The Sleep Revolution

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Some people think nature is like this.

But actually it's like this.

That's why Columbia engineers everything we moved.

Make for anything nature can throw at you. Columbia engineered for whatever.

Hey, it's JJ Virgin. And welcome to the JJ Virgin Lifestyle show where I talk nutrition, exercise, mindset and lifestyle with some of the coolest people in the world. Plus, I give you tips that you can put into fast action to up level your health so you can go out there and live the big life you're meant to live. Now, today's show is about a topic that I think is probably the single biggest needle mover that you can make in your health. Yes, let's take nutrition out of the picture. This is the one that I see people just blowing off all the time. And when they shift it, miracles happen. Now, I recently became engaged and my fiance, when I first met him, was sleeping five to six hours a night. And he told me that's all he really needed. But what I found out was that this had been a habit that happened after a very stressful time. He just kept it going and now he is sleeping eight hours plus a night and a major change. He leaned out, he put on more muscle, he's happier, he got engaged. But sleep does make a massive, massive shift. And so I brought on the best person I could think to talk about sleep. And I'm bringing on Ariana Huffington. She recently wrote the book the Sleep Revolution, Transforming youg Life One Night at a Time. Awesome book. Not only is it got 50 pages of science in case you don't believe it and you're not believing what she has to say or what I'm saying. But also, more importantly, she's got the techniques and tactics in there to help you get a good night's sleep. So my goal for you at the end of this podcast is to say I'm making sleep a priority and then you'll know exactly what to do it by jumping on her website and grabbing her book, the Sleep Revolution. So let me tell you a little bit about Ariana. I'm sure you know who she is. Arianna Huffington is the co founder, president and Editor in Chief of the Huffington Post. And she has written 15 books. Most recently before the Sleep Revolution was her book Thrive, the third Metric to redefining success and creating a life of well being, wisdom and wonder. This debuted at number one on the New York Times. And this really was the forerunner for this book, the Sleep Revolution. And talked about how she was hard Charging. And one day due to sleep deprivation, she just collapsed and hit her cheek, broke her cheekbone. And it was her very, very big wake up call to the fact that she needed to make a change. She is Time magazine's list. She's on Time magazine's list of the world's 100 most influential people and Forbes most powerful women list. She's from Greece, as you'll be able to tell by hearing listening to her. In fact, I met Ariana and her sister Agape at an event in decided they were my Greek sisters. They are just amazing. She moved to England from Greece and she when she was 16, she graduated from Cambridge with an MA in economics. And at 21 she was president of the famed debating society there, the Cambridge Union. She's just amazing, an amazing woman. But what I love the most is that she has become the courageous front runner here in talking about a subject that people really have not wanted to talk about. She's got a couple tips in here and one that I've been doing I didn't even realize I was doing. So I can't wait for you to hear it. And another simple one that can make just a big, big shift. So again, today's show is all about sleep and my guest today is Arianna Huffington. So let's do it. Arianna Huffington, welcome to the show. I'm so excited to talk about this topic with you.

And me too, jj. So great to be with you.

Well, you are tackling what I think is probably the single biggest challenge we have out there and the that no one's talking about. So I'm so glad that you wrote the Sleep Revolution. What inspired you to take this one on?

Well, what inspired me was my own painful wake up call when I collapsed from sleep deprivation. Exhaustion broke my cheekbone on the way down. And then I looked around and I saw that I was not alone. That in fact millions of people are burnt out and sleep deprived and that it goes back to the first industrial revolution when we started thinking we can treat human beings like machines. And our goal is to minimize downtime. So my goal with the book and with a college tour and with talking with you and everything I'm doing is to help this culture shift that's already happening because of the amazing new science that we have that makes it clear that sleep is non negotiable and it affects every aspect of our lives.

So you call it the new smoking, the lack of sleep, sleep deprivation. So talk about how bad it is when people don't get a good night's sleep. And let's actually back up what qualifies as a good night's sleep, because I hear people say, oh, I'm fine, I only need five hours. Right. So what's a good night's sleep? And if they don't get it, what happens?

Well, first of all, there are people, about 1% of the population who can do great on four to five hours. They have a genetic mutation and not a problem at all. But the rest of us, the vast majority of us, need, according to a universal scientific consensus, seven to nine hours. Where you are in the seven to nine hours is very individual. I am at eight hours. You may be somewhere in between. But the point is that you cannot train yourself to have a genetic mutation. You either have it or you don't. And that's something that's really important for all of us to understand.

Yes. And I always tell people there's 1% of the population are short sleepers. And it's probably not you.

But you know, you actually, if you're at all self aware, you know, if you are or if you're not.

I've met one person in all these.

Years, you wake up and you feel great and that's it. Then you don't have to listen to anyone.

Yep. And I, and literally I've met one person in 30 plus years of working with people on their health, I've met 1000s of people. 1. So let's assume that you're not one of those people. And maybe you have been stealing from sleep and you're getting six hours a night and you figure out what's one hour. So what, what is that one hour when someone's not getting the sleep they need each night, what happens to them?

So let's start with our health. What happens is that our immune system is compromised. So we need to track are we getting more colds, are we getting the flu, are we more susceptible to any of the viruses that surround us? And then it goes on to our weight. Is it much harder for us to maintain or lose weight? Because when we're sleep deprived, we crave all the wrong things that JJ tells us not to eat, especially sugar. And our hormones change and we crave it. It's not like a matter of impulse control, although impulse control is also compromised. And then we now have all the science I've included in the book. As you know, JJ, I have 50 pages of scientific endnotes that connect sleep deprivation to hypertension, hypertension and heart disease, to diabetes, to cancer and to Alzheimer's. And this is Very interesting, given the Alzheimer's epidemic coincides with a sleep deprivation epidemic. When we are sleeping, contrary to the old belief that it's a time when the brain is inactive, when we sleep, it's a time of frenetic activity for the brain. And what the brain does when we are asleep is cleaning up the toxins that have accumulated during the day. And if the toxins are not cleaned up, are not washed away through the glymphatic system of the brain, which is the brain's plumbing system, they accumulate, they house themselves among the cells of the brain, and that's kind of the buildup that leads to memory loss and Alzheimer's. So basically, the health consequences are very profound. Then you have the consequences in terms of our cognitive performance. We all know the brain fog that comes from sleep deprivation. But Also, as the McKinsey study that recently came out shows, all the leadership functions that are housed in a prefrontal cortex are degraded. And as a result, everything that we are trying to achieve by sleep, depriving ourselves in terms of productivity, getting stuff done, is compromised. And the final thing that's really important for me, increasingly important, is that sleep deprivation robs us of joy. It means we are less present and less vital the way we show up in our lives.

So what do you think? Because it is kind of a badge of honor out there with people talking about how little they sleep and how stressed they are. And I know you're, like, leading the charge to turn this around, but how do you think this happened and what's going on nowadays that's contributing to this sleep epidemic?

Well, actually, what is happening is that the sleep deprivation epidemic has been going on for a while, and it became worse because of our addiction to technology. Now that our smartphone is the portal both to our personal life and to our professional life, it means we never have to stop working. And that is a really, really big problem. Because what happens is that at night, people, unless they create a transition to sleep and set a clear boundary between their day life and their sleep, they end up literally holding their smartphones until the last moment, charging it on their nightstand, which is one of my main no nos, as you know. Because if you wake up in the middle of the night, you are going to be tempted to go to your smartphone to look at something to distract you from the fact that you can't sleep, and then you'll wake up exhausted.

Yeah, it's almost impossible not to do that. So I've been putting it either down below or over in the bathroom since I Heard you say that. Because even in our best intentions, it's right there. Calling to now what about. Because I know you travel a lot and a lot of us are traveling and I think some of it is we're just busy. How do you first make sleep a priority and then how do you deal with traveling and sleep?

So I have a whole section on travel and sleep and it starts with what you do on the airplane. For me, it is key to stay as hydrated as possible, avoid alcohol and sugar and have some noise canceling headphones that will allow me to sleep depending on the length of the flight. I also travel with my own little traveling kit with my lavender spray and my eye mask and my favorite little healthy organic nuts and snacks that I can have to avoid the default position of eating all the sugary and salty things that they give us on planes. And once we arrive and once I land, I try never to go straight into a meeting. I'm talking about an overnight flight, a long flight. But to be able to go to my hotel room, have a bath, have a nap or a meditation and show up refreshed because I've been to so many meetings where executives really fall asleep and insult the people who may have been working for weeks to prepare PowerPoints for them.

Yeah, there's nothing more mind numbing than PowerPoints. As we know now, someone's struggling with sleep, they have trouble falling asleep or they have trouble staying asleep. What are a couple of your top tips for this?

So the top top sleep. As you know, there's an entire section of tips. But the most important tip is to recognize the essential nature of a ritual, a transition ritual for sleep. And I offer a lot of ingredients to create your own ritual. I can tell you what mine is. Mine starts 30 minutes before I'm going to turn off the lights. But don't worry about that. You start with five. It doesn't matter. The important thing is to take a micro step and then take it from there. So for me, 30 minutes before I'm going to turn off the light, I turn off all my devices and gently escort them out of my bedroom. I have a hot bath with Epsom salts and the flickering candles. I love kind of rekindling my romance with sleep, which so often we have forgotten. Then part of that romance is wearing night dresses or PJs or clothes that are dedicated to sleep. I used to sleep in the same workout clothes. I used to go to the gym and my brain was getting these confusing messages.

Oh, that's such a good point. I Do that when I travel. Guilty. Because I think, ah, yep, you're right.

Yeah, you have to pack less. But, you know, you can pack something very light that doesn't really take extra room. But your body and your brain know we are going to sleep. And then I only read physical books in bed and books that have nothing to do with work. I will read novels and spiritual books and poetry. And there is this whole ritual like we do with our children, you know, we don't just drop them in bed. We need to rediscover that ritual for ourselves.

I love that. That actually is my evening routine. I just have noticed that when I'm on the road, I just did that big boo boo. So that's massive. Thank you for that. And makes so much sense now that you say it. And of course, anyone can pack a little nightie. They like, take up the size of a Kleenex, you know.

Exactly.

Right now I want to let everybody know where they can go get more from you. And I know that you've got some cool stuff@arianahuffington.com so what can our listeners find when they go over to ariannahuffington.com.

So they can find a questionnaire that can track their sleep quality? There is a kind of sleep manifesto with my top 12 tips for better sleep. And also there is a guided meditation that my sister and I, you know, my sister Agape jj, she and I wrote it and she reads it. And as you know, she sounds just like me, only better. And so you can download it on your ipod, not your smartphone, because I don't want you to have your smartphone by your bed, please. But then if you can't fall asleep or if you wake up in the middle of the night and have trouble falling back to sleep, you can play that guided meditation, which is deliberately designed to help you disconnect from your to do list and your chattering mind and surrender to sleep.

That's awesome. And I love that they can track their sleep progress because what you measure, you can improve. So it's so important to do that. So I want to thank you so much for joining me and also I'm reminding everyone, again, go to ariannahuffington.com, grab that sleep quiz so that you can start tracking this and get that meditation. Because you're right, Agape's got this beautiful flowing Greek sister voice that I just love. Now, after the break, I'm going to be answering a listener's question, so be sure to stick with me.

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Welcome back. This is the time where I answer a listener's question. And today's question comes from Karen from Charlotte. And she wants to know which supplements should she not take at night that could be problematic for sleep and which should she take that could help with sleep? And of course, I wanted to use this question here in this podcast because it was so perfect. Since we've been talking sleep with Arianna Huffington and one thing I want to really emphasize here is remember supplements. Just think of the name supplement. Supplements are meant as a supplement. So what you really want to make sure with sleep is that you are setting yourself up well for sleep in terms of it's not only about which supplements to avoid in the evening, it's also about which what food and drink to avoid. So a couple things there. Caffeine. Obviously, if you're caffeine sensitive, you may not be able to have caffeine at all. But for most of us, caffeine in the morning is fine, but then you're going to want to stop it after, you know, whatever time you find you need. To most people it's noon. But if you are a slow caffeine metabolizer, you might have a 12 hour caffeine half life for metabolizing it. You may find that you need to stop at 9. So check that one out. That's one of the first places to test and obviously avoid then anything that has caffeine in it. Any, any medications or supplements later in the day that have caffeine in or food like chocolate that has caffeine in it. If you're super sensitive, sugar in the evening is going to be problematic for sleep, of course. And that's why alcohol can be problematic too, more than a glass because it can cause some hypoglycemia and that's what will wake you up in the middle of the night. So there's a problem. And sometimes B vitamins can be an issue too because they can be stimulating and energizing. So Be aware of that. Also, some of the different adrenal support products that help cortisol stay around longer. Great in the morning, like licorice, not great in the evening, because that's not when you want cortisol to stay around longer. Now, what things can help you? Of course, the routine that Ariana talked about at night, setting up a really good evening routine, getting that technology out, doing your power down, hour or half hour is critical. And I have a very similar evening routine to Ariana. But then the other part of it is making sure that you're eating a good meal in the evening with healthy fats, protein and fiber, because that'll keep your blood sugar balanced and give you something to work off of while you're sleeping. This is not where you want to be. No carb at dinner. I like to get some carbs, especially from low sugar impact carbs, like maybe some butternut squash. It's a great one. And again, amounts are everything. But do that three hours or more before bed. Don't eat right before bed. That can put some pressure on your esophagus, can lead to gerd. So we want to make sure you're not eating right before bed. You want to give yourself a couple of hours because you want to have a nice 12 hour fast between dinner and breakfast. But some nutrients that I love for sleep. I love the nutrient gaba. And GABA is interesting because it is a calming neurotransmitter. So GABA can be good for you. What I use personally is a product that we actually developed called Sleep Candy. And what it's got in there is B6, because B6 can help your body make all the neurotransmitters that are perfect for sleep. And it's not going to be energizing theanine. And L theanine raises gaba, like I just talked about, that neurotransmitter that can help you sleep and is very calming. Theanine does that. So I use L theanine. I use inositol, which is a calming B vitamin that can help you sleep better. I use 5 HTP and 5 HTP can help raise melatonin and that can help you sleep and then some melatonin. So that's my combo and I like using combos of products. Again, I like things like either GABA or theanine that will help you make Gaba. I like 5 HTP which can help raise tryptophan, which then can go to melatonin. And I like melatonin and I love inositol so those are my favorites but I put them in combination with the right habits. A good bath, some darkening of the lights, clearing out the technology reading. I would say a good but not great book and not from technology. Read that book from real a real book. So those are just a couple things that can help. And again, if you've got those all dialed in and you're still not getting exactly what you need there, then the supplements. Supplement that. And that's where I use my sleep candy. I actually do it that every single night and helps me with traveling. All right, if you'd like to submit a question, just go to jjvirgin.com ask and you can leave a voicemail for me. I love hearing from you and another way I love hearing from you. I would hugely appreciate it if you could jump on Stitcher or itunes and leave a review for me. It helps a bunch and be sure to subscribe and share the show with your friends. All right, this is JJ Virgin signing off and reminding you that you are worthy Dare to live a life that matters.

Foreign.

Hello listeners, this is Anne Bogle, author, blogger and creator of the podcast what Should I Read next? Since 2016, I've been helping readers bring more joy and delight into their reading lives. Every week I take all things books and reading with a guest and guide them in discovering their next reading. They share three books they love, one book they don't, and what they've been reading lately. And I recommend three titles they may enjoy reading next. Guests have said our conversations are like therapy, troubleshooting issues that have plagued their reading lives for years, and possibly the rest of their lives as well. And of course, recommending books that meet the moment, whether they are looking for deep introspection to spur or encourage a life change, or a frothy page turner to help them escape the stresses of work, school, everything. You'll learn something about yourself as a reader and you'll definitely walk away confident to choose your next read, with a whole list of new books and authors to try. So join us each Tuesday for what Should I Read Next? Subscribe now wherever you're listening to this podcast and visit our website what Should I read next podcast.com to find out more.