The Biggest Problem With Skimping on Sleep
Got shut-eye? (Photo: Yahoo Health/Getty Images)
Do you get enough sleep? Or do you constantly feel drained and tired, and find yourself yawning throughout your day?
Sleep might be the most important aspect of having a high-performing body. It is also one of the most overlooked aspects of health, considering diet and working out tend to pull most of the spotlight.
What if having the right amount of sleep (and knowing when to sleep) solved all of your health problems, gave you unlimited energy throughout the day, and made you 10 times more productive than you’ve ever been?
It turns out this is all pretty true.
Related: Here’s Why You Want to Sleep More in the Winter
Ameer Rosic is passionate about the power of sleep — and he has become one of the leading experts on how to leverage sleep for the maximum benefit. When he and I sat down to talk about the massive value one gets from getting proper levels of sleep, Ameer also told me how to build the right habits to ensure you get the most out of it.
As he explained, when we skimp on sleep, we are creating what he calls a Sleep Debt Bank. This is similar to a regular bank we might borrow money from — eventually we have to pay up. If we don’t respect our body’s need for quality sleep, we will suffer the consequences when the debt has to be paid. This can come in the form of all sorts of health issues like anxiety, insomnia, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and other conditions.
When we stay up way past sundown and sleep in the during the day, we mess with our body’s natural hormone levels — like cortisol, adrenaline, etc., which are stimulated when we’re awake, and melatonin, which puts us to sleep.
Related: Your Body After a Night of Not-Enough Sleep
I asked Ameer how we can repay sleep debt if we’ve gotten into these bad habits. Good news: there are ways to do this.
When the sun goes down, avoid a lot of light, especially blue light. Instead, use candlelight or amber lights (which have the blue light removed).
Create downtime one hour before you go to sleep. Turn off your tech devices. Read a book. Talk to your partner. Take a bath. Prepare for bed.
If you must stay up later (or you just want to on occasion), Ameer suggests getting blue light glasses to block those color of rays so your melatonin can still do its job.
Consider taking herbs like St. John’s Wort, which increases serotonin and melatonin. If you want to take just a melatonin supplement, make sure it is a time-release kind, and take it when the sun is setting.
Finally, if you have a really late night, Ameer says the most important thing to do is make sure you watch the sunrise. (Even if that means only a couple hours of sleep). Just like Superman, our bodies are energized by the sun. When we watch the sunrise, we recharge our cells to mitigate the effects of a late night.
For our full conversation, listen below:
For more on Ameer, click here.
ABOUT LEWIS HOWES: Lewis is a pro-athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur who hosts the top-ranked podcast The School of Greatness. He interviews the best and brightest minds in health, entrepreneurship, relationships and lifestyle. Follow Lewis on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
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