- Joined
- Dec 5, 2018
- Messages
- 952
I wrote an email for my list today that I thought some of you good people may enjoy.
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I’ve just read a quite remarkable and scary book called Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker a Professor of Neuroscience at UC Berkeley.
Everybody knows sleep is good for you and not enough can hinder all forms of mental and physical health, but I had no clue how crippling a lack of sleep can be.
Walker doesn’t stray into hearsay and on the occasions where there’s a correlation between poor sleep and poor health rather than causation he goes to great lengths to explain that.
Here are some of the urban myths and scientifically proven facts from the book that may make you sit up and take notice, especially if you have kids and want to safeguard their long-term health.
Myth # 1 - We need less sleep as we get older
Nope, it just seems that way because sleep function declines as we age.
Consequently, we presume struggling to get to sleep or waking up earlier than we used to means we don’t need it.
We do.
We all need 7 to 8 hours.
Myth # 2 - Some people just don’t need much sleep
Ok, so this is somewhat of a volte-face from the last myth because there are some people who can get away with 6-hours and not see a negative impact on their mental and physical health.
How many?
About the same amount as those who get struck by lightning every year.
Myth # 3 - Our metabolism slows down in middle age
It doesn’t.
There is no discernible drop off in the rate of metabolism before you get into your 60s’ and even then it's not a certainty.
However, things we normally associate with ageing and a slowing metabolism like weight gain, reduced memory function and higher blood pressure, can be directly attributed to a lack of quality sleep.
Myth # 4 - If I miss a couple of hours I may as well miss the entire night
A lack of sleep impacts us exponentially, not incrementally.
This means that only getting 5 hours of sleep isn’t a bit worse than 6 hours, it’s a shit ton worse.
And only getting 4 hours a fucking shit ton worse.
This is why the Guinness Book of World Records removed sleep deprivation records because they can cause long-lasting physical and psychological harm.
It’s also why very few countries (although the US is one) still use sleep deprivation tactics on prisoners.
Myth # 5 - You can catch up on sleep at the weekend.
It’s no good getting up after 6 hours of sleep all week and then bingeing at the weekend.
Your body cannot catch up on lost sleep and the negative effects are cumulative.
Myth # 6 - Sleeping tablets will help you sleep
Since they’re called sleeping tablets, they really should, right?
Alas, will they fuck.
They just sedate you in the same way as a lot of alcohol does with the same deleterious impact.
Speaking of which....
Myth # 7 - A few beers will help me sleep
Alcohol offers some benefits in terms of relaxing you for a very short period of time.
But it's all downhill after that.
Alcohol disrupts sleep because your body is working hard beating off what it sees as an invader (alcohol is a poison) at a time when it has more important shit to do.
Alcohol raises your core temperature which promotes wakefulness as does the accompanying dehydration and needing to go to the bathroom.
It obliterates REM sleep (this is the reason why we remember so little after heavy drinking as that is when memories are formed) and sedates us rather than helps us sleep.
That's why nobody bounces out of bed after a skinful feeling fresh and rested.
Truth #1 - A lack of sleep can be worse than alcohol for driving
Ten times more people die in accidents attributable to tired drivers each year in the US than through alcohol and drug-related deaths combined.
Going 16-hours without sleep and then driving is as dangerous as being legally drunk.
But, most accidents aren’t caused by people falling asleep at the wheel in the traditional sense.
They are caused by people being slower to react than normal and making poorer decisions because of fatigue.
Plus, there is something called microsleeps that may only last two seconds or less, are commonplace and indiscernible to the person having them.
A two-second microsleep doesn’t seem like a lot, but at 30 mph it can take you across four lanes of traffic before you snap out of it....or die.
Truth # 2 - Forget losing weight if you’re short on sleep
When you’re body is short of sleep it prefers to burn muscle and preserve fat because it’s dealing with an existential threat.
Also, a shortage of sleep suppresses the production of the hormone leptin, which tells you when you have eaten enough.
And for the trifecta of weight-losing crapiness, the prefrontal cortex (responsible for good decision making) is overridden by the hypothalamus which is insisting on two burgers, fries and a big duck off shake because it’s in survival mode.
Truth # 3 - Kids shouldn’t be allowed to fall asleep watching TV
You shouldn’t put a child to bed after he or she has fallen asleep, but as they are doing so.
Otherwise, you can reduce their ability to self-nurture causing sleep difficulties later in life.
Truth # 4 - Kids shouldn’t be made to get up too early
Kids have an advanced circadian rhythm of about 3 hours, meaning that they’re owls, not larks.
Put another way, asking a kid to get up at 7 am for school is like asking an adult to get up and go to work at 4 am every day.
And it’s not just a question of pushing through it, their ability to learn is SEVERELY hampered for the first half of the day.
Experiments by schools in the US showed huge jumps in grade point averages when they pushed the school start day back.
Even so, kids are still made to get up too early because it fits with parents' and bus company schedules and it’s just the way we have always done things.
Truth # 5 - Pulling an all-night to learn is counterproductive
After as little as 15 hours awake the brain's ability to learn falls off a very steep cliff and the ability to absorb information degrades rapidly.
Also, a good night's sleep before learning is wasted if you then have poor sleep the following nights because it takes the brain at least 3 nights of sleep to move that learning into long term memory.
Truth # 6 - Don’t get a flu vaccine if you’ve had a bad night's sleep
Having a flu vaccine (and I presume this is the case with Covid, but the book came out in 2018, so I'm guessing) when you are sleep deprived can reduce its efficacy by as much as 50%.
Insufficient sleep suppresses the immune cell response.
Truth # 7 A warm bath before bedtime really does help you sleep
Not just because it relaxes you, but also because blood rushes to the surface of your body causing your core body temperature to drop (the opposite of the aforementioned alcohol).
Which is exactly what’s needed to sleep well.
This is the reason why if you are too hot in bed at night you may well stick your feet out from under the duvet.
This causes your feet to cool so your body reacts by sending lovely warm blood there and dropping your core temperature.
-------------
I’ve just read a quite remarkable and scary book called Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker a Professor of Neuroscience at UC Berkeley.
Everybody knows sleep is good for you and not enough can hinder all forms of mental and physical health, but I had no clue how crippling a lack of sleep can be.
Walker doesn’t stray into hearsay and on the occasions where there’s a correlation between poor sleep and poor health rather than causation he goes to great lengths to explain that.
Here are some of the urban myths and scientifically proven facts from the book that may make you sit up and take notice, especially if you have kids and want to safeguard their long-term health.
Myth # 1 - We need less sleep as we get older
Nope, it just seems that way because sleep function declines as we age.
Consequently, we presume struggling to get to sleep or waking up earlier than we used to means we don’t need it.
We do.
We all need 7 to 8 hours.
Myth # 2 - Some people just don’t need much sleep
Ok, so this is somewhat of a volte-face from the last myth because there are some people who can get away with 6-hours and not see a negative impact on their mental and physical health.
How many?
About the same amount as those who get struck by lightning every year.
Myth # 3 - Our metabolism slows down in middle age
It doesn’t.
There is no discernible drop off in the rate of metabolism before you get into your 60s’ and even then it's not a certainty.
However, things we normally associate with ageing and a slowing metabolism like weight gain, reduced memory function and higher blood pressure, can be directly attributed to a lack of quality sleep.
Myth # 4 - If I miss a couple of hours I may as well miss the entire night
A lack of sleep impacts us exponentially, not incrementally.
This means that only getting 5 hours of sleep isn’t a bit worse than 6 hours, it’s a shit ton worse.
And only getting 4 hours a fucking shit ton worse.
This is why the Guinness Book of World Records removed sleep deprivation records because they can cause long-lasting physical and psychological harm.
It’s also why very few countries (although the US is one) still use sleep deprivation tactics on prisoners.
Myth # 5 - You can catch up on sleep at the weekend.
It’s no good getting up after 6 hours of sleep all week and then bingeing at the weekend.
Your body cannot catch up on lost sleep and the negative effects are cumulative.
Myth # 6 - Sleeping tablets will help you sleep
Since they’re called sleeping tablets, they really should, right?
Alas, will they fuck.
They just sedate you in the same way as a lot of alcohol does with the same deleterious impact.
Speaking of which....
Myth # 7 - A few beers will help me sleep
Alcohol offers some benefits in terms of relaxing you for a very short period of time.
But it's all downhill after that.
Alcohol disrupts sleep because your body is working hard beating off what it sees as an invader (alcohol is a poison) at a time when it has more important shit to do.
Alcohol raises your core temperature which promotes wakefulness as does the accompanying dehydration and needing to go to the bathroom.
It obliterates REM sleep (this is the reason why we remember so little after heavy drinking as that is when memories are formed) and sedates us rather than helps us sleep.
That's why nobody bounces out of bed after a skinful feeling fresh and rested.
Truth #1 - A lack of sleep can be worse than alcohol for driving
Ten times more people die in accidents attributable to tired drivers each year in the US than through alcohol and drug-related deaths combined.
Going 16-hours without sleep and then driving is as dangerous as being legally drunk.
But, most accidents aren’t caused by people falling asleep at the wheel in the traditional sense.
They are caused by people being slower to react than normal and making poorer decisions because of fatigue.
Plus, there is something called microsleeps that may only last two seconds or less, are commonplace and indiscernible to the person having them.
A two-second microsleep doesn’t seem like a lot, but at 30 mph it can take you across four lanes of traffic before you snap out of it....or die.
Truth # 2 - Forget losing weight if you’re short on sleep
When you’re body is short of sleep it prefers to burn muscle and preserve fat because it’s dealing with an existential threat.
Also, a shortage of sleep suppresses the production of the hormone leptin, which tells you when you have eaten enough.
And for the trifecta of weight-losing crapiness, the prefrontal cortex (responsible for good decision making) is overridden by the hypothalamus which is insisting on two burgers, fries and a big duck off shake because it’s in survival mode.
Truth # 3 - Kids shouldn’t be allowed to fall asleep watching TV
You shouldn’t put a child to bed after he or she has fallen asleep, but as they are doing so.
Otherwise, you can reduce their ability to self-nurture causing sleep difficulties later in life.
Truth # 4 - Kids shouldn’t be made to get up too early
Kids have an advanced circadian rhythm of about 3 hours, meaning that they’re owls, not larks.
Put another way, asking a kid to get up at 7 am for school is like asking an adult to get up and go to work at 4 am every day.
And it’s not just a question of pushing through it, their ability to learn is SEVERELY hampered for the first half of the day.
Experiments by schools in the US showed huge jumps in grade point averages when they pushed the school start day back.
Even so, kids are still made to get up too early because it fits with parents' and bus company schedules and it’s just the way we have always done things.
Truth # 5 - Pulling an all-night to learn is counterproductive
After as little as 15 hours awake the brain's ability to learn falls off a very steep cliff and the ability to absorb information degrades rapidly.
Also, a good night's sleep before learning is wasted if you then have poor sleep the following nights because it takes the brain at least 3 nights of sleep to move that learning into long term memory.
Truth # 6 - Don’t get a flu vaccine if you’ve had a bad night's sleep
Having a flu vaccine (and I presume this is the case with Covid, but the book came out in 2018, so I'm guessing) when you are sleep deprived can reduce its efficacy by as much as 50%.
Insufficient sleep suppresses the immune cell response.
Truth # 7 A warm bath before bedtime really does help you sleep
Not just because it relaxes you, but also because blood rushes to the surface of your body causing your core body temperature to drop (the opposite of the aforementioned alcohol).
Which is exactly what’s needed to sleep well.
This is the reason why if you are too hot in bed at night you may well stick your feet out from under the duvet.
This causes your feet to cool so your body reacts by sending lovely warm blood there and dropping your core temperature.
