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May 22, 2008
Dear [Name],
Do you have a hard time falling or staying asleep? Do you wake up frequently during the night or too early in the morning? If so, you’re not alone. At least 50 percent of people over the age of 50 experience occasional bouts of sleeplessness.
What causes poor sleep varies from person to person. The most common culprits include stress (both good and bad), a racing mind, anxiety, certain prescription medications, alcohol, travel, and decreasing levels of melatonin (the hormone that regulates your sleep patterns).
Lack of Sleep Can Drastically Affect Your Health
We all know that being tired slows us down mentally. But what’s fascinating is all the emerging research that shows just HOW MUCH lack of sleep—even just a slight deficit—can seriously impact health. You’re already familiar with how fatigue makes you feel, but it’s the changes in your body that you may not even notice that are really working against you.
In fact, one report finds that people over the age of 60 who are suffering from depression are almost TWICE as likely to remain depressed if they’re not getting enough sleep. And if you’re trying to get into a new routine and improve your health in any way, nothing—I repeat, NOTHING—sabotages your efforts the way lack of sleep can.
Poor sleep is also linked to heart disease and diabetes. A recent study uncovered a consistent association between sleep deficits and higher levels of the risk factors for heart disease and diabetes among females.
Inadequate Sleep Can Even Make You Fat!
Really poor sleepers are also 73 percent more likely to be overweight. Studies reveal that you are more likely to crave unhealthy foods when you’re tired (for the quick sugar hit). Sleep also affects levels of leptin and ghrelin, hormones that are involved in appetite. When you’re not getting enough shuteye, your hunger signals do not function properly, so you never feel fully satisfied.
I can say without a doubt if you’re trying to shed a few pounds and you’re not getting enough sleep, it will be next to impossible for you to achieve your weight loss goals.
Unfortunately, many people feel as if they have no control over how well they sleep. In your quest for health you can change your diet and exercise routine and take supplements for whatever ails you. But the harder you try to sleep, the harder it is to actually relax and fall asleep. And while you cannot force yourself to sleep, you can clear away some of the obstacles that are keeping you awake.
To Sleep Well, You Have to Be Prepared
My wife says I’m out like a light within minutes of going to bed, which must be true because I have never seen her fall asleep. Over the years I’ve developed a specific ritual that enhances the quality of my sleep.
Within half an hour of going to bed, I take 1 mg of melatonin and 200 mg of L-theanine along with a trio of calming herbs, including valerian, hops, and lemon balm extract.
You’ll find all of these nutrients in your health food store, sold as individual supplements or in combination products. Take them 30 to 60 minutes before turning in.
Turn Your Bedroom Into a Sanctuary of Sleep
It’s important to make your bedroom a sanctuary of sleep, banishing noise and excessive light. Light of any kind—whether it’s coming from the TV in the living room, or the streetlight outside your window—is a notorious sleep disrupter because it lowers levels of the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin.
Fortunately, there’s an easy way to get your melatonin cycle back on track and dramatically improve your sleep and overall health.
As you may recall from elementary school science experiments, the spectrum of light is made up of several different colors or frequencies. In recent years, it has been discovered that only the blue portions of the spectrum suppress melatonin. So if you can block out the blue light, you can keep the lights on and still produce melatonin.
I’m sold on blue light–blocking glasses. They produce a natural melatonin release, and they’re a one-time purchase. Just wear them a few hours before bed and you’ll sleep like a baby. I’ve also put a blue-blocking bulb in my bedside lamp and smaller nightlights in my bathrooms. (Even the short exposure to bright light during a nighttime restroom trip can short-circuit the melatonin cycle.)
Blue light–blocking glasses and nightlights are available from Photonic Developments at lowbluelights.com or from Whitaker Wellness at (800) 810-6655. The recommended use is only one to three hours before bedtime.
Make Sure Snoring Isn’t Depriving You of Sleep
If you snore at all, I highly recommend getting checked for sleep apnea and doing something to correct it. It’s a hugely overlooked cause of sleep problems and associated health issues.
Hundreds of scientific studies have confirmed just how devastating this condition can be. The combination of deprivation of REM sleep plus other ill effects of sleep apnea, such as significant drops in oxygen levels in the blood, fluctuations in hormone levels, and elevations in blood pressure, heart rate, and cardiac output, wreak havoc on your health.
I was a champion snorer for years. My wife Connie was concerned—not only because I snored like a freight train but also because I’d stop breathing for seconds at a time while I slept. She was so worried that she finally convinced me to visit a sleep specialist. During the sleep test, I had 69 episodes of apnea in one hour! The results prompted me to begin CPAP therapy (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure), and now I sleep like a baby all night long. I fall asleep quickly and drift through all the stages of sleep until I awake refreshed in the morning.
At the clinic, we screen patients whom we suspect may have sleep apnea, or conditions resulting from it, with an inexpensive test called nocturnal pulse oximetry, which records pulse and blood oxygen levels periodically during the night via a small, clip-on sensor. If it is suggestive of sleep apnea, we recommend an automatic CPAP machine or refer them to a specialist for a sleep study. For more information, contact American Sleep Systems at americansleepsystems.com or 866-364-7378.
The bottom line here is that if you snore (and especially if you’re overweight), there’s a good chance you have sleep apnea. Run—don’t walk—to the doctor, and get tested and treated.
Off to the Land of Nod…
Don’t let insomnia sabotage your health. Focus on the steps you can take to improve your sleep, and you’ll be off to the Land of Nod in no time.
Here’s to your health,
Julian Whitaker, MD
P.S. If you still aren’t subscribing to Health & Healing, now’s the time to get on board. In the June issue we’ll discuss the controversy surrounding ineffective, side effect–riddled statin drugs and look at far safer, natural ways to lower cholesterol. I’ll also tell you about the supplement that improved my golf swing. Click here to sign up today!
In Today’s Health Update
Relieve Your Stiff, Aching Joints and Muscles
If joint and muscle stiffness is keeping you from enjoying life, Dr. Whitaker recommends taking the nutrients in Joint & Muscle Comfort Plus. This remarkable herbal blend combines Univestin® with powerful plant enzymes that reduce your joint and muscle discomfort and ease everyday stiffness and pain.
Don’t Forget Your Daily Foundation
During the busy summer months, you want to make sure your body isn’t lacking any essential nutrients. Forward Plus Daily Regimen gives you all the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients Dr. Whitaker recommends to gain and maintain optimal health. And it comes in just two easy-to-take packets a day!
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