In a King 5 News interview, naturopathic physician Dr. Andrew Simon discusses the concept of sleep debt and whether missed sleep can be “caught up.” He explains that while extra sleep can be beneficial, the body cannot fully compensate for chronic short‑sleep, leading to nervous‑system stress, reduced cognitive performance, brain fog, and long‑term health issues such as high blood pressure, chronic pain, diabetes, and weight gain—personal anecdotes include gaining ten pounds during his residency and adjusting to life as a new father. Simon outlines a range of naturopathic and practical sleep‑hygiene interventions: herbal teas, Epsom‑salt soaks, blackout curtains, white‑noise machines, turning off electronic devices, journaling to off‑load thoughts, breathing exercises taught at Bastyr, and establishing a consistent nightly routine. The conversation emphasizes that recognizing the root cause of poor sleep (stress, work, pain) and creating a calming bedtime ritual are key to improving sleep quality.
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And the weather actually is one of the many things that can get in your way of catching your Z's. So if you don't get a good night's rest, is there a way to make up for it? Dr. Andrew Simon with the Bestia center here with some answers. And I guess big question is, can you really catch up on sleep if you have shorted yourself during the week?
Well, you can sure try. I mean, it doesn't hurt you to get more sleep when you can. It calms the nervous system, rests the body, but in general, you. You're often running out of sleep debt, and your body adapts quite a bit to that.
A lot of people seem to function. And you are working through this right now, being a new dad you mentioned, and I think all of us have done it, you work through five, six hours of sleep, and you do that for day after day after day. And some people are like, that's all I need. I can get by on that. Is that really true? Or we just cheat ourselves?
Well, I mean, we cheat ourselves with coffee, other stimulants, things like that, to try to make us have a false sense of being awake. But it has detrimental effects on your health. Blood pressure, chronic pain, diabetes, weight gain. I mean, I gained a bunch of about ten pounds during my residency just because I was so busy.
So maybe if you're younger, you can get away with it a little bit.
Yeah, but you do pay for it, right? On sort of the other end of your life, correct?
Yeah. I mean, you think critically, less at work, at school, you know, you might have a little bit of brain fog, things like that. So, you know, that can hurt you on that side of it from a financial perspective as well as just the weight, the health consequences, I would think, too.
Obviously, a lot of people do several different things to try to get. You got the blackout blinds, you've got the. What is the word? I'm thinking of the noise, the white noise. The white noise that people get. And then you have sleep aids and you've brought some in with you. And this runs the gamut, obviously.
Well, as a naturopathic physician, I use a bunch of different therapies to try to meet the patient, where they're at sometimes. There's always a time and a place. But sometimes I'll use teas. It can be as simple as that, creating a routine and ritual at night. Or you use an herbal tea with different herbs that help kind of calm the nervous system. Again, maybe you're not getting good sleep because there's some pain or you're an athlete and that kind of keeps you up at night. So take a nice hot Epsom soap bag, Epsom soak before going to bed. Getting the lights down, the blackout curtains like you mentioned, all that kind of stuff.
Putting your devices away, your electronic devices. I'm horrible with that.
Yeah, I mean I've got my watch, my phone, I've got everything all connected and my wife always reminds me to turn that stuff off before going to bed.
Is the number one thing recognizing why you you're getting a lack of sleep? Whether it's you can't put things at work away in your head or you're thinking about your to do list.
Exactly.
That's a great example. I mean having a journal, writing those things down ahead of time, making a list before going to bed so that way it's out of your head and into a book. Or I teach people breathing exercises on the mind body medicine shift at Bastyr.
Any other words of wisdom to help us get a few more z's?
Much like raising a I have a 9 month old infant right now. Routine is the key. Do the same thing every night and then your body gets accustomed them to that, right?
Okay, we'll try.
Yeah, easier said than done. It always is. But you know what? We'll take any advice we can get. Thank you so much.
