What About Sleep (Lesson 3)
Having an adequate amount of sleep each night is crucial for healthy living, and even more so for athletic living. Here are some tips that can enhance your sleep quality.
Eating at the “right” times
I’m not talking about sitting down with a stopwatch and timing yourself. I’m talking about eating your meals at the right time for your body. Food intake influences circadian rhythm. Carbohydrates may be able to promote relaxation (somewhat indirectly) secondary to an increase in serotonin synthesis, which then converts to melatonin. Since the conversion requires darkness to occur, this might mean a small serving of carbohydrates prior to sleep can promote restful sleep while focusing on dietary protein earlier in the day might also work to regulate the sleep cycle.
Don’t look at the light! (My favorite line from A Bug’s Life)
Both light exposure (blue/green or white lights; fluorescent or sunlight) and dark exposure (either absolute darkness, or attenuation of white light into pink/red dim lights) can aid in sleep-cycle regulation. Both dark and light exposure have been investigated for restoring altered circadian rhythms seen with jet lag.
When the retina perceives light, it actively suppresses the conversion of serotonin into melatonin and appears to have other neurological effects that promote wakefulness, or otherwise impair sleep. Reddish lights appear to be less detrimental to sleep quality, and it is sometimes recommended to dim lights or switch to red lights in the evening to facilitate sleep quality. For myself, I’ve found that the times I sleep with a sleep mask or black-out curtains are the times I’ve had the most restful sleep.
Supplementation is okay if it’s necessary
Supplementation to target sleep quality tends to stem from melatonin, which is a highly reliable and effective anti-insomniac agent that can reduce the time it takes to fall asleep. It is unlikely to do anything if you don’t have problems falling asleep but otherwise is a quite important and cheap supplement. The above light- and meal-manipulation strategies tend to work via melatonin manipulation anyways, and supplementation is an easy way to circumvent it.
Beyond melatonin, other possible options include generally relaxing compounds like lavender and l-theanine, or other endogenous agents that seem to regulate sleep. Lavender is an interesting option since it appears to be somewhat effective as aromatherapy as a “relaxing” scent, and aromatherapy may be the only way to continuously administer a supplement throughout sleep - via putting a few drops of lavender oil on a nearby object and continuing to breathe while you sleep.
It should be noted that restricting stimulants or anti-sleep agents like caffeine is advised if sleep quality is a problem. Even if caffeine fails to neurally stimulate you anymore due to tolerance, it can still screw with your sleep quality.
What Have We Learned?
This series contained a lot of information, so I’ll sum up the relevant points here:
A reduction of sleep for a prolonged period of time can decrease insulin sensitivity. Reduced sleep time is, therefore, a risk factor for diabetes, but this can be normalized when proper rest is restored.
Similar to the issue of insulin sensitivity, testosterone, and other anabolic hormones are acutely suppressed with sleep deprivation and normalized shortly after proper rest is restored.
There is mixed evidence as to whether missing a night of sleep impairs workout performance. It would be safe to say that it does not help, and could potentially hinder.
Sleep deprivation is not adverse to weight loss per se, but it can cause you to overeat and decrease motivation to move (exercise).
Regardless of weight loss, limited evidence suggests sleep deprivation adversely affects how weight is lost. More lean mass or muscle tends to be lost instead of fat.
Shifting the majority of your protein toward the morning and early day, and having a small carbohydrate-containing meal at night, should theoretically aid in maintaining a proper circadian rhythm.
Manipulating light exposure for brighter white/blue/green lights in the morning and dimmer red/pink lights (or just darkness) at night does aid in maintaining a proper sleep cycle.
If needed, melatonin can be used to help you fall asleep faster. Abstaining from stimulants or introducing relaxing aids, like lavender and theanine, may improve sleep quality.
