Dosing Sleep

Hi Byte Wellness Fam,

Hope you’re finding time to rest this summer. Let’s remember that whatever’s going on around us, we have some say over our sleep quality. That’s because our habits can affect sleep by shifting 2 big sleep chemicals: melatonin (the schedule) and adenosine (the engine). We need high levels of both to get high-quality sleep at the right time. Then, we need levels low in order to wake up.

• Melatonin levels control our sleep cycle (what time of day is “sleep time” vs. “awake time”).

• Adenosine levels control our sleep pressure (how tired our body and minds feel).

  Log into our private community to check out the recording of our last #ByteWellnessWednesday Workshop where we broke down sleep chemicals.

  And, check the graphs below to see how these chemicals naturally shift throughout the day.

Line graph showing the daily cycle of adenosine from CDC.gov

Image of Melatonin Cycle from https://ib.bioninja.com.au/standard-level/topic-6-human-physiology/66-hormones-homeostasis-and/melatonin.html

3 Habits That Can Ruin Our Sleep

What 3 habits are some of the biggest sleep offenders?

• Coffee

  • The caffeine in coffee (and some soft drinks) blocks adenosine receptors in our brain for hours. That means so we don’t have the “sleep pressure” (the tired feeling caused by rising adenosine levels cause). So, depending on how sensitive our bodies are to caffeine, drinking a cup of coffee within 6-8 hours of bedtime (say, 2pm) could make it hard to get to sleep at 10pm.

• Alcohol

  • Studies suggest that even occasional alcohol use can lower melatonin levels (sending our brain signals that delay our “sleep time”).

  • Even though alcohol (a sedative) initially makes us feel sleepy, it has an unexpected rebound effect that can interrupt sleep. Beginning around 6 hours after our last drink, alcohol starts to excite our brain, shifting us from deep restorative sleep stages to a more shallow one that can leave us feeling tired in the morning.

• Physical Inactivity

  • Doing physical (and mental) work throughout the day in order to raises adenosine levels to help us feel “sleep pressure” in time for bed. Sedentary days might make it harder to fall asleep when our heads hit the pillow.

  You probably guessed that coffee can interfere with a good night’s rest. But, did you know that alcohol and physical inactivity can set us up for sleepless nights or poor-quality sleep?

Discussion Question

The discussion question from this past week:

• Have you ever talked with your doctor about trouble sleeping?
  Would you?

  This is a big one! Once you’ve exhausted your own resources, where do you stand on getting help from your healthcare team?

Happy Healthy Living,

Dr. Wuse