What's stealing my brain?
There is a thief on the loose. It is stealing the ability of people to be healthy, think clearly and live a satisfying life. It is called sleep deprivation.
There are four common causes of disease: trauma, toxicity, deficiency and stress. Severe sleep deficiency affects more than 70 million people in North America – about 25% of the general population or 1 in 4 people. Episodes of mild sleep deficiency affect just about all of us. Sleep deficiency has been directly linked to more than 70 diseases and conditions, including:
What is normal?
Men and women should go to sleep between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. and wake between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. They should sleep between 7 ½ and 9 hours every night. It should take between 5 and 15 minutes to fall asleep and you should remain asleep all night. Sleep should be peaceful: there should be no thrashing, teeth-grinding, snoring or fitful sleep. Nightmares and night terrors are not normal; they should be investigated and resolved if they occur commonly. You should dream, but you may not always remember your dreams.
How do I know?
Many people have a sleeping disorder and do not know it. A bed partner may be a good source of information about sleeping habits, but there are two good signs of disturbed sleep requiring intervention:
As we age, there is a tendency for our brain to actually shrink. Adequate amounts of sleep, Vitamin B-12and Omega-3 DHA can help reduce this tendency and conserve your brain volume as you age. Perhaps even more important than the size of your brain is the ability to think. Sleep helps here, too.
A study published in Nature in 2004 gave problem-solving puzzles to people who had adequate sleep at night, people who slept during the day and people who were sleep deprived. The test was very interesting because you had to solve eight different puzzles. The puzzles were not obviously linked, but were connected by a hidden rule requiring a special human trait called "insight."
The human brain functions differently than animal brains. One of the unique qualities of humans is the ability to re-think and restructure our approach to problems based on abstract observations. We can gain this kind of insight by connecting things that don't obviously appear connected and use this abstract knowledge to improve our circumstances.
People who sleep better at night have twice the insight of those who are either sleep deprived or who sleep during the daytime. Our brains simply work better when we sleep peacefully at night.
Sleep requires nutrients
Sleep is a very energy-intensive process. For peaceful sleep, we should take our Foundation nutrients to fuel the process of sleep. If we are having difficulty getting good sleep, try TriVita Peaceful Sleep™ – one of my favorite formulas!
Sleeping peacefully is a way to thwart the thief that is stealing the health of people all around the world. What's more, sleeping peacefully may just be the cure for a generation of people lacking true insight!
There are four common causes of disease: trauma, toxicity, deficiency and stress. Severe sleep deficiency affects more than 70 million people in North America – about 25% of the general population or 1 in 4 people. Episodes of mild sleep deficiency affect just about all of us. Sleep deficiency has been directly linked to more than 70 diseases and conditions, including:
- Heart attacks
- Stroke
- Cancer
- Diabetes
- Obesity
What is normal?
Men and women should go to sleep between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. and wake between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. They should sleep between 7 ½ and 9 hours every night. It should take between 5 and 15 minutes to fall asleep and you should remain asleep all night. Sleep should be peaceful: there should be no thrashing, teeth-grinding, snoring or fitful sleep. Nightmares and night terrors are not normal; they should be investigated and resolved if they occur commonly. You should dream, but you may not always remember your dreams.
How do I know?
Many people have a sleeping disorder and do not know it. A bed partner may be a good source of information about sleeping habits, but there are two good signs of disturbed sleep requiring intervention:
- Fatigue – Fatigue is obvious, right? If you sleep all night and wake up feeling tired it means there is a problem. If you are sleepy throughout the day, have difficulty concentrating and tend to doze off if you sit still, then you are obviously sleep deficient, no matter how many hours you actually spent asleep.
- Hunger – The relationship between hunger and sleep is not so obvious. There is a balance between hormones that promote hunger and those that make us feel that our appetite has been satisfied. If you sleep well you should be hungry in the morning. If you sleep poorly you will not be hungry for several hours after you wake up. If you sleep well you should have no difficulty controlling evening hunger. If you sleep poorly you will be an uncontrollable eating machine in the evening! Evening hunger is often a sign of poor sleep.
As we age, there is a tendency for our brain to actually shrink. Adequate amounts of sleep, Vitamin B-12and Omega-3 DHA can help reduce this tendency and conserve your brain volume as you age. Perhaps even more important than the size of your brain is the ability to think. Sleep helps here, too.
A study published in Nature in 2004 gave problem-solving puzzles to people who had adequate sleep at night, people who slept during the day and people who were sleep deprived. The test was very interesting because you had to solve eight different puzzles. The puzzles were not obviously linked, but were connected by a hidden rule requiring a special human trait called "insight."
The human brain functions differently than animal brains. One of the unique qualities of humans is the ability to re-think and restructure our approach to problems based on abstract observations. We can gain this kind of insight by connecting things that don't obviously appear connected and use this abstract knowledge to improve our circumstances.
People who sleep better at night have twice the insight of those who are either sleep deprived or who sleep during the daytime. Our brains simply work better when we sleep peacefully at night.
Sleep requires nutrients
Sleep is a very energy-intensive process. For peaceful sleep, we should take our Foundation nutrients to fuel the process of sleep. If we are having difficulty getting good sleep, try TriVita Peaceful Sleep™ – one of my favorite formulas!
Sleeping peacefully is a way to thwart the thief that is stealing the health of people all around the world. What's more, sleeping peacefully may just be the cure for a generation of people lacking true insight!
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