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Does Cold Exposure Really Boost Sleep?

There’s a quick hack for most things these days, including better sleep and pain management. Cold exposure is a popular topic, with many people filming their morning cold plunges in freezing cold water or practicing Wim Hof breathing in extremely cold environments. But does cold exposure really boost sleep, reduce pain, and improve healing? Science suggests that it does. Cold therapy reduces our overall body temperature, boosting the production of the sleep hormone melatonin. Moreover, exposure to cold temperatures may even help us to burn more brown fat, improving our overall calorie expenditure and metabolic health. What’s more, cold exposure therapy offers muscle and tissue repair while promoting accelerated healing. Better yet, you don’t need a fancy cold plunge tank or cryotherapy machine to practice it. The Breg Polar Care Cube offers cryotherapy for at-home use, while DIY ice baths and cold showers provide a free solution to help anyone achieve the benefits of cold therapy, anytime.

Want Better Rest? Avoid These 5 Supplements

Supplements fill in the gaps of our nutrition. Wherever our food intake is lacking, vitamins and supplements can help to maintain and boost our health and well-being. What’s more, sometimes they’re necessary. Calcium helps maintain healthy bone density, while prenatal vitamins like folic acid reduce the risk of birth defects in pregnant women, That said, some supplements are proven to cause sleep disruptions. For example, weight loss supplements usually contain caffeine known to keep us up at night. The timing and dosage of certain vitamins matter, too. Taking vitamin C too closely to bedtime fragments our rest, while a high intake of vitamin D and insomnia are closely linked. In summary, if you want better rest, there are certain vitamins and supplements that you should steer clear of entirely or closely monitor your dosage of to ensure your best sleep yet.

Sleep-Disordered Breathing & Ancient Skulls: They're Linked!

Believe it or not, snoring isn’t normal. It’s usually a sign of sleep-disordered breathing that may lead to sleep apnea, which increases the risk of many harmful health conditions. Moreover, it interrupts our sleep (and the sleep of anyone we may share a bed or room with). So why has snoring become so popular? It’s the same root cause as the reason dental problems have become so commonplace: our jaws are shrinking. Over time, our skulls and airway have decreased in size due to our soft, processed modern diet. As a result, narrow palates, underdeveloped airway muscles, and improper tongue posture have become a modern epidemic. Without enough space for our tongues to rest, our mouths have fallen open more often than not, leading to mouth breathing. Mouth breathing causes over-breathing and leaves our air unfiltered, full of harmful pathogens and bacteria that wreak havoc on the immune system. Nasal breathing, on the other hand, leads to efficient breathing and nitric oxide production for better oxygenation. But as chronic mouth breathers, does mouth breathing treatment exist to help us make the switch?

Is Red Light Therapy The Key to Sweeter Sleep?

Red light therapy has recently gained popularity as a secret weapon for biohacking your way toward wound healing, wrinkle reduction, and more. It’s even used in medical settings to promote faster recovery or combat the side effects of chemotherapy. Whether you purchase your own red lights to use at home or you visit a red light therapy salon, the benefits are seemingly endless. The science behind how red light improves health lies in the way that the wavelengths of red light affect our cells. Red light encourages our cells to produce more energy within the mitochondria, allowing for faster regeneration and repair. Moreover, skin health isn’t the only perk of red light healing. Sleep quality is also proven to improve massively in those who regularly use red light therapy. Red light promotes the secretion of melatonin, a sleep hormone that helps us wind down in the evening. On the other hand, different spectrums of light (like blue light) are proven to interrupt melatonin production, making red light a solid evening light source for your best sleep yet.

True or False: Is Lack of Sleep Worse Than Drunk Driving?

Everyone knows that driving under the influence of alcohol is dangerous for everyone on the road. But did you know that tired driving is just as harmful? In fact, drowsy driving is responsible for 21 percent of all fatal accidents. When we’re sleep deprived, our concentration, reaction times, and problem-solving abilities all take a hit. This dramatically increases our risk of making fatal errors that lead to accidents on the road. Moreover, research has revealed that being awake for 17 hours leads to impairment equivalent to having a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.05%. In most Western European countries, this is considered the legal drinking limit. Staying awake for 24 hours is the same as having a BAC of 0.10%, well over the legal drinking limit of 0.08% in the United States. Therefore, it’s important to recognize the symptoms of severe sleep debt and avoid getting behind the wheel if you’re running low on sleep. Your life and safety literally depend on it.

All About Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR)

Non-sleep deep rest, also known as NSDR, was coined by Stanford neuroscientist Andrew Huberman as a quick reset that can help add focus to your day or prepare your brain and body for sleep in the evening. It’s less intimidating than traditional meditation and includes a guided script and body scanning. All you have to do is follow along with the instructions, making it a simple practice for people who are new to the world of mindfulness and meditation. What’s more, it stimulates brain waves similar to that of slow-wave sleep, which is vital for the rejuvenation and healing of the body and mind. Including this practice in your daily routine helps to promote the onset of quality sleep. Many NSDR sleep protocols can be found online, including traditional Yoga Nidra (which NSDR was derived from) and NSDR meditations led by Andrew Huberman himself.

Weighted Blankets 101: Deep Pressure Stimulation for Deeper Sleep

There’s a reason we feel better after a long hug with a loved one. It's the same reason that babies feel comfort when swaddled up tight. This soothing sensation is known as deep pressure stimulation – and it’s a game changer when it comes to managing our nervous system. Deep pressure stimulation soothes the body by activating the parasympathetic nervous system, taking us from a state of stress and overwhelm to a state of relaxation and calm. A weighted blanket provides calming, deep pressure that we can take anywhere, anytime. Using a weighted blanket allows us to reap the benefits of deep pressure stimulation for better sleep, emotional regulation, and more – all without having to hug a loved one all day long. Boost feel-good chemicals dopamine and oxytocin while lowering cortisol with the deep pressure stimulation achieved through using a weighted blanket. Just be sure to select the right material, filling type, size, and weight for optimal results and comfort.

5 Best Breakfast Foods For Your Best Sleep Yet

You’re probably mindful of what you eat before bed to ensure that you sleep well. For example, eating carbs before bed or consuming caffeine late in the day are thought to lead to poor sleep. That said, what you eat in the morning is just as important. Eating breakfast on a regular basis is proven to lower your risk of both type 2 diabetes and obesity. However, only a very small percentage of us eat breakfast regularly. Breaking our overnight fast with a nutritious breakfast replenishes glucose levels and helps to boost energy and alertness for optimal performance. What’s more, selecting and eating a healthy breakfast cues our internal clock to gear up for the day, leading to better sleep after nightfall. If you don’t already eat breakfast, learn to incorporate a morning meal into your day. Be sure to opt for nutritious, sleep-promoting foods filled with protein and other vitamins and minerals that will help keep you energized and feeling your best.

The Vagus Nerve: A Secret Weapon For Improved Sleep

The vagus nerve is the longest cranial nerve within the body, responsible for helping regulate almost every day-to-day process including digestion, sleep, and overall well-being. It’s also connected to our ability to show compassion and empathy for others. When our vagus nerve isn’t functioning as it should, it’s often called “low vagal tone.” This dysfunction leads to inflammation, anxiety, poor sleep, and even digestive issues like irritable bowel syndrome. Therefore, boosting vagal tone with vagus nerve exercises for digestion and improved sleep can make all of the difference in how we feel. For example, humming and singing are thought to activate the parasympathetic nervous system and, in turn, our vagus nerve. Breathwork is another hidden gem for improving vagal tone by shifting the body from a state of fight or flight into a state of rest and relaxation.

SKY Breath Meditation: What is It?

Approximately 25 percent of Americans suffer from some form of mental illness. Moreover, 40 million Americans report that they consistently suffer from anxiety. Mindfulness techniques like breathwork and meditation serve as proven methods to combat anxiety, improve mental well-being, and regulate our nervous system. SKY breath meditation harnesses the power of both meditation and breathing exercises to center our bodies and minds toward a state of calm. SKY breath meditation was first discovered by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and involves cyclical breathing patterns that range from slow, controlled deep breaths to rapid inhalations and exhalations. What’s more, this method is proven to effectively treat stress, anxiety, depression, PTSD, insomnia, and more. SKY breath meditation works by decreasing the stress hormone cortisol and boosting nitric oxide production. Nitric oxide is a vasodilator known to take the body out of fight or flight and into a state of relaxation. It’s recommended to practice SKY breath meditation with a certified instructor, as it’s a bit more complicated than simple breathing exercises.

What to Do When You And Your Partner Have Different Sleep Schedules

It might be the norm to share a bed with your partner, but a snoring partner and sleep deprivation are closely linked. In fact, spouses of snoring partners wake up 21 times per hour each night when compared to spouses of non-snorers. These disruptions quickly add up, causing massive sleep debt. Aside from being dangerous, sleep debt and deprivation are thought to make us more reactive, impulsive, and grouchy, which is a recipe for even more relationship disasters. If your sleeping schedules or preferences are different, there are a few solutions to improve your relationship and sleep quality. For one, switching your sleep patterns from one long chunk into two or more sections may provide more flexibility with your schedule. Plus, it’s how we naturally slept prior to the industrial revolution. If there’s no other option, you and your partner may benefit from sleeping in separate beds. Although it sounds like a drastic option, a temporary sleep divorce may be necessary to get your health back on track. The Scandinavian sleep method offers a compromise that involves sleeping with two separate blankets rather than one. Moreover, addressing the root cause of your partner’s snoring can solve your sleep disruptions altogether. Typically, mouth breathing is a common culprit - and over 60 percent of us do it habitually rather than breathing through our noses.

Short Naps vs. Long Naps: Which One is Best?

Naps are a seemingly regular part of childhood. But for many adults, there just isn’t enough time in the day to nap. Despite that, the majority of adults across the globe are seriously sleep-deprived. Napping is a quick, simple way to fill in some of the gaps and pay off sleep debt. In fact, a NASA study found that napping improves working memory performance, helping to reduce workplace errors while enhancing focus and attention. That said, the timing and duration of your nap matter. If you nap too long, you might wake up in the middle of a sleep cycle. This leads to grogginess upon waking, often called sleep inertia. Whether you’re interested in short cat naps or longer naps (like a 45-minute nap or 90-minute nap), rest assured that there are benefits to both. If you only have 15 minutes to snooze, you should utilize it and attempt to rest. However, if you can swing a nap that’s an hour and a half long, go for it! Just be sure to wake up at the 1.5-hour mark, or you may be left feeling groggier than before you laid down. Consuming caffeine before napping may help you feel more alert upon waking regardless of nap duration - as long as caffeine doesn’t affect you negatively in general.

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Snews

Does Cold Exposure Really Boost Sleep?

Want Better Rest? Avoid These 5 Supplements

Sleep-Disordered Breathing & Ancient Skulls: They're Linked!

Is Red Light Therapy The Key to Sweeter Sleep?

True or False: Is Lack of Sleep Worse Than Drunk Driving?

All About Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR)

Weighted Blankets 101: Deep Pressure Stimulation for Deeper Sleep

5 Best Breakfast Foods For Your Best Sleep Yet

The Vagus Nerve: A Secret Weapon For Improved Sleep

SKY Breath Meditation: What is It?

What to Do When You And Your Partner Have Different Sleep Schedules

Short Naps vs. Long Naps: Which One is Best?

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