This is a YouTube video titled "How Sleep Protects Against Shingles" containing a conversation recorded on April 13, 2021, between George and Ask AI Mark. They discuss the importance of sleep and circadian rhythm in supporting the immune system and preventing infections, with a focus on functional medicine approaches to viral issues such as shingles and yeast infections.
Sleep, we talk about how the sleep is so important for overall health, but sleep in the bigger context of establishing a healthy circadian rhythm. So, there have been recent studies that show that it's the circadian rhythm, establishing a good circadian rhythm actually sets the immune system up because bacteria and viruses have their own circadian rhythm. And the immune system can then establish a circadian rhythm that will allow it to fight and suppress infection. Fascinating. So working on making sure that we're getting our circadian rhythm in place, sleep is a big part of that. And from the moment you wake up in the morning to the time you go back to bed, you're actually preparing yourself for sleep. and one of the best things you can do in the morning is wake up, open a window, open a door, go outside, get some fresh air, and look into the sky. Because that light hits your brain, there's a certain nucleus that sets your circadian rhythm for the day. It's going to now start preparing for 12 to 14 hours later when you go to sleep to have you completely ready to sleep in a comfortable and restorative way.
That's great. So really, what you're saying, George, is that with functional medicine, whether it's shingles or any other viral issue or preventing infections, you had yeast infections, all those two things that we have a lot we can offer from the perspective of functional medicine.
