October 2009
How Cool is Your Sleep?
When I was a little boy and happened not to be feeling well, my mother would ask me three questions. Having grown up in an old world village, she clung to simpler, traditional views of health, including her folksy health assessment.
Her first question was, “What did you eat?”
Today, more than ever, we are aware of the impact our diets have upon our health. Despite this, much of the modern world remains overfed, yet simultaneously undernourished. We simply consume too many empty, high-glycemic calories that provide quick energy, but limited nutrition. Such eating habits have been strongly linked to chronic inflammation — one of the most overlooked issues in our disturbed sleep epidemic.
Inflammation is hot. Chronic inflammation has emerged as a critical factor underlying most major illnesses from diabetes to cardiovascular disease and autoimmune disorders to depression. It refers to a subtle cellular smoldering caused by a confused and overactive immune system that is actually attacking its own host. This “friendly fire” results in a slight but clinically significant increase in body temperature that can affect sleep.
Chronic inflammation is not just about poor food choices; it’s about a widespread practice of consuming excessive energy. If we broaden our perspective, it becomes evident that in addition to food, we also “consume” light, oxygen, and information – all powerful sources of energy. And in today’s world, all are consumed in excess.
We are unquestionably overexposed to light at night. This not only energizes us, but also results in the suppression of melatonin, a neurohormone that reduces inflammation and promotes sleep. Some specialists are now raising concerns that we also over-breathe, consuming excessive oxygen that energizes us, but also contributes to inflammation. And who would argue with the fact that we are all inundated with information today? I believe the over-consumption of information results in a unique kind of stress – a form of mental indigestion that can also contribute to inflammation.
The earth is hot. There is a striking parallel between our personal failure to cool at night and global warming. Satellite images of the Earth at night taken over recent decades reveal that the planet is growing measurably brighter with each passing year. Not long ago, Al Gore suggested that our planet has a fever. Global warming results from the same general pattern of excessive energy consumption that contributes to our personal inflammation.
Consuming energy is, of course, a natural and necessary part of healthy life. Problems arise, however, not only when we consume more than we need, but also more than we are able to release or discharge.
My mother’s second question was, “Did you poop?”
If food might serve as a metaphor for all that we consume, then this question is about what we are, in turn, releasing. As a reflection of a broader, common tendency to hold on, it’s not surprising that constipation is also epidemic in our world. Healthy sleep is about letting go. Letting go of the ways of the waking world – letting go of energy.
Sleep is Cool
One of the most important yet overlooked features of sleep is that it is strongly linked to a decrease in body temperature. In fact, we are designed to do exactly what the outside world does when the sun goes down. At nightfall the Earth releases its energy into the atmosphere, drawing temperatures down until the sun returns at dawn. Likewise, our body temperature gradually decreases through the night, reaching its nadir just before we arise, when it returns to its waking levels.
Dreaming is the coolest part of sleep. When body temperature hovers near its depths, dreaming reaches its heights. Dreaming involves a kind of psychological cleansing and renovation that supports our emotional and spiritual health. And we dissipate a lot of heat in the process. Unfortunately, the same forces that interfere with healthy sleep impede our dreams, leaving us at least as dream deprived as we are sleep deprived.
Not surprisingly, my mother’s third question was, “How did you sleep?”
I think of sleep as a kind of nightly energy fast that encourages the dissipation of heat. Could it be that sleep itself is a powerful anti- inflammatory? I believe so. Research has confirmed that compromised sleep impairs our immune function and triggers inflammation. Healthy sleep and healthy dreams keep us cool. Minimizing inflammation will improve our sleep and improving our sleep will minimize inflammation.
Seven Suggestions for Being Cool
- Eat an anti-inflammatory or Mediterranean diet, the kind advocated by Dr. Andrew Weil.
- Get adequate daily exercise, which has many important benefits including improved sleep quality and reduced inflammation.
- Consider cutting back on the consumption of information, including a news fast. Instead, enjoy time in nature and time with loved ones.
- Cool your body and mind before bed. Consider an evening ritual including gentle yoga and a warm bath that can help cool the body.
- Keep your bedroom cool, dark and quiet. Set the thermostat to 68 degrees or lower at night.
- Befriend your dreams. Think, speak and write about them. Avoid excessive alcohol and sleeping pills, which can interfere with dreaming.
- Practice letting go – a kind of spiritual cooling. If there is a secret to sleep, it is about learning to surrender our waking ways of being.
In summary, I suggest that we become mindful of the flow of energy into and out of our lives. Consume less. Let go of more. Be cool.