We say it all the time, “I don’t sleep enough” or “I feel like I get enough sleep, but I wake up feeling pretty tired”.  We all know sleep is important, but how much? How do we know we got good sleep? How do we sleep better? What are the side effects of chronic poor sleep? Let’s dive in!

The National Sleep Foundation states that adults 18-65 should be sleeping 7-9 hours a night.  The age group under 18 needs about an hour more of sleep a night and the age group over 65 needs about an hour less a night.  The scary thing is that the average American gets less sleep than recommended and 40% get less than 6 hours a night.⁴  Do you get more than 6 hours a night?  Let’s investigate why this is important.

Studies have shown that people that get less than 6 hours of sleep a night will have:

• Increased mortality 
• Increased risk of diabetes 
• Increased rate of heart disease 
• Increased risk of depression 
• Increased risk of cancer

So now you can see the importance of getting adequate sleep.  This begs another question: What is adequate sleep?

Not all sleep is the same.  Say you’re finally sleeping 7-8 hours a night, but you still don’t feel very rested that tells you that you’re not getting into deep REM (rapid eye movement) sleep.  As we sleep, we cycle in and out of 5 stages of sleep. Stages 1-4 are NREM (non-rapid eye movement) and stage 5 is REM (rapid eye movement). If our sleep environment is suboptimal, we may not achieve enough of that last stage of sleep, REM.  It’s in REM sleep that a majority of the positive effects of sleep occur.

A few of the positive effects from good sleep are:

• Mental clarity
• Increased immune system
• Increased energy
• Decrease in beta-amyloid which is the protein linked to Alzheimer’s⁶

Now we need to discuss why we’re getting a lower quality of sleep.  Consumption of blue light less than 2 hours before bed has shown to decrease REM sleep.  Blue light is part of the light wavelength spectrum, and it’s shown to inhibit the secretion of melatonin which is the hormone that helps us sleep.  Blue light is present in any LED light such as your TV, smartphone, and computer. Research has shown that even the night mode that most phones have isn’t enough to block out the blue light.  There are certain glasses that are sold that can block that blue light from entering your retina. I personally wear a pair a couple of hours before bed. The company that makes them is called True Dark.

Now we need to discuss why we’re getting a lower quality of sleep.  Consumption of blue light less than 2 hours before bed has shown to decrease REM sleep.  Blue light is part of the light wavelength spectrum, and it’s shown to inhibit the secretion of melatonin which is the hormone that helps us sleep.  Blue light is present in any LED light such as your TV, smartphone, and computer. Research has shown that even the night mode that most phones have isn’t enough to block out the blue light.  There are certain glasses that are sold that can block that blue light from entering your retina. I personally wear a pair a couple of hours before bed. The company that makes them is called True Dark.

There are many more reasons for a poorer quality of sleep and some of them are:

• Consumption of caffeine after 2 PM.  Caffeine has a 6-hour half-life, which means it’s only half out of your system by 8pm.
• Consumption of more than 4 alcoholic drinks.  It’s been shown to take almost a week to regulate your sleep back to its normal pattern after more than 4 drinks.
• Lack of exercise
• Undiagnosed or untreated sleep apnea

We now know the negative effects of bad sleep, the positive effects of good sleep, why we’re not getting good sleep, and lastly let’s talk about getting that good sleep.  

• You’re going to want to get your bedroom as dark as possible.  That means no visible LED’s (not even the light from your TV, cell phone, or cable box.)  You want a clock that’s specifically designed for sleep as well as black out shades or blinds so light doesn’t seep through.  A sleep mask can help if all of that seems like too much.
• Core body temperature is important for good sleep, so not using too many blankets and keeping your bedroom between 66-68 degrees will put you in the best environment for deep sleep.  
• Don’t hang out in your bedroom.  It’s a common saying in sleep science that your bedroom should only be used for the 2 S’s, Sleep and s..  well you can figure that one out.
• The room should stay as quiet as possible.  Even some ambient noise can keep you from your deepest sleep.

Knowledge of proper sleep is important, but actionable steps to start following this information is crucial to start getting better sleep.  If you want to improve one up this even more, you can track this data. There are several sleep monitoring devices for both your phone and wearable devices.  There’s still a ton of testing and research to validate these new technologies. The wearables have been shown to be more reliable than phone apps.

Some of these devices are:

• The Oura ring
• FitBit
• Whoop
• Apple Watch
• Nokia Sleep
• Emfit QS HRV Sleep Monitor

The Oura ring has had some of the best early reviews for reliability, but they’re a little pricey.  Like everything it’s important to do your research to see what works best for you. I hope this information helps you achieve a better, happier, and healthier life through sleep.

Good night!