are dreaming about wrapping up in a cozy blanket by the fire. Wondering if that cozy blanket should be a weighted one? Weighted blankets have gained in popularity over the past few years. But with an average price tag of $100-250, are they worth it? Weighted blankets work by providing a “deep pressure” touch, which delivers greater relaxation than light touch (think big bear hug compared to a friendly pat on the back). The pressure stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system — the “rest and digest” part of our body — and delivers a calming effect, similar to a deep breath. Using weight to calm the nervous system has long been known to help anxiety, especially in kids. But now adults and people with insomnia are seeing the benefits, too. Do They Weighted Blankets Really Work? A 2020 Swedish study looked at the effect of a weighted blanket on insomnia and daytime functioning. After 4 weeks, 60% of patients using a weighted blanket noted improved sleep and less daytime sleepiness. After a year, 78% of participants using the weighted blanket reported near resolution of their insomnia altogether! We need more studies that confirm these kinds of outcomes, but I am impressed with the early results. When to Skip the Weighted Blanket A weighted blanket may not be for everyone. People with neuromuscular conditions, weakness of the chest wall, or severe untreated sleep apnea shouldn’t use a weighted blanket. Some trauma victims may experience a worsening of anxiety when weighed down by a blanket. Otherwise, weighted blankets are generally safe and offer a medication-free option to improve sleep quality. Which Weighted Blanket to Buy There are a few different sizes of blankets. A general rule of thumb is to take your weight in pounds and divide by 10. For example, a 10-pound blanket is good for a 100-pound person, a 15 pound blanket for a 150-pound person, and a 20 pound blanket for those over 200 pounds.   My Personal Take on a Weighted Blanket Personally, I sleep under a 15-pound weighted blanket every night, and I miss it when I am away from home — it’s too heavy to take with you! I feel safe and secure under the weight and it helps to keep me warm (when I sleep, I keep my bedroom at 65 degrees if I can). Overall, weighted blankets offer a safe and effective treatment for insomnia. If nothing else, they can decrease anxiety, which is something we can all benefit from given the past couple of years!