Category Archives: Sleep

A Simple, Inexpensive Trick to Cure a Cold

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By: Dr. Mercola
Source: Mercola.com

Each year Americans catch more than one billion colds, making the cold virus the most common infectious disease in the United States.

It accounts for more school absences and missed work than any other illness, and it’s the number one reason people visit their physicians — even though most physicians have little to offer in the form of treatment.

It’s a widespread misconception that colds are caused by bacteria. Colds are actually triggered by a virus, which means if your physician prescribes you an antibiotic, it will be absolutely useless.

More on this shortly, but before I delve into simple prevention and treatment strategies it’s important you know how colds are contracted in the first place.

How Do You Catch a Cold?

The most common way cold viruses are spread is not from being around coughing or sneezing, or walking barefoot in the rain, but rather from hand-to-hand contact. For instance, someone with a cold blows their nose then shakes your hand or touches surfaces that you also touch.

Cold viruses can live on pens, computer keyboards, coffee mugs and other objects for hours, so it’s easy to come into contact with such viruses during daily life.

However, the key to remember is that just being exposed to a cold virus does not have to mean that you’ll catch a cold. If your immune system is operating at its peak, it should actually be quite easy for you to fend off the virus without ever getting sick.

If your immune system is impaired, on the other hand, it’s akin to having an open-door policy for viruses; they’ll easily take hold in your body. So the simple and short answer is, you catch a cold due to impairment in your immune system. There are many ways this can result, but the more common contributing factors are:

  1. Eating too much sugar and too many grains
  2. Not getting enough rest
  3. Using insufficient strategies to address emotional stressors in your life
  4. Vitamin D deficiency, as discussed below
  5. Any combination of the above

Vitamin D Deficiency: Another Reason You May “Catch” a Cold

It’s estimated that the average U.S. adult typically has two to four colds each year, while children may have up to 12! One reason for the widespread prevalence may be that vitamin D deficiency is incredibly common in the United States, especially during the winter months when cold (and flu) viruses are at their peak.

Research has confirmed that “catching” colds and flu may actually be a symptom of an underlying vitamin D deficiency. Less than optimal vitamin D levels will significantly impair your immune response and make you far more susceptible to contracting colds, influenza, and other respiratory infections.

In the largest and most nationally representative study of its kind to date, involving about 19,000 Americans, people with the lowest vitamin D levels reported having significantly more recent colds or cases of the flu – and the risk was even greater for those with chronic respiratory disorders like asthma.

At least five additional studies also show an inverse association between lower respiratory tract infections and vitamin D levels, and you can read about them in detail here. But the research is very clear, the higher your vitamin D level, the lower your risk of contracting colds, flu, and other respiratory tract infections.

It’s not surprising, then, that the average American gets so many colds each year, as current guidelines for optimal intake and normal vitamin D levels are far too low — and since most people do not get adequate sun exposure on a daily basis (which is what produces vitamin D in your skin) many are deficient. I strongly believe you could avoid colds and influenza entirely by maintaining your vitamin D level in the optimal range.

How Long Do Colds Last … and How Can You Make Your Cold Go Away Faster?

Most uncomplicated colds last between eight and nine days, but about 25 percent last two weeks, and 5-10 percent last three weeks. Even the most stubborn colds will typically resolve in a few weeks’ time; this is actually one of the ways you can distinguish a cold from allergies.

A cold will last, at most, a few weeks, but allergy symptoms can last all season.

How quickly you bounce back is typically defined by you and your collective lifestyle habits — and this does not mean popping over-the-counter cough and cold remedies or fever reducers. In fact, as long as your temperature remains below 102 degrees Fahrenheit (38.9 degrees Celsius) there is no need to lower it.

Cold viruses do not reproduce at higher body temperatures, so a slight fever should help you get rid of the virus quicker and help you to feel better much sooner.

You should avoid taking over-the-counter pain-relief medications as well, as a study showed that people who take aspirin and Tylenol (acetaminophen) suppress their body’s ability to produce antibodies to destroy the cold virus. Aspirin has even been linked to lung complications including pulmonary edema, an abnormal build up of fluid in your lungs, when taken in excess.

You should only use these medications when absolutely necessary, such as if you have a temperature greater than 105 degrees F (40.5 degrees C), severe muscle aches or weakness.

Hydrogen Peroxide: A Simple Trick to Beat a Cold

I don’t advise over-the-counter medications, but one simple treatment you can try that is surprisingly effective against upper respiratory infections is hydrogen peroxide.

Many patients at my Natural Health Center have had remarkable results in curing colds and flu within 12 to 14 hours when administering a few drops of 3 percent hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) into each ear. You will hear some bubbling, which is completely normal, and possibly feel a slight stinging sensation.

Wait until the bubbling and stinging subside (usually 5 to 10 minutes), then drain onto a tissue and repeat with the other ear. A bottle of hydrogen peroxide in 3 percent solution is available at any drug store for a couple of dollars or less. It is simply amazing how many people respond to this simple, inexpensive treatment.

So What Else Can You do to Recover From a Cold, Quicker … and Prevent One in the First Place?

As I said above, the number one way to conquer a cold (or flu) is vitamin D. Vitamin D is an amazingly effective antimicrobial agent, producing 200 to 300 different antimicrobial peptides in your body that kill bacteria, viruses and fungi. So optimizing your levels will not only help send a cold virus packing … it will help ward off cold viruses in the first place.

The best source for vitamin D is direct sun exposure. But for many of us, this just isn’t practical during the winter. The next best option to sunlight is the use of a safe indoor tanning device. If neither natural nor artificial sunlight is an option, then using oral vitamin D3 supplements is your best bet.

Based on the latest research, many experts now agree you need about 35 IU’s of vitamin D per pound of body weight. This recommendation also includes children, the elderly and pregnant women.

However, keep in mind that vitamin D requirements are highly individual, as your vitamin D status is dependent on numerous factors, such as the color of your skin, your location, and how much sunshine you’re exposed to on a regular basis. So, although these recommendations may put you closer to the ballpark of what most people likely need, it is simply impossible to make a blanket recommendation that will cover everyone’s needs.

The only way to determine your optimal dose is to get your blood tested. Ideally, you’ll want to maintain a vitamin D level of 50-65 ng/ml year-round.

For an in-depth explanation of everything you need to know before you get tested, please read my latest updates in Test Values and Treatment for Vitamin D Deficiency.

Dietary Strategies to Kick a Cold

If you feel yourself coming down with a cold or flu, this is NOT the time to be eating ANY sugar, artificial sweeteners or processed foods. Sugar is particularly damaging to your immune system — which needs to be ramped up, not suppressed, in order to combat an emerging infection.

So if you are fighting a cold, you’ll want to avoid all sugar like the plague, and this includes sugar in the form of fruit juice and even grains (which break down as sugar in your body).

Ideally, you must address nutrition, sleep, exercise and stress issues the moment you first feel yourself getting a bug. This is when immune-enhancing strategies will be most effective.

So when you’re coming down with a cold, it’s time to address ALL of the contributing factors immediately, which includes tweaking your diet in favor of foods that will strengthen your immune response. Good choices include:

  • Raw, grass-fed organic milk, and/or high-quality whey protein
  • Fermented foods such as raw kefir, kimchee, miso, pickles, sauerkraut, etc, which are rich in probiotics, or good bacteria. Scientific research shows that 80 percent of your immune system resides inside your digestive tract, so eating probiotic-rich foods, or taking a high-quality probiotic, will help support your immune system health.
  • Raw, organic eggs from free-ranging, preferably local, chickens
  • Grass-fed beef
  • Coconuts and coconut oil
  • Animal-based omega-3 fats, such as krill oil
  • Locally grown fruits and vegetables, appropriate for your nutritional type
  • Mushrooms, especially Reishi, Shiitake, and Maitake, which contain beta glucans (which have immune-enhancing properties)
  • Garlic, a potent antimicrobial that kills bacteria, viruses and fungi. Ideally this should be in fresh form, eaten raw and crushed with a spoon just before eating.
  • Herbs and spices with high ORAC scores: Turmeric, oregano, cinnamon, cloves (for more on ORAC, visit www.oracvalues.com)
  • Make sure you are drinking plenty of fresh, pure water. Water is essential for the optimal function of every system in your body and will help with nose stuffiness and loosening secretions. You should drink enough water so that your urine is a light, pale yellow.

And what about the old wives’ tale of chicken soup for your cold?

Chicken soup can help reduce your symptoms. Chicken contains a natural amino acid called cysteine, which can thin the mucus in your lungs and make it less sticky so you can expel it more easily.

Processed, canned soups won’t work as well as the homemade version, however.

For best results, make up a fresh batch yourself (or ask a friend or family member to do so) and make the soup hot and spicy with plenty of pepper. The spices will trigger a sudden release of watery fluids in your mouth, throat, and lungs, which will help thin down the respiratory mucus so it’s easier to cough up and expel.

Three Cold-Busting Lifestyle Strategies

Vitamin D, check! Hydrogen peroxide, check! Healthy diet, check! We’ve covered several of the primary “weapons” you should have in your cold-fighting arsenal, but there are others, too.

  1. High-Quality Sleep, and Plenty of It Pay attention to how you are sleeping. If you aren’t getting enough sleep, or enough restorative sleep, you’ll be at increased risk for a hostile viral takeover. Your immune system is also the most effective when you’re not sleep-deprived, so the more rested you are the quicker you’ll recover. You can find 33 secrets for a good night’s sleep here.
  2. Regular Exercise Regular exercise is a crucial strategy for increasing your resistance to illness. There is evidence that regular, moderate exercise can reduce your risk for respiratory illness by boosting your immune system. In fact, one study found that people who exercised regularly (five or more days a week) cut their risk of having a cold by close to 50 percent. And, in the event they did catch a cold, their symptoms were much less severe than among those who did not exercise.Exercise likely cuts your risk of colds so significantly because it triggers a rise in immune system cells that can attack any potential invaders. Each time you exercise you can benefit from this boost to your immune system.Ideally, establish a regular fitness program, such as Peak Fitness, now, to help you ward off colds and other illness.However, if you’re already feeling sick don’t overdo it. Over-exercising can actually place more stress on your body, which can suppress your immune system — and you don’t want that either. You might just go for a walk if you are coming down with a cold, or simply tone down your regular workout.Any rise in body temperature will be an unwelcome climate for a viral invader, though, so some exercise is likely to be beneficial.
  3. Address Your Emotional Stress Emotional stressors can also predispose you to an infection while making cold symptoms worse. Finding ways to manage daily stress as well as your reactions to circumstances beyond your control will contribute to a strong and resilient immune system.My favorite tool for this is the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), a system that helps balance your body’s subtle energies and repair emotional “short-circuits.” EFT may even help you overcome cold symptoms.

Supplements That Send Pathogens Packin’

Supplements can be beneficial for colds, but they should be used only as an adjunct to the lifestyle measures already discussed.

Some of the more helpful options for cold (and flu) — above and beyond vitamin D — are:

  • Vitamin C: A very potent antioxidant; use a natural form such as acerola, which contains associated micronutrients. You can take several grams every hour till you are better unless you start developing loose stools
  • Oregano Oil: The higher the carvacrol concentration, the more effective it is. Carvacrol is the most active antimicrobial agent in oregano oil.
  • Propolis: A bee resin and one of the most broad-spectrum antimicrobial compounds in the world; propolis is also the richest source of caffeic acid and apigenin, two very important compounds that aid in immune response and even fight cancer.
  • A tea made from a combination of elderflower, yarrow, boneset, linden, peppermint and ginger; drink it hot and often for combating a cold or flu. It causes you to sweat, which is helpful for eradicating a virus from your system.
  • Olive leaf extract: Ancient Egyptians and Mediterranean cultures used it for a variety of health-promoting uses and it is widely known as a natural, non-toxic immune system builder.

Remember This Tip: Wash Your Hands Sensibly

Washing your hands frequently is one of the easiest ways to wipe out germs and viruses and reduce your chances of becoming sickened by them. Thorough hand-washing truly is an important step, as you are at far greater risk of passing on an infection by shaking someone’s hand than even by sharing a kiss.

One report even found that regular hand washing may be more effective than drugs in preventing the spread of respiratory viruses such as influenza.

When you wash up, plain soap and water will do. Do not make the mistake of using antibacterial cleansers, as their widespread use is leading to strains of resistant bacteria, or “superbugs,” which cause the ingredients to lose effectiveness for the times when they really are needed, such as for surgeons prior to surgery.

Further, the active ingredient in most antibacterial products is triclosan, an antibacterial agent that kills bacteria and inhibits bacterial growth. But not only does triclosan kill bacteria, it also has been shown to kill human cells.

Antibacterial soaps are also no more effective than regular soaps. One study found people who used antibacterial soaps and cleansersdeveloped a cough, runny nose, sore throat, fever, vomiting, diarrhea and other symptoms just as often as people who used products that did not contain antibacterial ingredients. So please avoid making the mistake of using antibacterial liquids and soaps.

Too Much Hand-Washing Can Backfire …

There is another important caveat to remember, and that is your skin is actually your primary defense against bacteria — not the soap.

So resist the urge to become obsessive about washing your hands. If you wash them too frequently you can actually extract many of the protective oils in your skin, which can cause your skin to crack and bleed.

It is rare for a germ on your skin to cause a problem — it is typically only an issue when you transfer that to your nose, mouth or an open wound like cracked skin. So obsessive-compulsive washing can actually increase your risk of getting sick by providing an entryway for potentially dangerous pathogens.

So mild to moderate washing is wise, but excessive washing, especially with harsh soaps, will actually be highly counterproductive.

Avoid the Antibiotics!

More than 300 different viruses can cause colds, so each time you have a cold it is caused by a distinct virus (i.e. adenovirus, rhinovirus, parainfluenza virus, coronavirus). A virus is much smaller than a bacteria; it is a tiny cluster of genetic material surrounded by a protein wrapper.

There are currently NO drugs available that can kill these viruses. Antibiotics, including penicillin, do not have any effect on viruses, but unfortunately have been vastly over-prescribed for this very (useless) purpose. That, coupled with the excessive use of antibiotics in agriculture, has contributed to a steep rise in antibiotic-resistant diseases.

Antibiotic-resistant infections now claim more lives each year than the “modern plague” of AIDS, and cost the American health care system some $20 billion a year!

Further, according to one meta-analysis, the health risk from over-use of antibiotics is also a very personal one, as opposed to simply raising the occurrence of antibiotic resistance in the general population over time.

Whenever you use an antibiotic, you’re increasing your susceptibility to developing infections with resistance to that antibiotic — and you can become the carrier of this resistant bug, and spread it to others.

So please, if you have a simple cold remember that an antibiotic will do far more harm than good.

When Should You Call Your Physician?

Sinus, ear and lung infections (bronchitis and pneumonia) are examples of bacterial infections that do respond to antibiotics. If you develop any of the following symptoms, these are signs you may be suffering from a bacterial infection rather than a cold virus, and you should call your physician’s office:

  • Fever over 102 degrees Fahrenheit (38.9 degrees Celsius)
  • Ear pain
  • Pain around your eyes, especially with a green nasal discharge
  • Shortness of breath or a persistent uncontrollable cough
  • Persistently coughing up green and yellow sputum

Generally speaking, however, if you have a cold medical care is not necessary. Rest and attention to the lifestyle factors noted above will help you to recover quickly and, if you stick to them, will significantly reduce your chances of catching another one anytime soon.

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Children may get type II Diabetes because of Bad Sleeping Habits

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By Andreas Moritz 

Hi, this is Andreas Moritz and I am responding to a question that I receive quite frequently about children who become obese and develop type II diabetes and this is an escalating problem nowadays and I would like to address that.

We now know that diet plays a major role, but that’s not the only role that we find present in obese children or children that become diabetic. One of the major reasons is actually sleep deprivation or in some instances, having too much sleep and/or the wrong type of sleep. Many children, teenage children, they are up many hours during the night and sleep during the day, particularly during vacation time, holiday time, and they find themselves like sleeping until ten o’clock in the morning which I discussed in my book “Timeless Secrets Of Health And Rejuvenation”. it’s very detrimental to a person’s health.

Now research has shown, and that’s done at the children’s hospital of Philadelphia, that too little sleep and too much sleep both contribute to an increase in type II diabetes and what it was found that sleep deprivation basically increases blood sugar levels, suppresses insulin secretion, and once insulin is suppressed in the body, the extra sugar in the blood can then be converted into fat and that contributes to the escalation of obesity among teenagers.

There have been many studies that found, in adults… these are adult studies… that have found the same thing… that adults who become sleep-deprived or who do not sleep at the proper night hours, for example people who work the night shift, have a higher risk of developing type II diabetes. The insulin suppressing effect of lack of sleep, that when we sleep less, the insulin is not secreted in the correct amounts to keep the blood sugar at the right levels, is certainly something that we have in control.

We do have the choice to sleep early, and sleeping early should be before ten o’clock in the evening so that we wake up when the day begins and not much later than that, because the longer we sleep the worse it becomes, because once we sleep past sunrise or at least an hour or later than sunrise, our digestive ability becomes suppressed and our elimination capacity of waste products becomes suppressed, and the body is forced to hold on to urine, fecal matter, and lymph toxins, which then backwash into the system and contaminate our body.

So going to bed early, early to rise, is a very important piece of advice that I can give to teenagers and adults who want to keep the risk of developing type II diabetes and obesity at bay.

There are many studies to show that for every hour of sleep we have lost, or deprived… or being deprived of, the person increases the rate and the blood sugar levels. So this is simple advice, doesn’t cost anything and it’s very effective.

I have seen people lose weight simply by sleeping early before ten o’clock and get up early in the morning at around six o’clock, and they find that they have more energy during the day, the digestive system picks up, it’s far more effective than in a person who is sleep-deprived because when we are tired it’s not just that we feel tired but our digestive system is tired, our liver is tired, our brain and nervous system are tired, the heart becomes tired, because there is far more congestion building up in the body because of the sleep-deprivation that it makes it harder for our system to circulate blood, to circulate lymph, to eliminate waste, and to digest food.

So simple advice, please take it at heart and follow the natural rhythms of life. The circadian rhythm teaches us exactly how to live if we listen to nature, and to the advice that nature gives us simply by showing us how the light changes from light to dark, and when it’s getting dark that we are slowing down, eventually follow our instincts, our feelings, because there is a natural time where we feel tired.

It’s good not to stimulate ourselves with coffee or food so that we actually feel sleepy at the right time and go to sleep at the right time, and then wake up when nature wakes us up, and so they are that very natural cycles, they are called the circadian rhythms, which dictate and control the biological rhythms in our body, which in turn is controlled by hormones and the hormones are regulated by the circadian rhythm such as melatonin and serotonin which integrate with one another.

So when at 9:30 – 10:00 o’ clock, melatonin secretion begins, that is the sleep hormone that allows us to feel sleepy and drowsy, that’s when we should follow that natural instinctive inclination to go to rest and sleep and when the sun comes up, when the light, daylight, shows up, that’s when serotonin begins being secreted both in the brain and in the digestive system which then allows us to wake up, derive energy from the food that we have digested during the previous meals and to then follow our day to day activities.

Simple advice, cheap, inexpensive… everyone can do that or almost everyone can do that, and it’s certainly very precious and it can prevent many, many illnesses such as type II diabetes and obesity-related illnesses such as cancer.

Thank you.

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Immune Boosters ‘Can be’ Counterproductive

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By Andreas Moritz 


This is a question form Diane Austin and she would like me to share what I think about immune boosters, and she is mentioning the IP6 and AHCC, and she is confused if they are counterproductive.

Certainly, I agree with the idea that immune boosters can be counterproductive, because when you interfere or manipulate the immune system, it can go either one way or the other. Either you boost the immune system, you increase it beyond what it is right now, or you suppress the immune system.  We know that vaccines suppress the immune system and they can eventually lead to severe issues unless of course you use an adjuvant, which are like aluminum, which can lead to a hyper reaction of the immune system which is not advisable, because when you do that, you never know when the immune system overreacts and starts turning against the body, because in a hypersensitive immune system, hyper-reactive immune system, it will start inflaming the body’s own cells and it’s called auto immune disease.

So I am not into boosting the immune system, I am not into suppressing the immune system but supporting the immune system, letting the body make sure it is as balanced as it is necessary.

Sometimes the body keeps the immune system lower in order to prevent an escalation, an inflammatory response, that could kill someone because it becomes too obstructive and so trying to boost the immune system when it is low through immune boosters, it can be very risky. So I am not in favor of that.

Many people’s immune systems are low because they suffer from vitamin D deficiency because they are not exposing their skin to the sun on a regular basis. If there’s, during a long winter period, not enough sunlight or it’s simply too cold to be outside, then I recommend using the vitamin D lamp, UV lamp, Dr. Mercola has great standing UV lamps, or there are simpler ones that basically allow you to expose the head, facial area or the upper chest area with tiny smaller UV lamps which can do the job quite well, giving you the necessary vitamin D that keeps the immune system balanced.

And there is a natural built-in mechanism that comes with regular sun exposure, UV-B is producing vitamin D in the body and UV-A that part of the UV light that penetrates deeper into the skin, UV-A makes sure that you don’t produce too much vitamin D. 

So the body knows too much of one thing or too little of the same can be damaging, and therefore there are mechanisms at place to always make sure that we have the right amount of strength in the immune system, not too little not too much.

So it’s better to go to the root causes of immune deficiency rather than trying to manipulate the immune system through immune boosters or any other mechanisms.

A healthy diet, balanced diet, healthy lifestyle, sleeping habits, all of that make sure that the immune system stays healthy. Keeping the liver clean is a great way to keep the immune system strong and balanced.

The sleep particularly is very important. There are studies to show that for every hour that we go to bed too late, and too late means anything after 10 PM, if we go to bed at 11 PM the immune system can already be deficient by 40 % for every hour you go to bed, later the immune system becomes weaker as we go along. So going to sleep at 9:30 – 10:00 PM is an excellent time to keep the immune system balanced and then having enough sunlight exposure.

Make sure that the body makes enough serotonin, that’s a powerful hormone produced in the brain and the digestive system, that keeps the immune system and the digestive system and the brain powerfully balanced in order to keep the body free of disease, and protect the body from contaminants… contaminants found in food or the environment.

So having said that, I hope this gives you some good idea why immune boosters are detrimental to the body and why we should go for the more natural immune boosters that come with a balanced lifestyle, diet, and stress-free life as much as possible, stress being obviously an immune suppressor.

We know that when we get stressed, emotionally disturbed, then that suppresses the immune system by secreting a hormone called cortisol. Cortisol suppresses the immune system.

So making sure that you have proper sleep, a good diet, clean the liver, which all helps to keep our emotions balanced, and if there is any emotional difficulty to perhaps seek help from others, speaking about it, expressing yourself, which all help to keeping the system as much as balanced as possible. 

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This Common Sleeping Mistake Can Double Your Risk of a Heart Attack

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By: Dr. Mercola
Source: Mercola.com

In my experience, you can have the best diet in the world, have the best exercise program and be free from emotional stress, but if you aren’t sleeping well, for whatever reason, it is virtually impossible to be healthy.

But how much sleep do you need for optimal health?

In this interview, Dr. Rubin Naiman – a clinical psychologist, author, teacher, and the leader in integrative medicine approaches to sleep and dreams—sheds light on this question.

Dr. Naiman earned his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at Alliant University in San Diego.

During the 1990′s, he served as the sleep and dream specialist at Canyon Ranch Health Resort in Tucson for 10 years, where he created the first formal sleep laboratory outside of a hospital setting.

Dr. Andrew Weil was also on the staff at that time. Later, he served as director of sleep programs for Miraval Resort. In previous interview, we discussed what sleep actually is, the spiritual dimensions of sleep, the primary causes of insomnia, and why sleeping pills are not the answer. Here, Dr. Naiman delves into several of the most frequently asked questions about sleep, starting with:

How Much Sleep Do You Need?

Over the years, I’ve come to a conclusion that there is no perfect answer to this question because like everything else, the answer depends on a large number of highly individual factors. The general consensus seems to be that most people need somewhere between six and eight hours of sleep each night.

There’s compelling research indicating that sleeping less than six hours may increase your insulin resistance and risk of diabetes. And recent studies show that less than five hours of sleep at night can double your risk of being diagnosed with angina, coronary heart disease, heart attack or stroke. Interestingly enough, the same appears to be true when you sleep more than nine hours per night.

The question of the ideal amount of sleep is a topic Dr. Naiman has addressed on numerous occasions throughout his career as a sleep expert, and he agrees; people want a number, but this ‘number’ must be as individual as the person asking for it.

“I think asking ‘how many of hours of sleep should I get?’ is like asking, ‘Doctor, how many calories should I eat?’” he says. ”Of course the answer to that depends on who that person is. It’s so individual. It also depends on the quality of those calories. Again, a lot of people are knocking themselves out night after night after night with sleeping pills. They may be getting seven to eight hours, but is it sleep? It looks like sleep. It might feel like sleep, but you know what, it’s not really sleep. That’s part of the question too—the quality of it.”

Insufficient Sleep Puts Your Health at Risk

Dr. Naiman is familiar with the studies showing increased health risks when you sleep more or less than a certain amount, but is still cautious about taking these findings as the final word on the matter.

“There is really interesting data,” he says. “I think the data is very strong showing that if you don’t sleep enough, you’re in trouble.”

However, it’s important to differentiate between occasional lack of sleep, and a chronic pattern. Everyone loses sleep here and there, and your body is typically resilient enough to allow for that. However, when poor sleep becomes a constant, there’s no question your health may be at risk.

“The American Cancer Society did a study of a million American adults, and short sleepers showed a dramatic increase in risk of cancers across the board,” Dr. Naiman says. ”So we know that there is a mountain of data showing if you don’t sleep enough, you’re going to get yourself sick…

The other end of it, I think, is a little more suspicious. When you say people are sleeping too much, questions arise like ‘why?’ It may be that in some of those studies they don’t have frank illnesses. These are people who don’t qualify clinically as having diabetes or heart disease. But they may have metabolic syndrome; they may have very early stage of underlying chronic inflammatory process.”

Potential Causes for Sleeping “Too Much”

One of the first indications that you may be getting sick is that your body tries to rest, as sleeping helps strengthen your immune system. So chronically sleeping longer than the average eight or nine hours could be an early indication that you have an underlying illness your body is trying to recover from.

However, the need for more sleep could also be an individual requirement, or even a sign of your body being in tune with a more natural rhythm…

“The data suggests that if you go back 100 years, people were sleeping an average of nine hours a night,” Dr. Naiman says. “People also had a very different relationship with sleep at that time. Sleep patterns were very different. It was routine that people woke up in the middle of the night for about an hour or two. It was called night watch. Everybody did it. People also slept during the day.

Think of the Yin and Yang; the white wave representing in this case waking; the dark Yin wave representing night and sleep. There is a dark Yin sphere within the white wave. This is a place of rest in the middle of waking consciousness and natural rhythms. In the middle of the dark Yin wave, there is a place of Yang, a white sphere suggesting that there is a place where awareness, a kind of waking, awareness in the middle of the night.

When we lose sight of that, we overreact to two things. We tend to overreact to being sleepy during the day, and we tend to overreact to being awake at night. And overreactions cause anxiety.”

To Nap or Not to Nap…

According to Dr. Naiman, we’re actually biologically programmed to nap during the daytime, typically in the middle of the afternoon. Some European countries still adhere to the daily siesta and close shop for a couple of hours in the middle of the day when the heat is also at its most pressing. Most employers in Western countries, however, do not accommodate daily snoozing, so when the natural tendency to get drowsy sets in, you may try to alleviate it with coffee, or simply fight the urge to take a nap.

The problem is, you’re now training your body to resist the urge to sleep, which can then lead to being unable to easily fall asleep at night.

“Also, in the middle of the night, when we falsely assume that any kind of awareness is pathological inside, people get up and go, “Oh crap, its insomnia.” I’ve asked hundreds and hundreds of people over the years… “What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you wake up in the middle of the night?” The most common answer I’ve gotten over the years is, “Oh, sh*t.” People wake up and they curse their wakefulness.”

However, as Dr. Naiman explains, occasional waking in the middle of the night, perhaps as many as five times, is actually completely normal. You may pull up the covers or fluff your pillow, then go back to sleep.

“[But] when we learn this automatic judgmental reaction to wakefulness; as soon as there is a spark of it and we judge it, we spin out,” he says.

Another common reaction is to look at the clock.

“Patients have actually said to me, “Gosh, I wake up, I get exactly 2:20 every morning.” …It’s the first thing people—they want to anchor in waking consciousness. They want a sense of control over this ephemeral night consciousness. This addiction to numbers is the problem.

There are nuances with sleep just as there are with waking. There are so many different ways of being awake, different kinds of experiences. Light sleep is fine. Being half awake and half asleep is fine. In fact, I really believe that in any moment in time during the day and at night, it’s a mixed percentage. Right now, you and I are talking; we’re probably 98 percent awake. I’m just making up a number. There is a restful part of us. We might say we’re 2 percent asleep. Closer to bed time it might be 50/50.

What we call being sleepy is being ‘part of awake, part asleep.’ In the middle of the night when we get up to use the bathroom, we might be 95 percent asleep still and 5 percent awake just to find our way there. We need to allow a mix of these different forms of consciousness.”

Guidelines on Optimal Amount of Sleep

Dr. Naiman’s recommendation is to simply sleep “enough hours so that your energy is sustained through the day without artificial stimulation, with the exception of a daytime nap.” I agree with this functional description rather than trying to come up with a specific numeric range. I would add to that guideline, however, the suggestion to watch out for physical or biological symptoms.

For example, when I push myself and don’t get high quality sleep or enough sleep, I’m predisposed to postprandial hypoglycemia. In other words, I have low insulin resistance so when I sleep poorly, it doesn’t take much sugar or carbs for it to be easily metabolized and drop my blood sugar—which also makes me really sleepy.

When I get enough sleep, I’m far less susceptible to it.

Dr. Naiman also discusses this, stating that there’s solid data showing the connection between insulin resistance and sleep. When participants slept three or four hours less than normal for just a couple of days in a row, they saw a dramatic spike in insulin resistance.

Can You Catch Up on Lost Sleep?

This is another area fraught with confusion. Can you make up for lost sleep by sleeping longer on certain days? According to Dr. Naiman:

“First of all, you can’t really bag sleep any more than you can bag oxygen. We just need to replenish it. If you’re well slept, you’ll be more resilient… If you’ve under slept and you throw in jetlag on top of that, it gets a lot worse.

In terms of making up for sleep, it is a very common pattern in our world that people short sleep during the week and then sleep in [on the weekend]. It’s considered delicious. For me, it’s kind of funny. It’s like starving yourself during the week and then pigging out on the weekend. It’s not the best way to eat, as we know.

You can make up for some lost sleep on the weekend but here is the price: it throws off your circadian rhythm.

Again, the infrastructure of our sleep is this rhythmic drum beat of day and night, of light and darkness, of sun and melatonin and so on. What most people do on the weekend is actually go to bed later and sleep in much later. You really confuse the poor brain. It’s almost like shifting it to another season. It’s almost like a little bit of stationary jetlag. You’re yanking your circadian rhythm around. It’s not something that’s recommended.”

Which brings up the issue of shift work. How does working nights, or worse, alternating between night- and day-shifts affect your health and well-being?

How Shift Work Affects Your Health

The data is quite clear on this point: Engaging in shift work dramatically increases mortality. According to Dr. Naiman, shift work can decrease your lifespan by about seven years on average! Gastrointestinal disorders are also more common among shift workers.

“The yanking back and forth of the circadian rhythm confuses the body about when to eat, when to digest. Those are some of the early signs,” Dr. Naiman warns. ”We see dramatic increases in depression among shift workers and then we see a slew of other diseases that are associated with compromised immunity. So if you can, avoid it all.

There are things you can do if you need to do shift work. One is stay on the same shift for a stretch of time. It’s much harder to yank back and forth. You can create a prosthetic environment. You’re basically turning day and night upside down.”

According to Dr. Naiman, preliminary data shows that if you increase your melatonin levels during your night shift—effectively turning it into an artificial day—you can minimize some of the detrimental effects of working during the night. You can find melatonin supplements, either in pill or spray form, in virtually every health food store.

“So you make your night into day and your day into night. When you’re driving home from work, you put on a pair of sunglasses. You don’t want that light telling you it’s time to get up. You cover your windows with aluminum foil and you create an artificial night. You disconnect the phone. You do anything and everything to recreate night so that you can sleep. You use melatonin again at that time. You try not to shift back and forth.”

Sleep Timing—Does it Matter?

A common natural health understanding is that every hour of sleep before midnight is equal to two hours after midnight. But is that true? According to Dr. Naiman, this notion is likely more metaphoric than factual.

“[R]oughly the first third to first half of sleep is when we get most of our true deep sleep,” he says. “… We spend most of the first part of the night truly sleeping, most of the latter part of the night dreaming… In Chinese medicine, they say the best time to get to sleep is roughly 9:00 or 9:30 pm… roughly a couple of hours after sunset, when there have been enough melatonin raised in our brains that will naturally put us out… [But] I’ve never seen really hard scientific data. I’ve seen a lot of anecdotal experience. And there is data that suggests that there is a window of heightened opportunity for falling asleep, which can vary depending on your personal circadian rhythm.”

The most important aspect of sleep timing appears to be the consistency of going to bed at the same time every night.

More Information

Dr. Naiman covers a lot of ground in this interview, so to learn more, please listen to the interview in its entirety, or read through the transcript. He also has a great website, www.DrNaiman.com, where you can read more about all things sleep related. You can also find information about his lectures, which is a wonderful way to learn more about the mystery of sleep, and the most effective solutions.

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Improve your Sleep Quality by Waking Up Naturally

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By: Sherry L. Ackerman
Source: NaturalNews.com

Man, it seems, was never meant to be woken abruptly, in darkness, by loud, sudden buzzing, beeping and/or siren-type noises. Rather, our ancestors woke naturally, and gently, each day with the rising of the sun.

There are different levels of sleep, with the deeper levels (Deep Sleep and REM sleep) being utilized for repairing and rejuvenating your body. The human body is designed to wake up during light sleep, either before entering this repair stage such as during a quick nap, or after the deep sleep and REM stages when your body has been repaired and you have returned to a light sleep.
Waking up during deep sleep leaves you very groggy, very tired, and only partially recovered from the strain and stress of the previous day. This can be felt throughout the day as a sort of hazy fog and sore, tired muscles.

Sleep is not just a single thing that happens to you at night. There are 5 stages of sleep and over the course of a night’s sleep, you cycle through these stages, with each sleep cycle taking approximately 90 minutes. Stages 1 and 2 are considered “light” sleep, while stages 3 and 4 are “deep” sleep. The 5th stage is REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, which is when you dream. When you wake up during “light” sleep, you wake up rested and feeling good. Conversely, when you wake up during “deep” sleep, you feel groggy and are more tempted to hit the snooze button.

The traditional alarm clock has a set time to wake you up, but you could be in any stage of sleep when that happens. Nature did not intend for us to wake up during “deep” sleep.

In a study conducted by the National Institute of Industrial Health in Japan, participants who were suddenly forced awake had higher blood pressure and heart rate than those allowed to wake up in their own time.

Alarms can also add to your overall stress levels. The sudden noise triggers the body’s protective ‘fight or flight’ response, pumping up your adrenaline levels. While this might be useful to get you to work on time, if this activated state persists over days, weeks and months, it can lead to chronic stress.

Scientists found that when people were woken during deep sleep, this affected short-term memory, cognitive abilities and even counting skills, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association earlier this year.

Waking up naturally is far gentler on the body. Teach yourself to wake up on time by priming your body’s internal clock – stick to a regular bedtime routine and train yourself to wake at a certain time.

Go to bed at the same time every night and allow yourself to sleep until you wake up naturally. No alarm clocks! If you continue to keep the same bedtime and wake up naturally, you’ll eventually dig your way out of fatigue and arrive at the sleep schedule that’s ideal for you.

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A Sound Sleep may be a Solid Defense against Memory Loss and Alzheimer’s Disease

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By: John Phillip
Source: NaturalNews.com

Alzheimer’s disease presently ranks as the sixth leading cause of death in the US, as the number of new cases is projected to triple by the year 2050 and affect as many as sixteen million people. The result of a new study presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 64th Annual Meeting has found that the level and duration of quality sleep may later affect memory function and the risk of Alzheimer’s disease in later life.

Researchers determined that poor quality sleep is associated with the build-up of neural tangles between synapses that is associated with the loss of ability to form new memories and progression of Alzheimer’s dementia. Making time for seven to nine hours of uninterrupted sleep each night may be a crucial factor to Alzheimer’s risk reduction as we age.

A Good Night’s Sleep Dramatically Lowers Risk of Developing Brain Plaques and Alzheimer’s Disease

The lead study author, Dr. Yo-El Ju from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis noted “Disrupted sleep appears to be associated with the build-up of amyloid plaques, a hallmark marker of Alzheimer’s disease, in the brains of people without memory problems”. In an effort to determine the link between poor sleep habits and cognitive decline, researchers tested the sleep patterns of 100 people between the ages of 45 and 80 who were free of dementia.

Half of the participants tested had a family history of Alzheimer’s disease, while a second control group had no familial history of the disease. A special device used to measure sleep patterns was placed on all participants for a period of two weeks to assess quality and depth of sleep time. Additionally, sleep diaries and questionnaires were employed to further analyze sleep cycles.

The study found that 25% of the subjects tested showed signs of amyloid plaques, a consistent marker of Alzheimer’s disease progression. Although the participant’s averaged 8 hours of sleep each night, this was reduced to 6.5 hours due to sleep disruptions during the night that affected the total sleep time and quality of deep sleep required by the brain to perform repair functions.

Those who did not wake up frequently during the night were 5 times less likely to possess the amyloid plaque build-up compared to those who slept poorly or less than 7 total hours. Participants who did not sleep well were significantly more likely to exhibit the amyloid markers associated with cognitive decline resulting in Alzheimer’s disease.

Although this study did not provide a direct reason for the finding, scientists believe that the amyloid protein clumps and tangles that occur as a normal process of metabolism in the brain are only cleared during quality sleep time and duration of 7 to 9 hours each night. In addition to the myriad of lifestyle and dietary patterns presently known to help prevent most chronic diseases such as Alzheimer’s, a good night’s sleep in a totally dark room with no interruptions should now be added to the top of the risk reduction list.

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Melatonin May Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease – Sleep Your Way to Brain Health

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By: JB Bardot
Source: NaturalNews.com

Ongoing research is being performed to investigate the cause of Alzheimer’s disease. A form of dementia, Alzheimer’s robs its victims slowly of their cognitive powers, intelligence, memories and eventually, their lives. Scientists don’t know for sure how Alzheimer’s develops; however, emerging evidence points to genetics, lifestyle factors and environmental toxins. Early onset Alzheimer’s disease is often thought to be influenced by genetics, giving the individual little control over causative factors. However, in the case of the more common form of Alzheimer’s disease, it may be possible for individuals to have some control over its prevention.

The formation of amyloid plaques in the brain is a feature of Alzheimer’s disease. The plaques consist of a peptide, or string of amino acids, whose normal activity protects against oxidative stress, which contributes to the presence of cell-damaging free radicals. Additionally, they regulate cholesterol transport and have an anti-microbial action on the inflammatory agents in the plaques. Research suggests that a soluble form of amyloid beta, the main component of the plaques, may be a causative agent for Alzheimer’s disease.

Prevention

Several forms of treatment are indicated as possible interventions against the development of plaques, including strengthening the individual’s immune system to trigger antibodies to prevent or clear plaques from the brain. An important discovery was made indicating that the sleep hormone melatonin inhibits the formation of plaques and may be effective in the prevention of Alzheimer’s; however, melatonin, cannot reverse the formation of existing plaques, so is not useful in the treatment of the disease. Experiments in mice suggest that when adequate amounts of melatonin are available earlier in life, it may act to prevent Alzheimer’s from developing.

Melatonin is a naturally produced hormone, which regulates sleep and the circadian rhythm of amyloid beta. People need enough melatonin to produce proper sleep, and excessive wakefulness reduces the amount of the hormone, leading the way to possible plaque development. Animal experiments also indicate the ability of melatonin to correct slight elevations in cholesterol, another risk factor for plaque development.

Excessive periods of sleep deprivation for any reason can affect the circadian rhythm of amyloid beta by reducing the amount of melatonin produced in the brain, hypothetically causing the buildup of amyloid beta plaque formation. Recent findings have shown that chronic loss of sleep is connected to early onset Alzheimer’s disease.

Producing melatonin

It is possible to supply melatonin through supplementation; however, it is also possible to create additional quantities of melatonin without drugs or supplements. The pineal gland produces melatonin, whose quantities are stimulated by the presence of darkness and inhibited in the light. Sleeping in a very dark room with no ambient light can stimulate melatonin production. Creating the conditions of twilight for several hours before going to bed will also set the stage for melatonin production and assist in falling asleep. Keep lights dim and remove all sources of light from the bedroom.

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Night Shift Work May Raise Diabetes Risk

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By: Dr. Mercola
Source: Mercola.com

One of the worst things you can do to disrupt your body clock is engage in regular night shift work.

However, one-fifth of the work force endures a night shift at least occasionally, and research is now suggesting that this could be one of the culprits behind rising rates of type 2 diabetes.

I realize many people may not be able to avoid night shifts once they’ve chosen certain professions, but it is vital to understand that when you regularly shift your sleep patterns, you are in fact seriously compromising your health and longevity—in more ways than one.

Working the Night Shift May Increase Your Diabetes Risk Nearly 60 Percent

In a study of nurses, researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health revealed that a woman’s risk of type 2 diabetes rises according to how many years of night-shift work she has completed.

Even working a night shift periodically for three years increased diabetes risk by 20 percent, and this increased with time.

Researchers wrote in PLoS Medicine:

“The increase in type 2 diabetes risk associated with night shift work ranged from 5% in nurses who’d worked that schedule for one or two years to 58% in those who’d done so for at least 20 years.”

As you probably know, the physiological functions of virtually all organisms are governed by 24-hour circadian rhythms. When your circadian rhythm—which acts like a built-in time-tracking system—is disrupted by late-night artificial light exposure it can have a profound influence on your physical and mental health and well-being.

For starters, your circadian rhythm impacts your body’s release of metabolic hormones that regulate satiety and hunger. For example, when you are sleep deprived, your body decreases production of leptin, the hormone that tells your brain there is no need for more food. At the same time it increases levels of ghrelin, a hormone that triggers hunger. This can actually make you gain weight, which raises your diabetes risk.

Further, irregular sleep-wake cycles can also interfere with your body’s blood-sugar metabolism, leading to insulin resistance and increased blood-sugar levels, both of which are linked to diabetes.

As researchers explained:

“The increased risk of type 2 diabetes associated with rotating night shift work is also consistent with previously reported positive associations of rotating shift work with obesity and/or weight gain, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular disease.

There are several potential mechanisms underlying this association. First, a wide range of biological processes are regulated by the circadian rhythms, including sleep-wake cycles, body temperature, energy metabolism, cell cycle, and hormone secretion. Rotating night shift work is generally associated with chronic misalignment between the endogenous circadian timing system and the behavior cycles.

This circadian misalignment has been found to result in adverse metabolic and cardiovascular consequences, including a decrease in leptin, an increase in glucose and insulin, an increase in mean arterial blood pressure, and reduced sleep efficiency.”

Past research has also suggested that disruption of your circadian rhythm could also contribute to diabetes by impairing your pancreas’ ability to deliver insulin.

Your Body is Hard-Wired to Sleep at Night

Human beings have naturally been sleeping during the nighttime for eons, and as a result your inner timekeeper is extremely sensitive to, and actually is controlled by, exposure to light and darkness.

One main role of your brain’s pineal gland is to produce melatonin, the natural sleep hormone that plays a vital role in your normal sleep function. Normally, your brain produces melatonin in a daily rhythm that peaks at night, around 9 or 10 p.m. This makes you sleepy, and it is these regularly occurring secretions that help regulate your sleep cycle.

However, if there is even the tiniest bit of light in your room it can disrupt your circadian rhythm and your pineal gland’s production of melatonin. If you’re awake at night when your body expects you to be sleeping, your body may produce less melatonin.

Melatonin is an antioxidant that helps to suppress harmful free radicals in your body and slows the production of estrogen, which can activate cancer. When your circadian rhythm is disrupted, you therefore may have insufficient melatonin production, which can set you up for:

If you are interested in finding more information on this subject, I highly suggest reading Lights Out: Sleep, Sugar, and Survival by T. S. Wiley and Bent Formby. The authors believe it is the disruption of normal cycles of light exposure, not what we eat or whether we exercise, that is the primary cause of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer. I think there are many other factors contributing to these health problems as well, but impaired sleep is certainly a large contributor.

Tips for Quality Sleep if You Work the Night Shift

If you currently work nights, I would strongly suggest trying to switch your hours, or at the very least restrict your night shift duty to a couple months at a time. This will at least give your body a chance to readjust in between.

If it is not possible for you to avoid working the night shift, you can somewhat counter the health effects by keeping to a schedule. By being consistent, your body’s clock will eventually adjust to your sleep/wake cycle, and this is LESS damaging than if you constantly change shifts and expect your body clock to adjust.

Next, although day sleeping makes it much more challenging to create a dark environment, it is essential that you make your bedroom pitch-black, even if you’re sleeping at noon, as exposure to light squelches the production of melatonin. Even the dim glow from your clock radio could be interfering with your ability to sleep — and more importantly, your long-term health and risk of developing cancer or other health problems.

To get your room as dark as possible while you’re sleeping, consider taking the following actions:

  • Install blackout drapes
  • Close your bedroom door if light comes through it; if light seeps in underneath your door, put a towel along the base
  • Get rid of your electric clock radio (or at least block it’s light while you’re sleeping)
  • Avoid night lights of any kind
  • Keep all light sources off (even if you get up to go to the bathroom) — and this includes your computer and TV

A Healthy Sleep Routine is Essential for All

Whether you sleep in the daytime or at night, a bedtime routine can help you wind down and prepare for sleep. You should avoid watching TV or using electronics for about an hour prior to going to bed, as it is too stimulating to your brain, making it more difficult to “shut down” and fall asleep.

Instead, try spending this wind-down time doing something that soothes and relaxes your mind. You may want to spend time journaling, meditating, sipping herbal tea, washing your face, or reading a calming or spiritual book.

You can find my comprehensive recommendations and guidelines to help improve your sleep in my article 33 Secrets to a Good Night’s Sleep. If you’re having trouble sleeping, this is the place to look to get your sleep back on track. Here are five tips from the article to get you started:

  1. Keep the temperature in your bedroom no higher than 70 degrees F. Many people keep their homes and particularly their upstairs bedrooms too warm. Studies show that the optimal room temperature for sleep is quite cool, between 60 to 68 degrees. Keeping your room cooler or hotter can lead to restless sleep. When you sleep, your body’s internal temperature drops to its lowest level, generally about four hours after you fall asleep. Scientists believe a cooler bedroom may therefore be most conducive to sleep, since it mimics your body’s natural temperature drop.
  2. Check your bedroom for electro-magnetic fields (EMFs). These can disrupt the pineal gland and the production of melatonin and serotonin, and may have other negative effects as well. To do this, you need a gauss meter. You can find various models online, starting around $50 to $200. Some experts even recommend pulling your circuit breaker before bed to kill all power in your house, or at least shutting off the fuses in your bedroom.
  3. Move alarm clocks and other electrical devices away from your bed. If these devices must be used, keep them as far away from your bed as possible, preferably at least 3 feet. Remove the clock from view. It will only add to your worry when you stare at it all night… 2 a.m. …3 a.m. … 4:30 a.m.
  4. Avoid using loud alarm clocks. It is very stressful on your body to be suddenly jolted awake. If you are regularly getting enough sleep, an alarm may even be unnecessary. I gave up my alarm clock years ago and now use a sun alarm clock, which has a special built-in light that gradually increases in intensity, simulating a natural sunrise. It also includes a sunset feature where the light fades to darkness over time, which is ideal for anyone who has trouble falling asleep or if you work the night shift and want to simulate a sunset during the day.
  5. Reserve your bed for sleeping, and consider separate bedrooms. If you are used to watching TV or doing work in bed, you may find it harder to relax and drift off to sleep, so avoid doing these activities in bed. Recent studies also suggest that, for many people, sharing a bed with a partner (or kids, pets) can significantly impair sleep, especially if the partner is a restless sleeper or snores. If bedfellows are consistently interfering with your sleep, you may want to consider a separate bedroom.

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The Detrimental Effects of Daylight Saving Time, and What You Can Do to Minimize Them

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By Andreas Moritz 

Hi, this is a very good question about daylight savings time and the question is “Does daylight savings time affect our health and wellbeing?”

And in fact, it does. There are studies to show that there is a higher incidence of depression and cardiovascular episodes such as heart attack during the time of changing into daylight savings or going back to standard time.

This practice of changing time has been practiced basically for a hundred years on this recently developed world and mostly in North American, and some South American countries, as well as most European countries. Now the problem with time change is that for one thing we don’t really to save much energy. It has been estimated that on average a household saves about four dollars in one year simply because of making these time adjustments.

The problem, however, is that productivity drops dramatically during and around the times of the changes, which amounts to a loss of 400 million US dollars per year. So it doesn’t really make sense form the energy point of view, we don’t save much energy costs and we lose a lot of productivity due to fatigue that arises during this time.

The other problem is that because of the hormones in our system, in our body, are closely interconnected with the circadian rhythm. That means the movement of the earth around the sun and these rhythms have very powerful influences on most essential, most effective and powerful hormones in our body, such as serotonin which is light-sensitive and melatonin which is dark-sensitive.

When we experience a shortage of light because of time changes or we have too much light and we are not experiencing enough darkness, then either way this can cause major physiological changes which can have damaging effects on our body, for example, if a normal, during the standard time, the winter period when the melatonin secretion which is a hormone produced in the pineal gland is secreted at 9:30 in the evening which is typical, then if you have let’s say, a different time introduced into your schedule such as suddenly the time during the adjusted time period is now 10:30 for the melatonin cycle to begin, then that can interfere with your sleeping habits, you may not get good quality sleep because you are going to bed an hour later than you are supposed to go to sleep in order to maximize the full secretion of melatonin.

Melatonin is a very powerful hormone that regulates the thyroid, and through the thyroid, all the other endocrine glands and hormones. So when you start interfering with the thyroid hormone and the other hormones in the body, a lot of undesirable changes can happen in the body.

This can effectively also lead in the long term to serotonin deficiency which goes along with happiness, and when you become deficient in serotonin, the end result is that you are depressed or you become sad, or you become just unhappy in some ways that leads to other problems, making mistakes, and not having the enthusiasm and the joy, not digesting food properly. We know that serotonin regulates most of the digestive functions because it’s well known that most serotonin is actually produced in the digestive system to regulate the digestive secretions and if your melatonin drops below normal because you are going to bed an hour later than you are supposed to go to bed, then the next day you don’t secrete enough serotonin to digest your food well, and so this can cause a number of issues, not just with regard to digestive functions but because of a lot of undigested food curing in the digestive tract. This can interfere with the absorption of nutrients, your energy levels may drop, and your brain may not get enough nutrients or glucose as a result.

These are subtle changes that sort of… if it happens every year, year after year, that you may have a chronic illness or issue that can… that otherwise never would have happened if you don’t have to follow these time changes.

Now we are not complete victims in all of that. We can make changes and there are a number of them that can get you through these time changes or shifts, these are natural shifts in a sort of more relaxed manner, and one of them is that it has been know that light therapy… looking at certain kinds of lights or lamps that emit light effectively… that they can, in fact, reduce the adjustment period, the length of having to adjust to the new cycles, for example this is a light that can do that and you can find these on amazon.com. They are pretty useful also for people who have jet lag that have traveled a long way and they, like… to another country and then they come back and they are jet-lagged and this reduces the length of time you are experiencing the jet lag, so light therapy is definitely very good. SAD, which is Seasonal Affective Disorder, which is more prevalent in countries that don’t have enough sun exposure, it’s a very, very useful tool to keep the balance.

Then another thing that has been found to be beneficial is during the times of time changes to socialize with other people, spend time with your friends, with children playing, this has also shown benefit, and to benefit the serotonin production which is the happiness hormone, so anything that makes you happy also allows you to adjust better.

Another good way to get over this period more easily and effectively is exercising. So, it’s important to do that anyway, but during this time even more so, and this will help to once again make create balance to the serotonin – melatonin hormonal changes.

And also a person who has a full body massage that has been shown simply by activating certain receptors on the surface of the skin that are related to serotonin production, that will also benefit greatly when you go through that.

Another way is when you, when there is a shortage of time, and let’s say, when you enter the summer period and the daylight savings time, and you have an hour’s less sleep, that’s the time to somehow, for at least like a week, still try to get your eight hours of sleep instead of the seven hours that you may have given yourself simply by once again going to bed a little earlier and maybe sleeping a little longer, so that you do get your eight hours of sleep, and that has also been shown to be of great benefit.

So having said that, I think that there are certain things that we can do, sometimes we can also exert pressure on the governance and some have listened, some have discovered that it’s actually a great loss to go through these changes, some states in United States like Arizona and Hawaii, they don’t have daylight savings time, and they are little smarter than the rest of us, and there are some countries that also resist doing that. It has particularly with the modern communication systems being so fast and the countries being so interconnected, it has created a big, big problem and lots of expenditures simply by constantly having to adjust the different devices, computers, twice a year, which is a great problem now with inter-country communications. Some countries, they start daylight savings time early, and some start it later and this is a real nuisance for many countries.

So letting your government, your representatives know that there is now a great deal of evidence, you can do a Google search you will find a lot of evidence to show that daylight savings time is not really saving us very much, except perhaps being in the daylight a little longer during the summer period, but apart from that, there is really no other benefit from following such a time schedule.

Thanks for listening and have a wonderful beautifully sun-filled day.

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