Dr. Mark Hyman explains why sleep deprivation sabotages weight loss and overall health. He covers the effects of sleep apnea and practical steps to improve sleep hygiene for better physical and mental well-being.
You can lose 50 pounds without changing what you eat or doing one minute of exercise. Hi, this is Dr. Mark Hyman, welcome back. Okay, what you eat and exercise are actually important, but what most people don't know is that sleep deprivation makes you fat. And it leads to depression, pain, heart disease, diabetes, and much more. In fact, besides eating whole foods and moving your body, getting enough sleep is the most important thing you can do for your health. In fact, one of my patients, he had sleep apnea. It's a condition where you have interrupted sleep all night because your airway closes off so your body startles awake and you don't suffocate. Well, it's a very common problem. It's way under diagnosed. It affects 18 million people in America and most are not treated. 90% are not diagnosed. So anyway, one of my patients was so tired he had to stand up at his computer to work during the day so he wouldn't fall asleep. His wife reported horrific snoring and gasping episodes at night and he fell asleep at the wheel when driving and he would fall right asleep as soon as he sat down to watch TV. Now, when we got his sleep apnea diagnosed with a sleep study and a sleep lab, and got him treated with a device to keep his airway open at night. He lost 50 pounds, his blood pressure returned to normal, and he got his life back. Now, those with sleep apnea are not the only ones in trouble, right? It's estimated that 70% of Americans are sleep deprived. Let me tell you, the era of Starbucks has been surpassed by the prescription stimulants to keep people awake and functioning like Dexedrine or Ritalin, otherwise known as speed or amphetamines, right? Surprisingly, I see an increasing number of patients not prescribed by me, but prescribed these uppers by their psychiatrist because coffee is not enough. I mean, if we can't do 10 things at once, then there must be something wrong with us, right? Wrong, right? Our bodies and our biological rhythms that keep us healthy produce cyclic pulses of healing and repair hormones including melatonin and growth hormone. And when those rhythms are disturbed by inadequate or insufficient sleep, Disease and breakdown really get the upper hand. Now most of us need at least eight hours of restful sleep a night. Getting this is more and more difficult. I mean, yet we evolved with the rhythms of day and night that used to signal us, you know, to a whole cascade of hormonal neurochemical reactions that keep us healthy by repairing our DNA, building tissues and muscle, repairing our bodies, regulating our weight and our mood chemicals. And the advent of the light bulb changed everything, right? In fact, when I learned that shift work, like I did when I worked in the emergency room, leads to shortened life expectancy, I quit. You know, when we are sleep deprived, our cortisol levels rise with all its harmful effects. It's a stress hormone, including brain damage and dementia, weight gain, diabetes, heart attacks, high blood pressure, depression, osteoporosis, depressed immune system, and lots more. You know, good sleep is not something that just happens, right? Unless you're a baby or a teenager maybe. There are clearly defined things that interfere with or support healthy sleep. Follow these guidelines to restore your natural sleep rhythm. It may take weeks or months, but using these tools in a coordinated way will eventually reset your biological rhythms. First thing we have to do is prioritize sleep. I thought MD stood for Medical Deity and meant I didn't have to follow the same sleep rules. as every other human being was, I'm wrong, right? I got very sick from all the sleep deprivation. Our lives are infiltrated with stimuli and we keep stimulating until the moment we get into bed. This is not the way to get restful sleep, right? Is it any wonder we can't sleep well when we eat a late dinner or answer emails, surf the net, or do work and get right into bed and watch the evening news all about disaster, pain and suffering in the world? We must take a little holiday at the end of the day, in the two hours before bed. Maybe you can create a sleep ritual, a special set of little things you do before you get into bed to help you ready your system physically and psychologically for sleep. And these can guide your body into a deep and healing sleep. We all live with a bit of post-traumatic stress syndrome, or maybe we should say traumatic stress syndrome, because for many of us there's nothing post about it. Right? Now, much research has actually been done on the effects of sleep and traumatic experiences and images on sleep. And if you follow the guidelines for restoring normal sleep here, your post-traumatic stress or your traumatic stress may truly become a thing of the past. Okay, now here's how to get a good night's sleep. Practice regular rhythms of sleep, right? Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day and try not to nap. And only use your bed for sleep and sex, no reading or television. Create an aesthetic environment that's helpful for sleep by using serene and restful colors in your bedroom. Get rid of clutter and distraction. Create total darkness and quiet, maybe consider even eye shades and earplugs. Avoid caffeine. It may seem to help you stay awake but actually makes your sleep worse. Avoid alcohol. It helps you get to sleep but makes your sleep interrupted and of much poorer quality. And get regular exposure to daylight for at least 20 minutes a day. and the light from the sun enters our eyes and triggers our brain to release specific chemicals and hormones like melatonin that are vital to healthy sleep and mood and aging. And the next thing is don't eat later than three hours before bed. So don't eat anything a couple hours before bed. And also don't eat a heavy meal prior to bed because that will lead to bad night's sleep. Don't exercise vigorously after dinner. It sort of wakes you up. You can take a walk but don't run a marathon or go for a five mile jog. And also try writing down your worries before bed. One hour before bed, write down things that are causing you anxiety and make plans for what you might have to do the next day to reduce your worry. And it'll free your mind up and energy to sort of move into a deep and restful sleep. Try taking a hot soda and salt bath with aromatherapy, which I write about called the Ultra Bath. It raises your body temperature and helps you induce sleep. And then I would suggest try a massage. Maybe you can stretch or do some yoga before bed. Just simple things. Use a heating pad on your solar plexus or your belly or snuggle next to a warm body. Warming your middle raises your core temperature and this helps trigger the proper chemistry for sleep. Avoid also medications that can interfere with sleep. Things like sedatives which help a little bit but ultimately cause dependence and and screw up your normal sleep pattern. Antihistamines, stimulants, cold medications, steroids, headache medications, caffeine, these all interfere with sleep. Try some relaxing minerals like magnesium and calcium. Use some herbs like valerian or passion flower and maybe try to find the right blend. Try melatonin even and also consider getting a tape or CD to help you sleep. Consider also getting tested for sleep disorders. There's a lot of them. But if you have all the symptoms of sleep apnea, daytime sleepiness, fatigue, snoring and have been seen to stop breathing in the middle of the night, get tested for sleep apnea. So remember, don't skimp on sleep. It's one of the most important healing treatments for your body that's available to you every day.
