February 3, 2025 • 17 mins
Struggling with sleep? In this ultimate guide to better sleep, we cover everything you need to know about sleep debt, shift work challenges, and insomnia solutions. Learn how to reset your circadian rhythm, build habits for restorative sleep, and discover foods and strategies to help you fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer. Whether you’re battling irregular schedules or chronic insomnia, this episode is packed with actionable tips to improve your sleep and overall health.
Bon Charge can help you improve your sleep with their range of wellness products: blue light glasses, red light therapy, sauna blankets and more! Use code: HCK15 to save 15% off your orderhttps://hckait.com/boncharge
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
01:12 Sleep and metabolic hormones
02:46 Sleep and hunger
04:36 Sleep debt explained
06:17 Sleep debt recovery
06:54 Circadian rhythm explained
08:15 How to sync circadian rhythm with light, food and temperature
12:31 Shift work and circadian rhythm
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Today's video is sponsored by Bond Charge.
Hello guys, and welcome back to the Healthy Not Complicated
podcast. Today's episode is going to be
everything involving sleep. So we're going to be talking
about why sleep is so important,why it matters for our blood
sugar, insulin resistance, weight loss, what sleep debt is.
We're going to be talking about shift work, because that's
(00:20):
something I get asked about a lot.
And obviously we're going to be talking about how to optimise
your sleep, which in turn is going to optimise your health.
Now sleep really is is the foundation of our well being.
When we're sleeping, this is ourbody's chance to rest, to
repair, to recover. If we don't get adequate sleep,
then our body can't recover properly.
(00:42):
And when I'm talking about recovery, often times this is
used in the context of like exercise recovery, muscle
recovery. But even if you're not
exercising, our bodies do need to recover every single day.
Sleep is also really, really important for our immune system.
It's really important for our brains and for our mental
(01:02):
health. When we're sleeping, this is
when memories are consolidated. This is when emotions can be
processed. Oh my God, I have the sun
shining right in my face. Give me one second.
It's important for hormone regulation.
And this is where insulin and cortisol come in because, and I
talk about this all the time because when I learned this
(01:23):
fact, it blew my mind. And I feel like not enough
people know about this. But when you don't get enough
sleep, your insulin is higher the entire next day and you
become more insulin resistant. Now, obviously if you already
have insulin resistance and thenyou get a poor night's sleep,
it's going to be even worse. But even for someone who is
(01:45):
metabolically healthy, who doesn't have insulin resistant,
who has good insulin sensitivity, the following day,
they're going to be more insulinresistant.
And what this means is that they're just not going to be
able to metabolise their food asefficiently.
They're not going to be able to,well, more of what they're
eating is going to be stored as fat versus being used
immediately for energy. You really are setting yourself
(02:07):
up on the back foot if you don'tget a good night's sleep in
terms of improving your metabolic health, in terms of
improving your insulin resistance and weight loss.
But honestly, in terms of everything, cortisol as well,
that's another one where if you don't get a good night's sleep,
then your cortisol is going to be higher the next day.
This means more inflammation. This means more stress.
(02:28):
I'm sure we all have been able to actually feel this when we're
overtired and everything just seems to agitate us.
There's a reason for that. It's not all in your head.
And then of course, it has an impact on our physical health.
Chronic sleep deprivation increases your risk of so many
diseases, heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's, and it
(02:49):
also messes with your hunger hormones.
So following a per night's sleep, ghrelin is going to be
higher, which is the hunger hormone and leptin, which is the
satiety hormone is going to be lower.
So This is why you feel hungrierthe entire next day.
And of course, if you're trying to lose weight, if you're trying
to eat healthy and make good choices, this is only going to
make things harder. Lack of sleep is also strongly
(03:10):
associated with mental health issues, things like anxiety and
depression. Consistent quality sleep has
been proven to improve emotionalresilience.
And then of course, better quality sleep is also associated
with longevity. So sleep really is something
that we all should be prioritising.
And I think a lot of people takeit for granted now.
(03:32):
I know that there is this shift like a lot of people online are
talking about the importance of sleep and with the uprise of
sleep tech, things like aura ring, things like 8 sleep, I
think more people are aware of it.
But whether that's translating into people actually making the
necessary changes and prioritising their sleep, I
(03:57):
think to some degree, but I don't.
I still think most people are taking it for granted.
And it really, and it really doesn't have to be difficult.
Even if you're someone who has trouble falling asleep or
staying asleep, there are thingsyou can do to improve this and a
lot of people aren't talking about them.
Things like syncing your circadian rhythm, using light,
using temperature. We're going to get into all of
(04:19):
that as we go through this video, probably closer towards
the end. But if you can just do all these
little things right, you're going to see big improvements.
And most of these things are free.
So now let's talk more about understanding circadian rhythms
and sleep debt. Now sleep debt is basically the
build up of sleep deprivation over time.
(04:42):
For example, if you required 8 hours of sleep to get maximum
recovery one night and you only like 7 hours, then you have one
hour of sleep debt. And like I said, this builds up
over time and This is why a lot of people I know they'll try to
catch up on sleep on the weekends.
But really, if your sleep debt has built up too high, then this
(05:04):
doesn't really fix the problem. One night of extended sleep is
not going to make up for 10 nights of not enough sleep.
And the symptoms of sleep debt are pretty straightforward.
Things like constant fatigue, low energy, difficulty
concentrating, difficulty staying awake during the day,
always needing a nap. If you're someone who always
(05:25):
falls asleep in front of ATV, this is a sign that you have
significant sleep debt built up.Now, the short term effects of
sleep debt, obviously it decreases your productivity.
If your cognitive function is going to be impaired, your
immune system is going to be weaker.
If you're someone who gets sick all the time, again, this is
going to be another sign that you have sleep debt built up.
(05:46):
And long term, it increases yourrisk of chronic diseases.
And that's everything that we spoke about before.
Now, sleep debt is very common. Obviously a lot of us live live
busy lives. If you have kids, that is an
added obstacle. And again, I think a lot of
people underestimate the importance of sleep.
(06:06):
We have this sort of like hustle, work hard, sleep when
you're dead mindset, which really is setting us up for
failure. Now, obviously the way to
recover from sleep debt is to just get more sleep consistently
over time. You really want to be trying to
give yourself at least 8 hours of sleep opportunity every
(06:29):
night. And when I say sleep
opportunity, I'm talking about the amount of time that you are
allowing yourself to be in bed. So if you know you're going to,
if you know you're going to be up at 6:00 AM being in bed by at
least 10:00 PM, then you have 8 hours of this sleep opportunity.
That really is the first step because if you're not giving
yourself the chance to get enough sleep, then it just needs
(06:53):
to start there. Now when we talk about circadian
rhythm, we're basically talking about how our body operates on a
24 hour cycle and our body operates on this cycle in many
different ways. There are hormones that are
released at different times during the day.
Cortisol, for example, goes up in the morning and this helps to
wake us up, to keep us or to getus alert, to energise us so we
(07:15):
can start our day. This is normal.
And then as the day goes on, cortisol should decrease just in
time for bedtime. Same thing with hunger hormones.
These actually work on a bit of a timer based on when you
typically eat. So if you typically always have
an afternoon snack at like two or three PM, your body
(07:36):
anticipates this and hunger hormones are going to be
released at that time every day.So even if you have a late lunch
and you eat at 1:00 and you're confused why you're hungry an
hour later, it's because your body is anticipating food.
And this is something that's pretty easy to reset after a
week or two of changing the timeyou're eating, then your body
(07:57):
adapts pretty quickly. And this also goes for
intermittent fasting. I know a lot of people, they try
to skip breakfast and they find it very, very difficult.
And skipping breakfast isn't foreveryone, but if you're serious
about starting it, you just haveto be consistent for a couple of
weeks and your hunger hormones are going to reset.
Now, when we talk about our circadian rhythm being In Sync,
(08:18):
this means that these hormones are being released at the right
time. So for example, cortisol in the
morning and melatonin in the evening.
If your circadian rhythm is out of sync, then these hormones
aren't released at the right times.
You might find it really hard towake up in the morning or really
hard to fall asleep and stay asleep.
But thankfully there are things you can do to get your circadian
(08:40):
rhythm In Sync, and one of the most important ones is light
exposure. Now I know, and we'll get into
this in a second, blue light is probably what you're thinking
and blue light has kind of become demonised in a lot of
ways. We all know that it suppresses
melatonin and that it can make it difficult to fall asleep at
night, but it's not the enemy because if you get blue light
(09:03):
exposure at the right times, this is important.
For example, in the morning, youwant to get that light exposure
because you want to be more alert.
You don't want to melatonin to be released.
And This is why I am such a hugeadvocate for going for a morning
walk because when you go outside, when you get that
sunlight exposure, and it has tobe direct sunlight exposure, it
(09:23):
can't be through glass, this signals your body that it's
daytime and this triggers the release of those energising
hormones. And then obviously the opposite
is true in the evening. You don't want bright light
exposure because this is going to suppress melatonin and keep
you more alert and energised. And this is when you want to
turn off your overhead lights. This is when you want to maybe
(09:47):
put on a pair of blue light blocking glasses if you're
staring at screens. Managing your light exposure is
the most important thing you cando do for syncing your circadian
rhythm. So if you are someone who has
trouble falling asleep, if you have trouble waking up in the
morning and feeling energised, this is where you need to start.
Now the next thing you want to do beyond this is you want to
have a consistent sleep schedule.
(10:08):
Because just like with our food timing, our body gets used to
the times we wake up and the times that we fall asleep and
releases hormones at these times.
So if you're consistent with your sleep, then your circadian
rhythm is going to be more. Now, heat is the other factor
here that can help, again sync your circadian rhythm because
(10:30):
when you're falling asleep, there's a drop in your body
temperature. If you do anything immediately
before sleep that increases yourbody temperature too much.
For example, if you're exercising in the evening, then
this can also make it harder to fall asleep because your
temperature is going to be elevated for longer.
And you can also use this to your advantage because when you
(10:51):
do increase your body temperature significantly,
there's a bit of a rebound effect.
And this goes for decreasing your body temperature as well.
So for example, when you do a cold plunge, your core body
temperature goes down, and then afterwards your body works to
bring it back up to baseline. So yeah, there's this rebound
effect. And the same goes for if you
(11:12):
heat your body at the right time, then there's a rebound
effect and your temperature is coming back down.
And This is why things like a hot shower or a sauna before bed
can help. But you have to do them at the
right time, and the right time is 1 1/2 hours before you plan
on falling asleep. So if you can time it properly
(11:33):
then this can also help you to fall asleep to get better
quality sleep. Today's video is sponsored by
Bond Charge. Bond Charge offers blue light
blocking glasses designed to protect your eyes from
artificial blue light emitted byscreens which suppress melatonin
and disrupt your natural sleep cycle.
Put these on in the evening and you'll be amazed how much easier
it is to wind down and fall asleep naturally.
(11:53):
They also have red light bulbs to create a calming, sleep
friendly environment in your home.
Unlike harsh overhead lighting, red light doesn't interfere with
melatonin production, helping you prepare for restorative
sleep. And another way you can
significantly improve your sleepis by heating your body an hour
and a half before bedtime. And you can do this with Bond
Charges sauna blanket. This portable sauna promotes
relaxation, reduces stress, and even improve circulation,
(12:16):
setting you up for better sleep and recovery.
Sleep isn't something to compromise on and Bond Charges
products are designed to help you take back control of your
nights and your health. Head to healthcoachkate.com/bond
Charge to check them out and usecode HCK 15 at checkout to save
15% off your order. Now circling back a little bit,
let's talk about what if you're a shift worker because this is
(12:36):
where things get really tricky. Obviously, if you're waking up
in the evening and you're working all through the night,
then you're not getting that light exposure that you would be
getting during the day and you might be getting that light
exposure only right before you're trying to fall asleep.
So it's having the opposite effect.
And I really think it is so, so important for shift workers to
(12:58):
optimise their sleep because they are at such an increased
disease risk. And this is the reason why,
because it is so hard to get proper quality sleep when you're
sleeping during the day and you're awake at night.
But there are things you can do that are going to help, and it
comes down to the same principles we just spoke about.
(13:18):
So you can use these tools, you can use light, you can use heat
to sync your circadian rhythm, but in the opposite way.
So for example, when you wake upin the evening, you want to get
bright light exposure. So if the sun is still up when
you wake up, then go outside, get that light exposure right
away. This is going to really help.
(13:38):
And when you finish your shift, it's going to be really
important to avoid this light atall cost.
And blue eye blocking glasses, the ones with the orange lenses,
ones from brands like On Charge,who are the sponsors of today's
video, those are lab tested. They actually block the specific
types of light that are going todisrupt your sleep.
(13:58):
So those can make a big, big difference.
You want to put those on at least an hour and a half before
bed, but if you're finding it hard to fall asleep, then maybe
try putting them on a little bitearlier.
And you can also use heat as well.
So like I said, a hot shower or a sauna one 1 1/2 hours before
bed as well. This is going to help and
(14:22):
consistency is going to be key here as much as you can.
I know people who do shift work,their schedules are always
changing, but if you can try to get some consistency, that will
make a big difference as well. Obviously that's not possible
for all people, so just do what you can.
We haven't touched on caffeine yet, but that could be another
really good tool. Obviously, caffeine in the first
(14:45):
part of your day, that's going to help to energise you cut it
off before it's going to start impacting your sleep quality.
And also just eating at the sametime every day if you're a shift
worker. And even if you're not a shift
worker, this again is going to help to sync your circadian
rhythm. I'm not eating too close to
bedtime. I don't know how I haven't
mentioned that yet, but you wantto stop eating at least three
(15:05):
hours before you plan on going to sleep because this allows
your body the chance to digest that food before your head
actually hits the pillow. And then this means that your
body can get right into recovering and repairing your
tissues and it doesn't have to work.
Digest your Food First. But in saying all this, you
really can only do as much as you can do, if that makes sense.
(15:28):
It's not about being perfect. It's not about using these tech
devices and getting 100% sleep score every single night.
It's not about hyper fixating onthese wearables as well and what
they're telling you. Because if you wake up one day
and you feel really energised and you feel great and you look
at your sleep results and you see that, oh, I didn't get a
(15:49):
good sleep score that can, that can impact you and kind of have
a placebo effect. And I don't think that's
helpful. So it's not about being perfect.
It's about doing the right things as often as you can.
And that's going to build up emphasis on giving yourself
enough sleep opportunity and really managing your light
exposure. OK, this episode didn't end up
(16:10):
being as long as I thought it would be.
I don't know how people talk foreven an hour.
I've been doing this podcast formaybe like six months now or
something and I always think I'mgoing to be able to make these
episodes an hour. They're usually like 25 minutes
and for some reason I just, I don't have anything else to say
(16:30):
after that. So but maybe that's a good
thing. I know a lot of people don't
like long form content, but thena lot of people do Personally, I
love just putting on a podcast, going for a walk, doing chores,
that sort of thing. So I do like a little bit of a
longer format. But anyways, I hope you guys
found this helpful. I know shift work is something
that I've asked about frequentlyand it's tough.
(16:52):
It's honestly it, it is really, really tough because obviously
some people have to do it and itdoes come with a big sacrifice
to your health. But there are things you can do
to lower your disease risk, to help to keep your hormones
happy, to keep your circadian rhythm more In Sync.
And I hope this video was helpful.
(17:13):
So thank you guys for listening or watching and I will see you
next time. Bye.
Today's video is sponsored by Bond Charge.
Hello guys, and welcome back to the Healthy Not Complicated
podcast. Today's episode is going to be
everything involving sleep. So we're going to be talking
about why sleep is so important,why it matters for our blood
sugar, insulin resistance, weight loss, what sleep debt is.
We're going to be talking about shift work, because that's
(00:20):
something I get asked about a lot.
And obviously we're going to be talking about how to optimise
your sleep, which in turn is going to optimise your health.
Now sleep really is is the foundation of our well being.
When we're sleeping, this is ourbody's chance to rest, to
repair, to recover. If we don't get adequate sleep,
then our body can't recover properly.
(00:42):
And when I'm talking about recovery, often times this is
used in the context of like exercise recovery, muscle
recovery. But even if you're not
exercising, our bodies do need to recover every single day.
Sleep is also really, really important for our immune system.
It's really important for our brains and for our mental
(01:02):
health. When we're sleeping, this is
when memories are consolidated. This is when emotions can be
processed. Oh my God, I have the sun
shining right in my face. Give me one second.
It's important for hormone regulation.
And this is where insulin and cortisol come in because, and I
talk about this all the time because when I learned this
(01:23):
fact, it blew my mind. And I feel like not enough
people know about this. But when you don't get enough
sleep, your insulin is higher the entire next day and you
become more insulin resistant. Now, obviously if you already
have insulin resistance and thenyou get a poor night's sleep,
it's going to be even worse. But even for someone who is
(01:45):
metabolically healthy, who doesn't have insulin resistant,
who has good insulin sensitivity, the following day,
they're going to be more insulinresistant.
And what this means is that they're just not going to be
able to metabolise their food asefficiently.
They're not going to be able to,well, more of what they're
eating is going to be stored as fat versus being used
immediately for energy. You really are setting yourself
(02:07):
up on the back foot if you don'tget a good night's sleep in
terms of improving your metabolic health, in terms of
improving your insulin resistance and weight loss.
But honestly, in terms of everything, cortisol as well,
that's another one where if you don't get a good night's sleep,
then your cortisol is going to be higher the next day.
This means more inflammation. This means more stress.
(02:28):
I'm sure we all have been able to actually feel this when we're
overtired and everything just seems to agitate us.
There's a reason for that. It's not all in your head.
And then of course, it has an impact on our physical health.
Chronic sleep deprivation increases your risk of so many
diseases, heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's, and it
(02:49):
also messes with your hunger hormones.
So following a per night's sleep, ghrelin is going to be
higher, which is the hunger hormone and leptin, which is the
satiety hormone is going to be lower.
So This is why you feel hungrierthe entire next day.
And of course, if you're trying to lose weight, if you're trying
to eat healthy and make good choices, this is only going to
make things harder. Lack of sleep is also strongly
(03:10):
associated with mental health issues, things like anxiety and
depression. Consistent quality sleep has
been proven to improve emotionalresilience.
And then of course, better quality sleep is also associated
with longevity. So sleep really is something
that we all should be prioritising.
And I think a lot of people takeit for granted now.
(03:32):
I know that there is this shift like a lot of people online are
talking about the importance of sleep and with the uprise of
sleep tech, things like aura ring, things like 8 sleep, I
think more people are aware of it.
But whether that's translating into people actually making the
necessary changes and prioritising their sleep, I
(03:57):
think to some degree, but I don't.
I still think most people are taking it for granted.
And it really, and it really doesn't have to be difficult.
Even if you're someone who has trouble falling asleep or
staying asleep, there are thingsyou can do to improve this and a
lot of people aren't talking about them.
Things like syncing your circadian rhythm, using light,
using temperature. We're going to get into all of
(04:19):
that as we go through this video, probably closer towards
the end. But if you can just do all these
little things right, you're going to see big improvements.
And most of these things are free.
So now let's talk more about understanding circadian rhythms
and sleep debt. Now sleep debt is basically the
build up of sleep deprivation over time.
(04:42):
For example, if you required 8 hours of sleep to get maximum
recovery one night and you only like 7 hours, then you have one
hour of sleep debt. And like I said, this builds up
over time and This is why a lot of people I know they'll try to
catch up on sleep on the weekends.
But really, if your sleep debt has built up too high, then this
(05:04):
doesn't really fix the problem. One night of extended sleep is
not going to make up for 10 nights of not enough sleep.
And the symptoms of sleep debt are pretty straightforward.
Things like constant fatigue, low energy, difficulty
concentrating, difficulty staying awake during the day,
always needing a nap. If you're someone who always
(05:25):
falls asleep in front of ATV, this is a sign that you have
significant sleep debt built up.Now, the short term effects of
sleep debt, obviously it decreases your productivity.
If your cognitive function is going to be impaired, your
immune system is going to be weaker.
If you're someone who gets sick all the time, again, this is
going to be another sign that you have sleep debt built up.
(05:46):
And long term, it increases yourrisk of chronic diseases.
And that's everything that we spoke about before.
Now, sleep debt is very common. Obviously a lot of us live live
busy lives. If you have kids, that is an
added obstacle. And again, I think a lot of
people underestimate the importance of sleep.
(06:06):
We have this sort of like hustle, work hard, sleep when
you're dead mindset, which really is setting us up for
failure. Now, obviously the way to
recover from sleep debt is to just get more sleep consistently
over time. You really want to be trying to
give yourself at least 8 hours of sleep opportunity every
(06:29):
night. And when I say sleep
opportunity, I'm talking about the amount of time that you are
allowing yourself to be in bed. So if you know you're going to,
if you know you're going to be up at 6:00 AM being in bed by at
least 10:00 PM, then you have 8 hours of this sleep opportunity.
That really is the first step because if you're not giving
yourself the chance to get enough sleep, then it just needs
(06:53):
to start there. Now when we talk about circadian
rhythm, we're basically talking about how our body operates on a
24 hour cycle and our body operates on this cycle in many
different ways. There are hormones that are
released at different times during the day.
Cortisol, for example, goes up in the morning and this helps to
wake us up, to keep us or to getus alert, to energise us so we
(07:15):
can start our day. This is normal.
And then as the day goes on, cortisol should decrease just in
time for bedtime. Same thing with hunger hormones.
These actually work on a bit of a timer based on when you
typically eat. So if you typically always have
an afternoon snack at like two or three PM, your body
(07:36):
anticipates this and hunger hormones are going to be
released at that time every day.So even if you have a late lunch
and you eat at 1:00 and you're confused why you're hungry an
hour later, it's because your body is anticipating food.
And this is something that's pretty easy to reset after a
week or two of changing the timeyou're eating, then your body
(07:57):
adapts pretty quickly. And this also goes for
intermittent fasting. I know a lot of people, they try
to skip breakfast and they find it very, very difficult.
And skipping breakfast isn't foreveryone, but if you're serious
about starting it, you just haveto be consistent for a couple of
weeks and your hunger hormones are going to reset.
Now, when we talk about our circadian rhythm being In Sync,
(08:18):
this means that these hormones are being released at the right
time. So for example, cortisol in the
morning and melatonin in the evening.
If your circadian rhythm is out of sync, then these hormones
aren't released at the right times.
You might find it really hard towake up in the morning or really
hard to fall asleep and stay asleep.
But thankfully there are things you can do to get your circadian
(08:40):
rhythm In Sync, and one of the most important ones is light
exposure. Now I know, and we'll get into
this in a second, blue light is probably what you're thinking
and blue light has kind of become demonised in a lot of
ways. We all know that it suppresses
melatonin and that it can make it difficult to fall asleep at
night, but it's not the enemy because if you get blue light
(09:03):
exposure at the right times, this is important.
For example, in the morning, youwant to get that light exposure
because you want to be more alert.
You don't want to melatonin to be released.
And This is why I am such a hugeadvocate for going for a morning
walk because when you go outside, when you get that
sunlight exposure, and it has tobe direct sunlight exposure, it
(09:23):
can't be through glass, this signals your body that it's
daytime and this triggers the release of those energising
hormones. And then obviously the opposite
is true in the evening. You don't want bright light
exposure because this is going to suppress melatonin and keep
you more alert and energised. And this is when you want to
turn off your overhead lights. This is when you want to maybe
(09:47):
put on a pair of blue light blocking glasses if you're
staring at screens. Managing your light exposure is
the most important thing you cando do for syncing your circadian
rhythm. So if you are someone who has
trouble falling asleep, if you have trouble waking up in the
morning and feeling energised, this is where you need to start.
Now the next thing you want to do beyond this is you want to
have a consistent sleep schedule.
(10:08):
Because just like with our food timing, our body gets used to
the times we wake up and the times that we fall asleep and
releases hormones at these times.
So if you're consistent with your sleep, then your circadian
rhythm is going to be more. Now, heat is the other factor
here that can help, again sync your circadian rhythm because
(10:30):
when you're falling asleep, there's a drop in your body
temperature. If you do anything immediately
before sleep that increases yourbody temperature too much.
For example, if you're exercising in the evening, then
this can also make it harder to fall asleep because your
temperature is going to be elevated for longer.
And you can also use this to your advantage because when you
(10:51):
do increase your body temperature significantly,
there's a bit of a rebound effect.
And this goes for decreasing your body temperature as well.
So for example, when you do a cold plunge, your core body
temperature goes down, and then afterwards your body works to
bring it back up to baseline. So yeah, there's this rebound
effect. And the same goes for if you
(11:12):
heat your body at the right time, then there's a rebound
effect and your temperature is coming back down.
And This is why things like a hot shower or a sauna before bed
can help. But you have to do them at the
right time, and the right time is 1 1/2 hours before you plan
on falling asleep. So if you can time it properly
(11:33):
then this can also help you to fall asleep to get better
quality sleep. Today's video is sponsored by
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(12:16):
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15% off your order. Now circling back a little bit,
let's talk about what if you're a shift worker because this is
(12:36):
where things get really tricky. Obviously, if you're waking up
in the evening and you're working all through the night,
then you're not getting that light exposure that you would be
getting during the day and you might be getting that light
exposure only right before you're trying to fall asleep.
So it's having the opposite effect.
And I really think it is so, so important for shift workers to
(12:58):
optimise their sleep because they are at such an increased
disease risk. And this is the reason why,
because it is so hard to get proper quality sleep when you're
sleeping during the day and you're awake at night.
But there are things you can do that are going to help, and it
comes down to the same principles we just spoke about.
(13:18):
So you can use these tools, you can use light, you can use heat
to sync your circadian rhythm, but in the opposite way.
So for example, when you wake upin the evening, you want to get
bright light exposure. So if the sun is still up when
you wake up, then go outside, get that light exposure right
away. This is going to really help.
(13:38):
And when you finish your shift, it's going to be really
important to avoid this light atall cost.
And blue eye blocking glasses, the ones with the orange lenses,
ones from brands like On Charge,who are the sponsors of today's
video, those are lab tested. They actually block the specific
types of light that are going todisrupt your sleep.
(13:58):
So those can make a big, big difference.
You want to put those on at least an hour and a half before
bed, but if you're finding it hard to fall asleep, then maybe
try putting them on a little bitearlier.
And you can also use heat as well.
So like I said, a hot shower or a sauna one 1 1/2 hours before
bed as well. This is going to help and
(14:22):
consistency is going to be key here as much as you can.
I know people who do shift work,their schedules are always
changing, but if you can try to get some consistency, that will
make a big difference as well. Obviously that's not possible
for all people, so just do what you can.
We haven't touched on caffeine yet, but that could be another
really good tool. Obviously, caffeine in the first
(14:45):
part of your day, that's going to help to energise you cut it
off before it's going to start impacting your sleep quality.
And also just eating at the sametime every day if you're a shift
worker. And even if you're not a shift
worker, this again is going to help to sync your circadian
rhythm. I'm not eating too close to
bedtime. I don't know how I haven't
mentioned that yet, but you wantto stop eating at least three
(15:05):
hours before you plan on going to sleep because this allows
your body the chance to digest that food before your head
actually hits the pillow. And then this means that your
body can get right into recovering and repairing your
tissues and it doesn't have to work.
Digest your Food First. But in saying all this, you
really can only do as much as you can do, if that makes sense.
(15:28):
It's not about being perfect. It's not about using these tech
devices and getting 100% sleep score every single night.
It's not about hyper fixating onthese wearables as well and what
they're telling you. Because if you wake up one day
and you feel really energised and you feel great and you look
at your sleep results and you see that, oh, I didn't get a
(15:49):
good sleep score that can, that can impact you and kind of have
a placebo effect. And I don't think that's
helpful. So it's not about being perfect.
It's about doing the right things as often as you can.
And that's going to build up emphasis on giving yourself
enough sleep opportunity and really managing your light
exposure. OK, this episode didn't end up
(16:10):
being as long as I thought it would be.
I don't know how people talk foreven an hour.
I've been doing this podcast formaybe like six months now or
something and I always think I'mgoing to be able to make these
episodes an hour. They're usually like 25 minutes
and for some reason I just, I don't have anything else to say
(16:30):
after that. So but maybe that's a good
thing. I know a lot of people don't
like long form content, but thena lot of people do Personally, I
love just putting on a podcast, going for a walk, doing chores,
that sort of thing. So I do like a little bit of a
longer format. But anyways, I hope you guys
found this helpful. I know shift work is something
that I've asked about frequentlyand it's tough.
(16:52):
It's honestly it, it is really, really tough because obviously
some people have to do it and itdoes come with a big sacrifice
to your health. But there are things you can do
to lower your disease risk, to help to keep your hormones
happy, to keep your circadian rhythm more In Sync.
And I hope this video was helpful.
(17:13):
So thank you guys for listening or watching and I will see you
next time. Bye.
Host
Kait Malthaner
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