Sleep Secrets

A very strong and complex relationship exists between sleep and our body’s metabolism. The intricacies of the association between sleep and metabolism are only beginning to emerge. The major question that we shall address in this article is “How does sleep (and the lack of sleep) affect metabolism?” Since it is nearly impossible to describe the effects of sleep on all aspects of metabolism, we shall touch upon salient points such as the metabolic rate, glucose metabolism, etc…
To begin with, let’s examine how our body’s metabolic rate is influenced by sleep. Scientists have confirmed that a person’s metabolic rate drops by an average of fifteen percent when he switches from a peaceful, wakefulness state into normal sleep. Thus, to fall asleep acts to reduce our metabolic rate. By sleeping, we burn less number of calories, and so, manage to save a small amount of energy as compared to when we are awake. However, this sort of relationship between sleep and metabolism has been elucidated long back.
More recently, scientists have tried to focus on more specific areas. In a series of studies carried out at the University of Chicago Medical Centre, it became clear that chronic sleep deprivation adversely affected key metabolic processes in our body such as carbohydrate metabolism and regulation of hormonal secretion.
Strikingly, chronically sleep deprived study subjects exhibited significantly impaired glucose regulation. In the typical sleep deprived individual, the ability of the body to secrete insulin fell by a drastic thirty percent. In the same study, the researchers found out that it took forty percent longer time for the sleep deprived person’s body to control their blood glucose levels following an injection of glucose. Almost all of the measurements carried out on sleep starved subjects, indicated that their blood values closely resembled those of diabetic patients at the onset of their disease.
Several previous studies have documented that people suffering from lack of sleep over extended periods of time, tend to eat more. Biochemical studies have revealed that a hormone called leptin is involved. Sleep deprivation causes fat cells in our body to secrete lower amounts of leptin. Our body responds to lower leptin levels by inducing a hunger craving, especially toward more carbohydrate-rich foods.
Two other, important hormones that are affected by sleep starvation are thyroid stimulating hormone and cortisol. In the study mentioned above, subjects who were allowed to sleep for only four hours a night (the recommended number being eight) for six consecutive nights had reduced levels of thyroid stimulating hormone. However, in the same study subjects, levels of the hormone, cortisol, increased steadily during evenings.
So what do these altered hormone levels and carbohydrate metabolism mean? Higher levels of cortisol in the evenings and diabetes are both conditions that are considered as hallmarks of aging. To sum up, chronic sleep deprivation alters the metabolism so that the metabolic profile of such a sleep starved person looks similar to that metabolic profile of an aged person! In effect, going by the present knowledge, it seems that chronic sleep deficit results in accelerated aging.
When the subjects of the sleep deprivation study reverted back to their original eight hourly sleep patterns, their metabolic measurements also came back to their initial, normal values. It therefore seems that the negative effects of sleep deprivation on metabolism over reasonable amounts of time (such as for a week or so) can be overcome by regaining normal sleep periods. But clearly, long term sleep deprivation has a negative impact on our metabolism.

Some people who travel on flight are affected with jet lag situation. Jet lag means feeling tired or sick which is caused due to spending long journey on flight. It can be caused by several factors ranging from more stress of getting sited in different time zones and new surroundings, to physical and mental overtiredness. Jet lag makes ones body natural reaction to run down feeling and over stimulation; it can be avoided after a good nights sleep. Symptoms of this situation include headaches, insomnia and digestive problems, fatigue, disorientation, giddiness and much more. Frequently travels on flights crossing different time zones, the higher intensity and chances of jet lag will be affected for those people.

Prevent Jet Lag on Your Next Trip

•    Here are some important tips, which help you to prevent jet lag and avoid it from defilement one week of your next business or vacation trip:

•    At least one week before your journey, you need to change your sleeping schedule to match destination’s time zones. Adjust your sleep time by an hour per day to prevent jet lag on your trip.

•    Reset your watch while entering into flight that helps you to adjust, as quickly as to the required zone you will be visiting.

•    Drink more water before, after and during your flight. The air on flight is very dry; dehydration can worsen the effects of jet lag situations.

•    It is better to avoid caffeine or alcohol during your flight. (That includes different soft drinks along with tea or coffee) Both caffeine and alcohol increase dehydration.

•    Don’t sleep in the flight particularly during the daytime. Reading, walking the aisles, watching movies or talking with co-passengers will help to stay awake at the wrong time.

•    You can take rest during flight if it is nighttime at your destination. Take “no-disturb” sticker that is provided by aircrew and use eye masks, headphone, earplugs or other sleep aids to help block out the light and noise, and also travel pillow gives you more comfort so you can feel better sleep on the flight.

•    Take exercise more and more on the plane while you are awake because it enables free blood circulation

•    Try to reach your destination two day or three earlier before attending important activities that need sharp intellectual focus and lot of energy. It will allow your body to adjust destination’s time zone little more gradually.

For those of you with children, their naptime is a quiet time well anticipated. Although we’re tempted, we don’t want for them to sleep too much in the day. Needless to say, they’ll be too wound up at night and that won’t be beneficial for you. It’s a fact that our current culture in America frowns upon sleep in the middle of the day. However, it’s proven that most of us that get about 8 hours of sleep a night or less experience an increase naturally in afternoon drowsiness, usually 8 hours after getting out of bed. In the latest research, you can actually become more alert, diminish stress and boost brain functioning with a power nap. Imagine living life daily with less stress, more patience, increased learning, more efficiency, better reaction time and improved health. An afternoon nap can result in all of these improvements in lifestyle. This doesn’t suggest that we should spend our days sleeping and our nights watching infomercials and TV land on television. That would be…I don’t know—counterproductive.

Although the human body requires 7-8 sleep hours a day, as less than 6 basically triples the risk of an automobile accident. Ironically, over 9 hours of sleep can also be perilous for the body. In regards to the power nap, 20 minutes of afternoon sleep offers more benefit than 20 minutes of more morning sleep. Here are the top 10 tips to take a power nap:

• Take a nap for 20 minutes to increase productivity and alertness in the day.
• Nap either in the late morning or early part of the afternoon.
• Before a nap, evade sugar and caffeine.
• Ascertain you don’t consume food, which is difficult to digest. This can keep you from a comfortable sleep.
• Noises shouldn’t disturb you, so seek a quiet area.
• Turn off lights, draw curtains or shades and/or wear a sleep mask for naptime. This helps to stimulate melatonin (hormone that’s sleep-inducing) and capitalize on rest.
• Cover up with a blanket, as the temperature of our bodies decrease during sleep.
• Set the time on the alarm at desired time of more than 60 minutes for a power nap to repair muscles and bones.
• After a power nap, you’d want to wake up in a peaceful mode. Try to set an alarm clock with serene, melodic tones, rather than jolting sounds and aggressive music.
• It’s imperative to enjoy a guilt-free nap. A power nap only increases your job performance.

It’s advisable to take a power nap to perform better at work (and play) and feel more vibrant. Thus, it’s important to map out of one hour of lunch, or even suggest a naptime in the office. This is why more sophisticated businesses create “quiet rooms”.

15 Ways to Wake Up Earlier and Happier

The alarm clock rings and it reads 5:20 am. You actually jump out of the bed with a smile on your face and a click in your step as you go to the bathroom to shower and clean up. The extra serene minutes in the morning can be quite rejuvenating if you want to get in a morning workout, read the newspaper, spend quality time with loved ones (this may not be quite so serene), or catch up on some household chores before going to work. You can even go to work earlier to beat the morning traffic and clock in early to get in a full day and leave earlier to beat the traffic in the afternoon. There are very few things in life that are better than having free time before and after work to do what you desire, instead of being constrained on someone else’s for the majority of the day.

Here are 15 top ways to wake up earlier and happier:

1.    Find a suitable reason to get out of bed. We all know the best way to plan a schedule for the day is to write things down. Believe it or not, this can also work for getting out of bed before the rooster crows.
2.    Keep productive in the early mornings. Committing to rising early is just the first step. You don’t want to make it a chore to get up early in the morning, so it’s best to follow through with a productive plan to get the blood flowing.
3.    Receive ample sleep at night. Getting enough sleep can make it easier to get out of bed early in the morning.
4.    Go to bed earlier for a good night’s rest. Planning to go to bed around 10 or 11 pm, instead of past midnight, results in more overall free time for maximum effectiveness.
5.    Sleep more effectively doesn’t necessarily mean sleeping longer hours. Having a better mattress, more comfortable pillow, quiet reading before sleep, or a better room climate are a few ways to attain better sleep.
6.    Fight the addiction to the snooze button. Sleeping for another 10 to 20 minutes can actually be counterproductive in scheduling for a constructive workday.
7.    Jumping out of bed is effective for the early riser. This limits the idea of rationalizing while in a comfortable, warm bed. Leaving the bedroom period is actually a plus, if you want to get the day started early.
8.    Keep the alarm clock at a distance. Placing it away from the reach of your arms forces you to get out of the confinements of your bed. (Again, ignore the snooze button.)
9.    Maintain stability in your daily routine. Especially for those with babies or small children, becoming an early riser due to a routine can train the body to get out of bed before the sun rises.
10.    Find something with which to look forward. Having a real purpose to get a good start in the morning—instead of walking around aimlessly before sunrise—brings plenty of incentive and personal rewards.
11.    Be very well aware of the consequences. Losing that extra hour or two in the morning can bring about consequences for the rest of the day (sometimes the rest of the week). Later workdays can result in throwing the monkey wrench in a well-oiled machine.
12.     Remove the option of sleeping in fully. If actions can have an impact on others instead of just ourselves (scheduled meetings or deadlines), this can be effective to remove the sleep-in option completely.
13.    Have a partner with similar motives. With a husband or wife, companion, friend or relative, receiving encouragement by example can result in the motivation to wake up early. You don’t have to do it alone.
14.    Keep a record of how early you get out of bed. This produces an accuracy of how you’re doing daily, weekly or even periodically. It’s also advisable to review the list regularly.
15.    Review everything that needs to be achieved. Don’t be afraid to look back and see how much has been accomplished and what goals to set for continued success. You may even see where you can make an adjustment to your approach for the weaker areas.

Although being an early riser can be difficult at times (especially on those cold mornings when getting out of bed feels like a punishment), attempting tips to find that healthy balance and even trying different ways can result in getting up on the right side of the bed.

Of late, terms such as the “Uberman Sleep Cycle” and “Polyphasic Sleep” have slowly gained popularity in scientific journals, magazines and even in newspaper articles dealing with sleep research. Before we pursue a short discussion on the Uberman Sleep cycle, let’s be sure of what the term means. Uberman is a German word that means “over-man” or more loosely “Super-man” and so Uberman sleep schedule actually means a superman sleep cycle!

Uberman sleep cycle is a typical example of a polyphasic sleep schedule. Most of us are naturally trained in the monophasic sleep mode where we try to enjoy a long (four to eight hour) sleep period over the whole night and keep ourselves awake during the day. In shifting to a polyphasic sleep pattern, one abandons this long single block of sleep, and instead, naps for short intervals (of typically twenty to ninety minutes duration) spread over the course of the day.

There are two major arguments for giving up a monophasic sleep pattern and practicing polyphasic sleep. Firstly, polyphasic sleep drastically reduces the time spent asleep per twenty four hours. Practicing an efficient Uberman sleep cycle where you take short twenty minute naps after every four hours of wakefulness, reduces the net sleeping time to about two hours, thus providing you with twenty two hours of wakefulness. The additional hours of wakefulness can be used productively. Secondly, polyphasic sleep is theoretically as (if not more) efficient compared to common, monophasic sleep. This means that the total two hours of sleep enjoyed by someone practicing the Uberman sleep cycle is high quality sleep that is sufficient to provide adequate rest to both the brain as well as to other organs of the body. In order to more fully understand this statement, we need to briefly consider the phases of sleep.

The first three or four hours of normal, monophasic sleep is characterized by lower blood pressure and slow brain waves and is dubbed non-rapid eye movement or Non-REM sleep. The subsequent hours of sleep constitute REM or rapid eye movement sleep that is marked by higher blood pressure and greater levels of electrical activity in the brain. There are scientific reports emphasizing the importance of REM sleep in memory consolidation and in resting key areas of the brain. The Uberman sleep cycle is believed to help a person enter REM sleep much faster than a subject undergoing monophasic sleep. Thus, the two hours of sleep enjoyed by an individual pursuing Uberman sleep cycle, is mostly dominated by REM sleep. These couple of hours of quality sleep, spread out over the course of the day may substitute the single eight hour long monophasic sleep.

Those attempting to shift to the Uberman sleep cycle find that they require anywhere between a week to a month to train their brains to follow the new sleep regimen. This transition period can indeed be a testing one, abound with problems of falling asleep at the predestined timings, lack of concentration, etc… But once the body clock resets to the Uberman sleep cycle, its benefits can be reaped continuously.

It is believed that many famous personalities of historical prominence practiced polyphasic sleep. The list includes, among others, Leonardo da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Edison. Let this fact be a stimulus for you to try the Uberman sleep cycle!

Jet Lag
Jet lag is a possible dangerous situation that is caused by traveling through various time zones in a small length of time. It disrupts your natural body clock otherwise called as circadian rhythms. When you travel from your home base the harder it is to avoid jet lag and the symptoms that go with it. To prevent the symptoms and cure jet lag situation, there are three simple methods to avoid jet lag.

Methods to Prevent Jet Lag
The first method to help prevent jet lag is sleeping on the plane while traveling. For longer planes a travel neck pillow will make you sleep well and feel rejuvenated as you travel to your destination. Many people could not sleep well on flights. If you face this kind of problem you may need to sleeping pills, which is better to try as on journey and find how they work inside your body. If you feel better by using sleeping pills, then make it sure to put these into your carry on find a brand that works particularly well be sure to pack these into your carry on suitcase to use them on your plane.If you do not find comfortable by using sleeping pills on your plane, you can try to adjust your sleeping schedule. At least, start one week before you get to destination on flight. Change your sleeping times by about half an hour per day to finally match timings of your destination’s zone. It means required time zone may be one hour earlier that you wake up one hour earlier per day and get to sleep earlier until you match the destination’s time zone. When you back to home you just reverse the procedure to match your regular sleep schedule.

Melatonin as a Jet Lag Remedy
Most of the seasoned travelers choose melatonin as a good remedy for jet lag. However, some people react in different possible ways to over the counter melatonin or prescription. The potential symptoms contain feeling tired without sickness and sleeping. It is better to try these before you taking a trip and see the body reaction. If you like to use melatonin naturally try drinking wine on your flight or at the airport. Here are some safety tips about jet lag situation. If you feel tired very from your journey on flight should take the rest, which is needed, for you. Don’t push yourself into regular work without feeling refreshed after your trip.

William Shakespeare has, in one of his famous plays, rightly extolled sleep as the “nurse of life”. It is something that comes naturally to us- simple yet so beautiful. But there are thousands of people in the world who suffer from chronic sleep disorders and who are unable to enjoy even a single night’s sound sleep. Putting someone to sleep is an activity that can range from being easy to near impossible (especially in the case of patients suffering form sleep disorders).

When one speaks of “putting someone to sleep”, it certainly helps if we can classify that ‘someone’ as either a child or an adult. Putting babies to sleep is normal while in the case of adults only those suffering from sleep problems need to be put to sleep.

There are a number of different ways in which you can nicely put a baby to sleep. The important point to emphasize here is to set up a bedtime ritual for the baby that conditions the baby to feel sleepy. Sleep conditioning rituals can range from singing lullabies and playing soft music to gently rocking the baby in a comfortable cradle. Giving the baby a warm bath followed by soft massaging to relax the body muscles can also work positively in encouraging sleep induction. In the case of older children who know how to read and write, reading out bedtime stories can help the child fall asleep. In all scenarios, it is important to make sure that loud noises, which disturb sleep, are kept out.

Putting an adult to sleep is a totally different proposition since normal healthy adults can get to sleep without needing anyone to help them do so. However, you can sometimes help a person relax and go to sleep by using some hypnotic techniques. Such hypnotic techniques usually involve giving suggestions to the mind either in the form of carefully selected words or by employing certain visual cues. To successfully put a person to sleep using hypnotic techniques requires a good deal of practice and can harm the mental status of the subject if done in an inappropriate manner.

In the case of patients who suffer from various conditions that affect sleep, the treatment usually is aimed at removing the cause of the disease. Sleep clinics provide environments in which the medical practitioner can diagnose and treat sleep disorders. Again, putting a person (with a sleep problem) to sleep can be a challenging task. A common cause of sleep disorders stems from the build up of conscious or subconscious worry, stress or tension. In such cases, giving psychiatric counseling can help. Here too, hypnosis aids to relive subconscious stress and provide mental relaxation.

Alternatively, asking a person to shift his or her sleep patterns may also help. For example, the common monophasic sleep enjoyed by the majority of us can be slowly replaced by a polyphasic schedule.

The art of putting someone to sleep can only be acquired gradually. Even some adults can be put to sleep by playing soft melodious music. Sarcastically, talking about boring topics in a soporific manner can sometimes be the best way to put someone to sleep, especially in a bedtime setting or after a heavy meal!