The Magic Health Bullet that Makes Everything Better (It Doesn’t Involve Diet or Exercise!)

Hey, it's J.J. here. You know, I've been talking about environmental toxins forever, and laundry detergent is a sneaky one. A lot of them contain harsh chemicals like dyes, preservatives, and even UV brighteners. Those brighteners don't actually clean anything. They just coat fabric so your eyes think things look whiter or brighter. That's more chemicals I don't want on my family sheets or skin. And if you've got sensitive skin or allergies around the house, this can be a big problem. That's what got my attention about Earth Breeze. It looks like a dryer sheet, but it's actually laundry detergent. You toss one in the washer and that's it. No pouring, no mess, and no heavy plastic jug. Their packaging is lightweight cardboard, which helps reduce plastic waste. And if you choose the fragrance free option, it's gentle, hypoallergenic, non irritating, and non sensitizing. I really like how simple it is and how fresh and clean everything comes out without those unnecessary chemicals. Right now you can try Earth Breeze for up to 40% off with free gifts@earthbreeze.com virgin that's earthbreeze.com virgin for up to 40% off plus free gifts on your first order. Hey, JJ here. Can you believe how fast the holidays are knocking at the door this year? One minute it's pumpkin spice season, the next you're getting your guest room ready and wondering where their wrapping paper went. And that's when I turned to Wayfair. From bedding and towels to holiday decor and last minute stocking stuffers, Wayfair has everything you need to get your home and holidays together fast. And for way less. With Wayfair, I know I can refresh my guest room in no time. Maybe I'll add a soft new comforter or a few holiday throw pillows. With Wayfair, it's so easy and everything arrives super fast. Plus, there's free shipping for any order over $35 easy and total peace of mind. So whether you're hosting, gifting, or just adding those final festive touches, Wayfair has your back. And when the holidays wind down, Wayfair has everything you need to tuck it all neatly away. Smart storage solutions for every room from the kitchen to the closet. Get organized, refreshed and ready for the holidays. For way less, head to Wayfair.com right now to shop all things home. Wayfair. Every style, every home that's W A Y F A I R.com this episode.

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Welcome to the Virgin Diet Lifestyle show with your host, celebrity nutrition and fitness expert and New York Times best selling author, JJ Virgin.

There's one thing that we do every day that makes the biggest difference in our overall health. Our ability to burn fat, our mood, our energy levels, our cravings, our hormonal balance and our immune system. And that thing is sleep. Yet I found in working with tens of thousands of people, that's often the thing that we steal the most from. We discount it and we just don't put it as a top priority in our schedule. Now in this show, I'm going to explain why getting a good night's sleep is the same single most important thing you can do for your overall health. And then more importantly, give you some simple strategies to help you do just that. And I'll also share a few things that you shouldn't do that could be getting in the way of a good night's sleep. So why this is so important? You know, one poor night of sleep sets you up for weight gain even if you're eating right and exercising because of what it does to your hormones. One more night of sleep, one, you have increased cortisol and if you have increased cortisol, you are going to lower your serotonin and you are going to want more sugar and you'll be cranky along the way. You are going to increase leptin and insulin resistance. That means your body isn't going to hear these as well. What happens then is you are hungrier and you'll have increased ghrelin, triple hungrier. Plus, this is a stressor on your body. So not only do you have the increased cortisol decreasing your serotonin, it's also gonna decrease your serotonin. This way your gut gets more permeable, you have more food intolerance and your immune system comes down. In fact, I will share with you that the only time I ever get sick is if I totally crash my sleep. Sure enough, boom. I get sick. That's it. That's the only time. Plus, you are absolutely gonna be hungrier again because of the cortisol because of the serotonin, because insulin, leptin, the ghrelin. And you know what the challenge is? You're not hungrier for salmon or brussels sprouts. You're hungrier for the things that you know better than eating. But your resolve is down. And you're also tired. So not only do you want that quick hit food, but you're also less likely to work out and more likely to use more stimulants throughout the day. And then what happens the next night when you go to sleep? Now it's going to be even harder to fall asleep. And now the next thing you know, you're on this treadmill of being overly tired, having sugar cravings, doing too much caffeine all day long, and then trying to maybe use some alcohol at night to help put you to sleep that then wakes you up in the middle of the night because you know more than one serving of alcohol. And even for some people, one can backfire by causing low middle of the night blood sugar levels. And guess what? More poor sleep. So you just get into this vicious, vicious cycle that you feel, feel like you can't get out of. Now here's how you break that cycle. Number one, you have to promise me this. You gotta make sleep a priority. You gotta make sleep your number one priority. And first of all, make sure you actually have set up enough time for sleep. I look at some people's schedules, I'm like, hey, if you need to sleep seven to nine hours and you're going to bed at midnight and you have to get up at 6, this doesn't work right? So if you know what time you have to get up in the morning, then just reverse engineer to make sure that you can not only get your seven to nine hours of sleep, but you also gave yourself time for a nighttime routine that's going to start an hour before you go to bed.

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This is your power down hour. I got that cool phrase from Dr. Michael Bruce, the sleep doctor. During this hour, you turn off the tech. There's no cell phones, laptops, iPads, TV or any of those other things that really stick to stimulate your brain. And you know what you're going to do during this time? You're going to putter. You're going to putter around. You're going to do the things that you can do at night like get your clothes out for the next day, put things away, take a hot bath, do the mindless activities. And then after you take the hot bath, what you want to do, get that hot bath and then get in a cool room is you get in the bed with a good but not a great book. And ideally, if you can put a little lavender on your pillow or lavender in your bath, even better. Now I said hot bath and then a cold room and it's great. 68 degrees for your room is ideal when you get into that hot bath and then you get out and get in the cold room. One of the things your body does to prepare you for sleep is to cool down. So this is going to help. You want your room to be pitch black. So you got to check this out when you go and check into hotels too. I'm always covering up the clocks if they've got bright clocks and bright lights. Also check the alarms. I sometimes feel like there's a passive aggressive housekeeping staff because the alarms are set for Four in the morning, I'm like, who did that? Then make sure you have a comfortable mattress and pillows. And you need to be changing those pillows out every six months. And then check in on your sleeping partners. Now, my sleeping partners for the most part are a small dog and a cat who fight. So this would not be optimal sleep sleeping situation for anybody. I've gotten them trained now to get along so that we all sleep well throughout the night. But snoring kids, animals, get this straightened away, straightened up. So this isn't going to interrupt your sleep. You want to be falling asleep within 30 minutes of going to bed. And you should wake up around the same time every single day feeling refreshed without an alarm clock. Also, I want you to look back at what you ate for dinner because you need to eat a good dinner for following my plate, which means clean, lean protein, healthy fats, non starchy vegetables, lots of them, and a high fiber, slow, low carb, about three hours before bed. You don't want to go to bed full, but you also don't want to go to bed hungry because that'll just wake you up in the middle of the night with low blood sugar and a glass of water can be great for shutting down evening hunger pangs. But more than that can make you have to get up and use the restroom during the night. So you don't want to do that either. One of the other things I like here is an herbal thyme herbal tea, like a sleepy time tea. And if you need some extra help during the day, you want to take some B vitamins because they are needed to help produce serotonin and melatonin that you need to sleep and make sure too during the day you're getting in good healthy protein that you're digesting that, that you're eating calcium rich foods like almonds and almond milk, those can all help you later in the evening. But for sleep, some of the things I love, number one, magnesium. And that can be as simple as taking a good Epsom salts bath. And then a couple of the nutrients that I every night I use five htp, melatonin and theanine. Both theanine can help raise GABA in the brain. It's the number one inhibitory neurotransmitter. Very calming. 5 HTP helps it goes to serotonin, raises serotonin in the brain that then can make melatonin. So those are the ones that I take that help me sleep every night. And I also take some extra magnesium. And I when I'm home I take a magnesium magnesium Epsom salts bath every single night. But again, I have made sleep my number one priority whether I'm traveling or whether I'm home. And I've got that sleep hygiene down at night, which is what I'm going to encourage you to do. And I hope that I've inspired you to put sleep at the top of your priority list. I've created a sleep quiz to help you track how you're doing and to take it. All you need to do is text 58885 and enter JJSleep1. That's the number one space, your first name, another space, and your email address. Again you text to 58885 and enter JJ Sleep1 space, your first name, a space, and your email address. In the Sugar Impact Diet, I help you clear up the confusion around sugar and take back the control that sugar has over your life. In just two weeks, you're going to lose your sweet tooth and shrink your waistline, so why wait? Start those two weeks today.

Hey everyone, did you like this episode? Be sure to subscribe for the next one and tell a friend if you'd like world class training and cutting edge information, Visit the Virgin Diet.com.

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