You'll be pleased to know this is short and sweet, mainly because this series is about habitual changes more than anything else, everybody knows sleep is necessary for health and good sleep will likely be the residual 'added value' of this The EZ Route lifestyle... nevertheless
When we sleep we produce the mother of all antioxidants - melatonin I particularly like the definition given in the book 'DMT - the spirit molecule' 'Mela meaning black and tonin, meaning to tone, literally means to be toned whilst asleep' Or to paraphrase 'sleep induced skin tone' if you will
Either way, for optimum melatonin production, we don't only need to be asleep with our head on a pillow, we need darkness, from the point the sun goes down, so get your candles out people, especially in winter.
Can you see why going to the gym in January with blue light, after dark, cell phones, wifi, electric Magnetic treadmills literally ticks every box I don't want to be ticked now? Stay at home, light a candle, turn the phone, wifi and tv off, and talk to your loved ones - I promise you will feel and look better. It's not magic
Sleep kills inflammation... I think of inflammation as the breaks on the fat burning process, and inflammation can be caused by many factors, but especially omega 6 fats, protons dense foods, acidic foods, refined sugars etc... these are all inflammatory But especially lack of sleep
With a huge release of such a potent and beneficial antioxidant (melatonin) while you sleep in darkness, that will yield a substantial amount of anti-inflammatory properties, quality sleep is going to have a big affect on your ability to burn fat, your over night ketone production and oxygen efficiency Many would argue your quality of sleep can be directly tied to your health status
Do i need to point out why anyone working nights, under an artificial blue light, without sleep is on a crash course?
I'm happy describing parts of the body through this series for conception, but at this point I need to introduce a part of the brain I feel is very important when this journey moves into the next stage so I can defend my sanity. The pineal gland is at the back of the brain. This is where melatonin and DMT (the compound found in drugs labelled as 'hallucinogenic' or 'phsycodelic' are both produced. I don't want to get into this area too deep just yet as I think I'm already asking too much of your belief system to step into what DMT is all about, but maybe later
Light (and darkness) both reach this energy centre (which includes some other parts which we don't need to know about just yet) via the eye, and optic nerve (what joins the back of the eye to the brain).
This is how the sun is able to signal hormone release and how the brain (including the pineal) is able to detect darkness and turn on the much needed melatonin taps - boom. All (or most) of your problems solved with good sleep
Blue light is inherently linked to sleep disruption because blue light will travel down the same retinal-optic-hypothamlus pathway to reach your brain and signal 'daytime' or more to the point 'morning time'
Having blue light on at night is like pressing reset on a song just as it's about to end... the song starts to play again from the beginning, just as you need it to end
Note: if you work in the city and sleep like I used to (badly), and are reading this thinking it doesn't affect you because you're so tired when you go to bed that sleep isn't a problem, There's something you need to know. Think of the quality of sleep you get when You're drunk. You sleep, but you wake up as if you never slept at all: this is what I call mere 'pillow time' If there was a way we could measure sleep based on melatonin production it would all make a lot more sense. This would help you understand the quality of your sleep and what is having be most effect on this quality So putting artificial blue lights on all night, sleeping through exhaustion and thinking it doesn't effect you might not do you any favours Blue lights on = melatonin off Blue lights on = anti-inflammation off Blue lights on = fat burn off
It's probably worth mentioning that without sleep my blood glucose is higher, ketones lower, I get cold sensitive (yes, I get cold, Me!!!) my reactions are slower, and every possible measure or bio-marker is detrimentally affected: but you already knew that
Never make a big decision on a Monday, a Friday or without any sleep