Jan 15, 2023

Review

The book "Why We Sleep" is a fact-checking piece. It has lots of sound scientific evidence (and indications) that society is rampantly becoming more sleep deprived. More importantly, the book also presents what quality of living (or lack thereof) we must expect when sleeping less than 8 hours each day.

I read this book after going through "The Interpretation of Dreams" by Freud. I was curious to know how much we've learned since 1899 and didn't end up disappointed. The breakdown of REM and NREM sleep was very insightful (a quick search in the internet will tell you the difference between the two), and it centres most of what Freud was trying to figure out.

As for sleeping advice, the book has plenty. Here's my summary of notes from the book:

The bad outcomes from a lack of sleep

1. It demolishes your immune system.
2. Doubles the risk of cancer.
3. Determines whether or not you'll develop Alzheimer's disease.
4. Increases the likelihood of cardiovascular disease, stroke, and heart failure.
5. Contributes to psychiatric conditions such as depression, anxiety, and suicidality.
6. Increases the concentration of the hormone that makes one hungry. While suppressing the quantity of another that makes you feel satisfied.
7. Makes the weight loss from sleep come from lean body mass, not fat.
8. Makes one lose their memory of important information they acquired throughout the day.
9. Makes one less able to concentrate the day after.
10. Increases infertility, including sperm deformities.
11. Avoid nicotine as it's another sleep inhibitor. Plus, it makes you wake up anxious in the middle of the night.

What to avoid:

1. Caffeine. It is just not worth it. Specially in the afternoon.
2. Drinking alcohol while you are pregnant or breast feeding. You're going to mess up your babies sleep.
3. Do not exercise prior 3 hours of going to sleep. Try to exercise earlier.
4. Do not eat a lot of food or drink too much 2 to 3 hours before bed. Too much food might cause indigestion, and too much liquid will wake you up to go to the loo.
5. Avoid LED screens (specially those loaded by blue light) 2 hours before bed. It messes up with your melatonin levels and makes it harder to get to sleep.
6. Do not take sleeping pills. They do not help you get your REM and NREM sleep, and instead act as a sedative.
7. Don't take naps after 3pm.
8. Don't lie in bed awake. Go do something relaxing and then come back to bed.

What to encourage

1. Sleep schedule. Do not diverge from it even of weekends. Try to sleep at the same time every day.
2. Avoid alcohol before bed. It robs you from your REM sleep. It also makes you wake up more often in the middle of the night when effects of the alcohol have worn off.
3. Relax before bed, have time to unwind.
4. Take a hot bath before bed. The drop in body temperature will make you feel sleepy.
5. Have a dark and cool (temperature wise) bedroom. Get rid of anything in the bedroom that might distract you from your sleep. Any noise, bright light, LED, etc.
6. Have sunlight exposure, try to get outside in natural sunlight for at least thirty minutes every day. Use bright lights in the morning to help you wake up.