For one thing, it may take us longer to prepare our meals. We may also develop health issues that interfere with our eating habits.

Both of these factors can influence when we eat, making it more likely that our meals will be delayed.

Our sleep patterns may change, too. Becoming something of a “night owl” can increase the likelihood of having a late breakfast.

Why does any of this matter?

Eating breakfast later and later can have a cascading effect on aging adults, leading to an earlier death…

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Breakfast timing provides clues about health status

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital have found that breakfast timing may be a valuable tool in monitoring the health of older adults.

Led by Dr. Hassan Dashti, a nutrition scientist and circadian biologist at Massachusetts General, the research team analyzed data from 2,945 adults in the UK ages 42 to 94. They then followed these subjects for more than 20 years.

They found that as older adults age, there is a tendency to eat breakfast and dinner at later times, narrowing the overall time window in which they eat each day and having a significant impact on their health and well-being.

Eating breakfast later was consistently associated with having physical and mental health conditions, including depression, fatigue, sleep problems and oral health problems.

But most alarming, a later breakfast was also associated with an increased risk of death during the follow-up period.

“Up until now, we had a limited insight into how the timing of meals evolves later in life and how this shift relates to overall health and longevity,” says Dr. Dashti.

“Our findings help fill that gap by showing that later meal timing, especially delayed breakfast, is tied to both health challenges and increased mortality risk in older adults. These results add new meaning to the saying that ‘breakfast is the most important meal of the day,’ especially for older individuals.”

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The most important thing: Consistency

Dr. Dashti suggested that encouraging older adults to have consistent meal schedules could become part of broader strategies to promote healthy aging and longevity.

So if you tend to be a night owl and a late breakfast eater, take some steps to turn those habits around.

According to research from Harvard and MIT, pushing back your bedtime and wake time by just one hour can lower your depression risk by 23%.

And you’ll be doing yourself a favor in other ways, too. You’ll be reducing your risk of diabetes, heart disease and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

No matter what time you head off to bed, sticking to a regular sleep schedule is crucial — as well as aiming for 7 to 8 hours of sleep per night.

Duke University researchers found that going to bed and getting up at about the same time each day lowers your risk for obesity, hypertension, and stroke — even if your total sleep time is less than optimal.

Specifically, disrupted sleep has been shown to increase the number of white blood cells, known as monocytes and neutrophils, in the blood. These cells are known to contribute to the development of plaque inside the arteries and put individuals at risk for heart problems and strokes.

To improve your chances of being ready for bed in the evening…

• Try moving around during the day, taking short walks, preferably with friends or neighbors.
• Turn off electronics or TVs to reduce blue light, which can interfere with sleep.
• Aim for a consistent bedtime.
• Practice good sleep hygiene by avoiding falling asleep in a chair or on the couch.
• Stop drinking caffeine at least 6 hours before bed. Try some chamomile tea instead — but do so about 2 hours before bedtime to keep your bladder from waking you up.
• If needed, a bedtime snack of walnuts and cherries is a good source of natural sleep-promoting melatonin.
• Don’t forget to brush your teeth before bed.

Sweet dreams!

Sources:

Scientists reveal how breakfast timing may predict how long you live — Science Daily

Meal timing trajectories in older adults and their associations with morbidity, genetic profiles, and mortality — Communications Medicine

The post The clues breakfast timing holds about your longevity appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

According to cardiologist Dr. Elizabeth Klodas, during sleep, your heart rate and blood pressure drop, reducing the workload on your cardiovascular system. This nightly “reset” allows your heart to recover and prepare for the next day. The body also regulates stress and hunger hormones during sleep.

So it’s no wonder poor sleep is linked to increased risks for heart attack, stroke, diabetes, dementia, hypertension, depression, respiratory disease and more.

It can be tempting turn to sleep aids, but there are many reasons we shouldn’t…

For starters, they can keep the glymphatic system from doing an important job: Clearing waste from the brain while you sleep.

And for people over 65, who have slower metabolisms, both OTC and prescription sleep aids pose unique dangers, including upping their fall risk.

Luckily, there is a natural way to boost your sleep that researchers say rivals pills in effectiveness — yet comes with zero unwanted side effects.

Thanks to its benefits and its safety, they’re calling for it to be “the primary treatment strategy for poor sleep.”

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Taking an exercise-based approach

The findings of their research show that the use of certain exercises restores healthy sleep patterns by altering brain activity and hormonal levels, improving relaxation, curbing inflammation and more.

They say these exercises may not only work as well as pills, but also as effectively as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) — which is considered a gold-standard insomnia treatment, but can be difficult for patients to access and pay for.

So which exercises can help you get the ZZZ’s you need to take back your life and your health?

Here’s the list, along with the sleep results they can offer:

1. Yoga – The results showed that practicing yoga could help boost your sleep time by nearly two hours and improve your sleep efficiency (the ratio between the time you spend asleep and the total time dedicated to sleep) by nearly 15%. Yoga has the added benefit of reducing the amount of time spent awake after falling asleep by nearly an hour, and shortening sleep latency (the time it takes to fully fall asleep) by around half an hour.
2. Walking or jogging – Engaging in physical activity, such as taking a walk or increasing it to a jog, was shown to reduce insomnia severity by nearly 10 points.
3. Tai Chi – The practice of Tai Chi was found to be especially powerful for sleep, reducing poor sleep quality scores by more than four points, increasing total sleep time by more than 50 minutes, and reducing time spent awake after falling asleep by over half an hour. It also shortened sleep latency by almost 25 minutes. Tai Chi was even shown to work better for sleep for all outcomes than existing treatments, including prescription sleep aids and cognitive behavioural therapy, for up to two full years!

I don’t know about you, but after reading those results, I’m already Googling Tai Chi YouTube videos.

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The biology behind the benefits

So, how does exercise work to improve sleep? Here’s what the researchers say is the secret sauce…

For yoga, they say that it helps to alleviate the anxiety and depression that can keep you from getting a good night’s sleep by focusing your attention on body awareness and controlled breathing.

Walking or jogging offers benefits like increased calorie burn, lowered stress hormones and improved emotional regulation. It can also enhance the production of melatonin, your body’s natural sleep hormone. (Keep in mind your body requires adequate levels of vitamin D to produce melatonin.) All of this can mean more time spent in the deep sleep you need to feel truly rested.

Finally, like yoga, Tai Chi emphasizes breath control and relaxation. These actions calm sympathetic nervous system activity and the hyperarousal levels that can keep you tossing and turning in bed. Additionally, the gentle, low-impact exercise combines meditative movement and mindfulness to promote emotional regulation, deactivate ‘mental chatter’ and reduce anxiety.

And my favorite benefit of Tai Chi is how it can help to “curb the production of inflammatory chemicals over longer periods.”

That could benefit not only your sleep, but your overall health, since chronic inflammation is a known disease trigger.

Clearly, if you want to sleep better, choosing one of these exercises should be your #1 choice of “prescription.”

You might not notice improvements immediately, but keep at it. Anything worthwhile takes time and practice.

Sources:

Tai chi, yoga, and jogging rival pills for beating insomnia — ScienceDaily

Why you should take sleep as seriously as nutrition and exercise — Easy Health Options

The post The sleep solution that rivals pills to tackle insomnia appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

But for the person with ADHD, who may experience frequent nights of insomnia, it can affect life in a more dramatic and ongoing way.

It turns out that it may be insomnia that’s dragging their mood and quality of life down, compounding the struggles associated with attention deficit and the challenges of emotional regulation when living with ADHD.

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Insomnia has a significant impact on people with ADHD

Adults with ADHD are at higher risk of depression and lower quality of life (QoL) and research has revealed that sleep problems associated with ADHD may be why.

Specifically, insomnia could be the “missing link” that connects ADHD with depression and poor life quality.

Dr. Sarah Chellappa is an associate professor of psychology at the University of Southampton in England. She is also the senior author of a recently published study.

“We know that sleep disruption can impact neurobehavioral and cognitive systems, including attention and emotional regulation. At the same time, sleep disruption may arise from ADHD-related impulsivity and hyperactivity, suggesting a reinforcing cycle between sleep disorders and ADHD,” says Dr Sarah Chellappa.

Researchers from the University of Southampton and the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience looked at data from the Netherlands Sleep Registry.

They singled out responses from 1,364 of the over ten thousand participants in the Registry, looking at answers to questions about ADHD traits, insomnia, circadian factors, depression and quality of life.

Their findings made it clear that ADHD traits were associated with worse depression and more severe insomnia — and that insomnia and other sleep disorders were the potential link between ADHD, depression and lower quality of life.

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Hope for better interventions… and what to do until then

Professor Samuele Cortese, a co-author of the study, is also from the University of Southampton.

“There needs to be more research to understand this complex interplay. By improving our understanding, we could uncover treatment options that improve the quality of life of people with ADHD,” he says.

“For instance, targeting insomnia complaints in individuals with higher ADHD traits, with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Insomnia or Sleep Restriction therapy may help improve their quality of life.”

But there are simple, safe ways for people with ADHD to help themselves right now.

Melatonin is a hormone your brain produces to regulate your sleep and wake cycles. People with ADHD tend to have inhibited melatonin release and more difficulty preparing their bodies for rest. A French study found that melatonin helps adults with sleep disorders and ADHD.

Phosphatidylserine (PS) is a phospholipid that’s normally abundant in the brain and nervous system. It stimulates dopamine, a neurotransmitter that plays a role in sleep and emotional regulation. An imbalance of dopamine can lead to depression.

Omega-3s. Besides being good for heart health, omega-3 fatty acids may improve symptoms of ADHD, including behavior, cognitive skills and focus.

Other supplements that research has linked with improvement in ADHD symptoms include zinc, iron, magnesium, ginkgo and ginseng.

Always talk with your doctor before adding a new supplement to your daily regimen, particularly if you are taking medications for ADHD or other conditions.

Sources:

Can’t sleep, can’t focus, can’t thrive? ADHD and insomnia may be a vicious cycle — Science Daily

Associations of ADHD traits, sleep/circadian factors, depression and quality of life — BMJ Mental Health

Melatonin, Omega 3 & Dietary Supplements: ADHD Hype or Help? — ADDitude

6 Natural Supplements That Benefit Most Brains — ADDitude

The post The vicious cycle of adult ADHD and insomnia appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

The slow and graceful movements were beautiful to watch. But it was the mindful concentration and peaceful expressions on the faces of those participating that really pulled me in.

I remember yearning for that kind of community and connection. I found it in my love for choir, but I’ve had tai chi in the back of my mind ever since.

And with evidence-based benefits like these, why not give it a try…

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What is tai chi?

“One of the biggest advantages of tai chi from a health perspective is that anyone can practice it, which includes those who have health issues, injuries, or limited mobility,” says Andrea Felix, a Certified Expert Instructor who has been practicing tai chi since 2006.

Tai chi is a practice that involves a series of slow, gentle movements and physical postures, a meditative state of mind, and controlled breathing. Although it originated as an ancient martial art in China, it has become known for promoting physical and mental well-being.

What the research says about tai chi

Dr. Peter Wayne, author of The Harvard Medical School Guide to Tai Chi, maps out eight characteristics that are central to tai chi practice:

• Awareness
• Intention
• Structural integration
• Active relaxation
• Strengthening and flexibility
• Natural, freer breathing
• Social support
• Embodied spirituality

In 2024 alone, many studies have confirmed Dr. Wayne’s belief that these factors work together to deliver the following physical and mental health benefits:

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Balance. Did you know that poor balance is a sure sign of a shorter life?Three studies have confirmed the fact that tai chi improves balance. One of these was a meta-analysis of 17 randomized clinical trials.

Low back pain. An analysis of ten randomized controlled trials found that the practice of tai chi helps relieve chronic low back pain. Maybe that’s why the American College of Physicians, who suggest drugs should be a last resort for back pain, includes Tai Chi in their top 3 recommendations to relieve this common complaint.

Blood pressure. A randomized clinical trial found that tai chi was more effective than aerobic exercise in reducing blood pressure.

Parkinson’s disease. A 3.5-year cohort study showed that tai chi helped ease both motor and non-motor symptoms in patients with Parkinson’s, with these benefits lasting several years.

Sleep. Another study found that tai chi improved cognition and sleep. It also suppressed inflammation and enhanced metabolism.

Another study of breast cancer survivors with insomnia found that tai chi not only helped the insomnia, but also reduced markers of inflammation, thus making a relapse less likely.

Mental health. A review of 20 studies concluded that tai chi helps reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression in older adults and improves their social connections.

Finally, tai chi has been shown to increase functional connectivity in the brain, which may help prevent age-related decline.

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How to get started with tai chi

Tai chi is a meditative exercise that combines deep breathing with slow, focused movements. It’s perfect for those with limited mobility who need to increase their activity level gradually.

The quickest way to get started is by watching a video like this one. Or this one.

But taking a tai chi class at your local senior or community center will connect you with others who are trying to learn. The socialization that comes along with this is an added bonus!

Sources:

A Growing Amount of New Research Confirms the Many and Diverse Health Benefits of Tai Chi — Integrative Practitioner

Tai Chi: What You Need To Know — National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health

The effects of different types of Tai Chi exercise on anxiety and depression in older adults: a systematic review and network meta-analysis — Frontiers in Public Health

Effect of Tai Chi vs Aerobic Exercise on Blood Pressure in Patients With Prehypertension: A Randomized Clinical Trial — JAMA Network Open

Effect of long-term Tai Chi training on Parkinson’s disease: a 3.5-year follow-up cohort study — Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry

The post 7+ reasons tai chi is the movement your body needs appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

That’s because estrogen is more than a female hormone. It affects factors that regulate vascular wall elasticity, impacting blood pressure and circulation.

Without it, blood vessels begin to constrict, making it easier for cholesterol (which increases due to menopause) to build up on artery walls.

This makes it even more important for women in midlife to protect their heart health by following Life’s Essential 8 (LE8), a series of steps recommended by the American Heart Association (AHA) for lowering the odds of heart disease. These steps are as follows:

• Eat better
• Be more active
• Quit tobacco
• Get healthy sleep
• Manage weight
• Control cholesterol
• Manage blood sugar
• Manage blood pressure

But research has discovered that one of these, in particular, is a ticking time bomb for women’s heart health — and death risk overall…

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One of the essential 8 stood out

The researchers analyzed health data collected from about 3,000 women who participated in the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN), which began in 1996. They compared the women’s LE8 scores at baseline, which was around age 46, to their evolving health trajectories over time.

They took into account subclinical measures, such as increased carotid artery thickness; cardiovascular events, including heart attacks and strokes; and mortality from all causes. They also examined the impacts of each of the individual LE8 components.

Their analysis found that four factors were responsible for driving the increased risk for cardiovascular disease in menopausal women. They included: blood glucose, blood pressure, sleep quality and nicotine use.

But above all, sleep emerged as a significant potential predictor of cardiovascular disease events and all-cause mortality.

In other words, meeting the bar for healthy sleep may contribute to women’s heart health and longevity by lowering their cardiovascular risks. LE8 defines healthy sleep as an average of seven to nine hours a night.

This hypothesis should be tested in a future clinical trial, says Ziyuan Wang, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Public Health and first author of the study.

“Previously, we’ve shown that the menopause transition is a time of accelerating cardiovascular risk,” says senior author Dr. Samar R. El Khoudary, a professor of epidemiology at Pitt Public Health. “This study underscores that it’s also an opportunity for women to take the reins on their heart health.”

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Boosting your Life’s Essential 8 score

In other findings, low total LE8 scores were associated with increased cardiovascular risk. And the study uncovered a worrying statistic: only 1 in 5 of the participants had optimal LE8 scores.

“With heart disease being the leading cause of death in women, these findings point to the need for lifestyle and medical interventions to improve heart health during and after menopause among midlife women,” El Khoudary says.

How can you improve your score?

Start with improving your sleep since it’s such a critical factor. Certain fruits and vegetables can help you sleep better, and that falls in line with the following suggestions:

• Follow a diet that includes whole foods, lots of fruits and vegetables, lean protein, nuts, seeds, and cooking in non-tropical oils such as olive oil. LE8 also mentions canola as a heart-healthy oil, but keep in mind that canola oil has been linked to Alzheimer’s disease.
• Try to get 2 ½ hours of moderate or 75 minutes of vigorous physical activity each week. That breaks down to a weekly schedule of five 30-minute sessions of moderate activity (such as walking) or three 25-minute sessions of vigorous physical activity (such as running or high-intensity interval training).
• The AHA defines tobacco use as the use of any inhaled nicotine products, including traditional cigarettes, e-cigarettes and vaping. So if you engage in any of these activities, quit today.
• Strive to maintain a healthy weight. The AHA suggests keeping your BMI between 18.5 and 25. Lower than 18.5 is considered underweight, while between 25 and 30 is considered overweight, and over 30 is considered obese. Following a healthy diet and getting enough exercise will go a long way toward keeping your BMI in the healthy range.

Sources:

The sleep-heart link doctors are urging women over 45 to know — ScienceDaily

Prospective associations of American Heart Association Life’s Essential 8 with subclinical measures of vascular health, cardiovascular disease events, and all-cause mortality in women traversing menopause: The Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation study — Menopause

Life’s Essential 8 — American Heart Association

The post Why poor sleep is a ticking time bomb for women over 45 appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

For a while, he was relying on over-the-counter sleep medications to get better rest. But they never really worked all that well, plus the potential side effects of some popular prescription sleep aids certainly gave us both pause.

I’ve been on the lookout for more natural sleep remedies to help him — and recent research has uncovered a pretty simple solution. Even better, the only side effects are healthy ones…

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Mom knew what she was talking about

Previous studies have shown that inadequate sleep can drive people toward unhealthier diets that are high in fat and sugar. Yet, doctors and scientists still don’t know a great deal about how diet can affect sleep patterns.

In this study, a team of U.S. researchers examined the eating patterns of 34 healthy young adults. The participants recorded their eating habits for up to one week.

They also wore wrist monitors to track sleep fragmentation — interruptions between sleep cycles, such as deep and light sleep phases, that keep the body and brain from reaching and maintaining restorative sleep stages.

Results showed a clear connection between each day’s diet and meaningful differences in the subsequent night’s sleep. Participants who ate more fruits and vegetables during the day tended to have deeper, more uninterrupted sleep that same night. Similarly, those who consumed more healthy carbohydrates, such as whole grains, also benefited from better sleep.

Based on their findings, the researchers estimate that people who eat five cups of fruits and vegetables each day, as recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, could experience a 16 percent improvement in sleep quality compared to people who consume none.

“Sixteen percent is a highly significant difference,” says co-senior author Dr. Esra Tasali, director of the UChicago Sleep Center. “It’s remarkable that such a meaningful change could be observed within less than 24 hours.”

The researchers believe the carbohydrates and fiber in the fruits and vegetables have the strongest impact on sleep. This reinforces a previous study that found a link between increased fiber and better sleep.

It also proves, even if she didn’t know the specifics, that mom was right when she bugged you to eat your fruits and veggies.

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Certain fruits and veggies are even better for sleep

The researchers believe they’ve found a significant enough relationship to conduct further studies to establish causation, broaden the findings across diverse populations and examine how underlying mechanisms, such as digestion, neurology and metabolism, could come into play.

For now, based on current data, the researchers are confident in recommending a regular diet rich in complex carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables to ensure long-term sleep health.

“Dietary modifications could be a new, natural and cost-effective approach to achieve better sleep,” Tasali says. “The temporal associations and objectively measured outcomes in this study represent crucial steps toward filling a gap in important public health knowledge.”

“People are always asking me if there are things they can eat that will help them sleep better,” says co-senior author Dr. Marie-Pierre St-Onge, director of the Center of Excellence for Sleep & Circadian Research at Columbia University. “Small changes can impact sleep. That is empowering — better rest is within your control.”

So if you’re having trouble sleeping, try for five cups of fruits and vegetables every day. If you’re wondering what that amount looks like, here are some examples:

• 1 medium apple, grapefruit, nectarine, orange, peach or pear
• 22 grapes
• 8 large strawberries
• 1 large bell pepper
• 2 medium carrots or 12 baby carrots
• 1 medium potato

If you really want to boost your odds of a good night’s rest, try adding these fruits and veggies that have been shown to promote better sleep:

• Kiwi: One study showed eating two kiwis an hour before bedtime for four weeks increased the total sleep time and sleep efficiency in adults with sleep disorders.
• Tart cherries: Also known as sour cherries, these are naturally high in melatonin, making them conductive to sleep.
• Leafy greens: Leafy greens like spinach are high in magnesium, which promotes good sleep quality.

One last tip: Choose organic produce when possible. Some pesticides have been found to interact with melatonin (your natural sleep hormone) receptors in the brain resulting in sleep problems and metabolic disorders.

Sources:

The Secret to Better Sleep Could Be As Simple As Eating More Fruit And Veggies — Science Alert

Eating more fruits and veggies could help you sleep better — UChicago Medicine

Higher daytime intake of fruits and vegetables predicts less disrupted nighttime sleep in younger adults — Sleep Health

These 3 Fruits May Help You Sleep Better — St. Vincent’s Medical Center

6 Foods That Help You Sleep — Cleveland Clinic

The post Eat your way to better sleep in just 24 hours appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

That bumpy little green package is full of vitamins and minerals that contribute to so many aspects of our health.

But recently, researchers at Penn State have discovered one more way that eating avocados daily could help us live a healthier and happier life.

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Avocados are known for heart health

Avocados are well-known for the benefits they can have on heart health.

Among the vitamins and nutrients they provide that support the heart, you’ll find potassium, which regulates heart muscle contraction and copper, which helps maintain the elasticity of blood vessels.

A 2022 study at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that eating at least two servings of avocado a week lowered the risk of heart failure by 16%.

The same study found that replacing half a serving a day of margarine or butter with the same amount of avocado was linked to up to a 22% lower risk of cardiovascular disease.

Still another study linked an avocado a day to decreased oxidative stress and fewer LDL cholesterol particles.

I could go on and on, but instead I’ll give you this list of 10 reasons you need avocados in your diet — and reveal number 11 that we’ll need to soon add to it…

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A good night’s sleep

Researchers at Penn State University have uncovered another unexpected benefit of eating avocados…

The participants in this study were divided into two groups: One group ate one large avocado every day for 26 weeks, and the other group maintained their usual diet, eating an avocado less than twice a month.

The researchers expected to see some significant weight loss in these obese subjects as well as improvements in cardiovascular health.

But one thing took them by surprise: those who ate an avocado a day reported significant improvements in the quality of their sleep.

“While avocado isn’t a magic cure, its dense nutritional value supports many health aspects, including sleep quality,” notes lead author Dr. Kristina Petersen.

It’s definitely not magic, but in my opinion, it’s certainly applicable to the old saying, “food is medicine.” Avocados have so many nutrients that relate directly to improving the quality of sleep:

• Potassium plays a role in helping to produce melatonin, the neurotransmitter that regulates sleep.
• Folate helps produce serotonin, the neurotransmitter at work during the waking part of the sleep-wake cycle. Low folate levels have been associated with sleep disturbances, including difficulty falling asleep and shorter sleep duration.
• Copper is involved in the synthesis of norepinephrine, another neurotransmitter that regulates sleep-wake cycles.
• And lastly, vitamin K helps prevent nocturnal leg cramping.

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How to enjoy avocados

Personally, I enjoy peeling an avocado and eating it in chunks until I’ve reached the pit.

But if this doesn’t appeal to you, there are so many ways you can eat a whole avocado every day without ever getting bored.

Here are just a few:

Avocado Banana Smoothie, (twice the potassium!).

Avocado Alfredo, much healthier than the original version and just as tasty.

Avocado Salad, a refreshing summer lunch.

Avocado Toast, a light, healthy and tasty way to start your day.

Guacamole (serve this healthy snack with baby carrots, pita bread, or anything else that appeals to you).

Enjoy your daily avocado and a good night’s sleep!

Sources:

They ate an avocado every day for 26 weeks—scientists were stunned by the results — Caring Minds United

One Avocado per Day as Part of Usual Intake Improves Diet Quality: Exploratory Results from a Randomized Controlled Trial — Current Developments in Nutrition

The post What an avocado a day does for your nights appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

But I want to know they work — like the three life hacks the Japanese attribute to exceptional longevity.

Now, “life hacks” literally flood social media sites with tips on how to sleep well, lower stress or feel happier — among other things.

But how trustworthy is this advice? Is it based on facts? Or is it plain quackery that will do you more harm than good, particularly when it comes to your mental health?

It’s always a good idea to do a little of your own research to find out. Here’s what medical experts at UC California have to say about a few TikTok trends that are popular hacks…

What the experts say about these TikTok trends

#1 Brainrot

Brainrot is defined as “the supposed deterioration of mental or intellectual state, especially due to overconsumption of online content perceived as trivial or unchallenging.”

Think cute cat videos or Moo Deng, the baby hippo. It feels great to unwind and watch these after a long day of work. But they can actually alter your brain… and not for the better.

“Although the term ‘brainrot’ may sound like a joke, zoning out to short-form, stimulating content can alter how the brain develops and functions,” says Assistant Professor of Psychiatry Dr. Ekta Patel.

“Over time, this can desensitize the brain’s natural reward pathway, making everyday activities such as work, school, reading or face-to-face conversations feel boring or mundane in comparison.”

“The key is intention,” she adds. “Are we using it to gently recharge, or to disconnect completely from our internal world? This question can help answer if it’s a coping tool or a barrier to healing.”

One good thing about spending time online, though, is that the internet gives your “transactive memory” a workout. This type of memory requires that we remember the source of information we use rather than the information itself. So it’s not all bad.

Instead of watching silly videos, learn something new online.

#2 Cortisol cocktails

Can a simple mixture of orange juice, sea salt, coconut water and magnesium lower your level of cortisol, the stress hormone, and do so safely?

Dr. Jodi Nagelberg has her doubts.

“It may taste refreshing, but claiming such a cocktail is a ‘fix’ for the effects of chronic stress on one’s body is an exaggeration at best.”

“Typically, there is no need to ‘fix’ one’s cortisol levels, but rather target the underlying cause of chronic stress as a means of improving one’s overall health,” Dr. Nagelberg says.

However, during my time reading and writing health and wellness content, I’ve become aware that prolonged high cortisol levels can lead to various issues, including adrenal fatigue, elevated blood sugar, and mood swings.

Low levels of magnesium in the body can increase stress, and high levels of physical or mental stress can lead to lower magnesium levels. But I’d reach for a multivitamin, myself, and adaptogen herbs that impact stress and anxiety.

#3 Sleepmaxxing.

This term refers to combining multiple sleep strategies in an effort to achieve the perfect night’s sleep.

Dr. Michael McCarthy, who has studied the intersection of circadian rhythm and mental health, warns that the quest for perfect sleep can actually exacerbate the problem.

“Anxiety of any kind, including obsessive worrying about sleep, can cause sleep problems,” warns Dr. McCarthy.

In other words, worrying about not getting enough sleep can create even more stress, which can lead to chronic insomnia.

Some strategies, like sleeping in a cool, dark room, work well. But many have not been proven to help.

The best approach, Dr. McCarthy advises, is to keep it simple.

“Keeping a consistent sleep-wake schedule is helpful and trains the body to know when sleep should come. Spending time outdoors, especially in the early morning, is key to maintaining healthy circadian rhythms,” he says.

My simple “hack” for better sleep is melatonin. It’s tested and true, so no reason to overthink it. And if you think it’s just for sleep, think again! If stress is part of the reason you can’t sleep, I have a colleague who swears by L-theanine.

#4 Floor time as self-care.

If you’re a TikTok user, you may have seen people stretching out on the floor – carpets, hardwood floors, even grass — to relax.

This practice has some profound mental health benefits. It helps quiet mental noise and brings awareness to physical sensations.

Dr. Pollyanna Casmar says, “When you lie down, you connect with your body rather than your mind — that’s the first thing that happens.”

She notes that lying on a firm surface encourages natural relaxation and smoother breathing, which in turn helps activate the parasympathetic nervous system — the body’s built-in calm mode.

Over time, this kind of practice helps regulate stress and restore balance. This is the final resting pose in yoga, known as shavasana.

And when you can’t lie down, focusing on points of physical contact can help — your feet on the ground, for example — while taking short breaths in and longer breaths out. This calms the nervous system by activating the vagus nerve.

Just be sure to use a yoga mat or a folded blanket, unless you have cushy carpet, so you can enjoy the stress release instead of feeling uncomfortable. While you’re down there, consider stretches to keep your mind and body sharp.

Sources:

Are these TikTok trends really self care —  UC San Diego

The post Are these TikTok trends really self care? appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

By 2040, just 16 years from now, health experts predict that percentage will rise to 55%.

People with MASLD suffer damage from inflammation and tissue scarring, caused by abnormal accumulation of fat.

That leads to heightened risks for diabetes, cancer (both liver and elsewhere), chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular disease.

Oddly enough, there seems to be a strong connection between sleep quality and higher risk for MASLD — yet another reason to pay attention to your sleep habits.

Here’s what you need to know…

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What’s sleep got to do with your liver?

Previous research using data based on sleep questionnaires has linked liver disease with poor sleep quality.

However, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends that more objective measures than sleep questionnaires be used to prove the existence of a link between sleep disruption and MASLD.

So, when researchers at the University of Basel and Basel’s University Center for Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases set out to learn more about the poor sleep-MASLD connection, they used 24/7 actigraphy.

Between 2019 and 2021, they tracked 46 adults who had either MASLD, MASH (a more severe form of MASLD) or cirrhosis of the liver. Sixteen healthy people served as the control group.

Each wore a sensor on the wrist to track gross motor activity, including light exposure, physical activity and body temperature. They also underwent clinical investigation, interviews, follow-ups and kept a sleep diary.

While there was no difference in the length of sleep between the groups, the actigraph data showed that the people with MASLD woke 55% more often at night. And, they lay awake 113% longer after first falling asleep than the healthy control group.

“We concluded from our data that sleep fragmentation plays a role in the pathogenesis of human MASLD,” says corresponding author Dr. Sofia Schaeffer.

But a question remained…

“Whether MASLD cause sleep disorders or vice versa remains unknown,” she added.

“The underlying mechanism presumably involves genetics, environmental factors, and the activation of immune responses — ultimately driven by obesity and metabolic syndrome.”

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The metabolic dysfunction in MSLD linked to poor sleep

Even though the researchers are still not sure whether sleep disruption leads to liver disease, or vice versa, I have a theory about the driving force…

Of the 46 participants in the study, 80% of those with MSLD had hallmark symptoms of metabolic syndrome (MetS), including:

• Higher levels of triglycerides
• High fasting glucose
• High blood insulin levels
• And lower levels of HDL (“good”) cholesterol.

Additionally, they were all obese. A large waist circumference, often part of obesity, is the 5^th symptom associated with MetS.

And guess what has been linked to increasing the risk of MetS? Irregular or variable sleep patterns.

A larger study funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute found that people with greater variations in their bedtimes and hours they slept had a much higher risk of metabolic conditions — specifically, each of the symptoms for MetS.

That makes the sleep link even stronger and makes is clear that if you don’t have MASH or cirrhosis, start now to avoid MASLD by staying clear of the symptoms of MetS and improving sleep quality.

Start with a good diet you can stick to, but add these five easy hacks to keep MetS at bay.

To sleep like a baby, try implementing the bedtime routine of a toddler. And, if you haven’t tried melatonin, consider it. It can help you sleep and support immune function, one of the factors mentioned by Dr. Schaeffer above.

Sources:

Broken sleep a hallmark sign of living with the most common liver disease, scientists find — Eureka Alert

Significant nocturnal wakefulness after sleep onset in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease — Frontiers in Network Physiology

The post Trouble sleeping? It could lead to liver disease appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

This painful condition is not the subject of this post, so let me be brief and say that it causes unpredictable jolts of electric pain through the head and jaw.

It wasn’t until 2014 that a friend told me to try CBD oil.

Marijuana? You mean pot?? That was my initial reaction. How far we’ve come.

But let me tell you, it was like a wonder drug. It eased the pain that my anti-seizure medication was unable to touch.

So, why am I here singing the praises of cannabis as medicine once again?

First, because, while the federal government’s Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has finally re-classified medical marijuana from a highly addictive substance like heroin to a “schedule 3” drug that’s medically valuable and not nearly as addictive (Tylenol with codeine is a schedule 3 drug), there’s still stigma around using cannabis medicinally.

And, secondly, because current research continues to prove that medicinal cannabis can improve people’s quality of life when conventional drugs let them down…

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The value of medicinal cannabis: what we already know

Over the past decade or so, study after study, as well as personal reports, have demonstrated how cannabis can help people troubled by a variety of conditions, including Lyme disease,  hypertension, and chronic insomnia.

Studies have shown that CBD, the non-psychoactive part of cannabis (it doesn’t make you “high”), is able to kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

And CBD can help quell the pain of arthritis and other conditions where people usually turn to dangerous NSAIDs for relief.

Now, an Australian study again confirms the power of medicinal cannabis to improve quality of life safely.

Improves health-related quality of life for up to a year

Since 2016, more than a million Australians with chronic health conditions have been prescribed medical cannabis.

A group of researchers from Australian medical schools set out to assess overall health-related quality of life (HRQL) in a sample of patients who were prescribed medicinal cannabis oil.

They wanted to see whether patient-reported improvements after three months in levels of pain, anxiety, and depression, as well as improvements in sleep and motor function, would be maintained after a year.

Their findings revealed that, among the more than 2,300 participants, improvements in HRQL, as well as a reduction in fatigue and sleep disturbances, were maintained throughout the 12-month period.

The improvements were deemed both statistically significant and clinically meaningful.

Even without a control group that would have enabled them to attribute these results directly to medical cannabis, the study authors are confident that medicinal cannabis may improve overall quality of life and help relieve depression, insomnia, fatigue and anxiety.

They add, “This is promising news for patients who are not responding to conventional medicines for these conditions.”

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If you want to try medical cannabis

Facilities that sell medical cannabis are commonly known as dispensaries. In the US, cannabis dispensaries generally do not require a prescription in states where recreational cannabis is legal. For medical cannabis, a healthcare professional’s recommendation or certification is usually needed, not a prescription. 

Shops selling CBD oil and edibles are legal in the US, but owners must adhere to certain regulations. The 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp-derived CBD products (containing less than 0.3% THC) at the federal level. However, individual states can have their own laws regarding CBD, including its sale and use. 

It’s not known if the hemp-derived products, like CBD oil, would impact quality of life as well as medicinal cannabis oil, which contains varying levels of THC (usually higher than what’s in CBD oil).

But I can testify to how much CBD oil helped my trigeminal neuralgia pain. I have also read that CBD oil and edibles help some people with pain relief, anxiety reduction, improved sleep, and potentially even support certain mental health conditions.

If you have a condition that is weighing down the quality of your life, despite medical treatment, medicinal cannabis or other easily accessible products, like CBD oil, could help. There is a lot of scientific evidence of their efficacy and safety, but if you are taking other medications, it is best to consult your doctor.

However, some CBD products have been found to have higher levels of THC than indicated on the label, so be sure you plan to be home for an extended period when you try a product for the first time.

Editor’s note: Have you heard of the entourage effect? Dozens of studies show it is now the most effective way to get the most out of a CBD supplement. If full-spectrum, doctor-approved, highly bioavailable CBD oil is for you, click here!

Sources:

Medicinal cannabis is linked to long-term benefits in health-related quality of life — EurekAlert

Improvements in health-related quality of life are maintained long-term in patients prescribed medicinal cannabis in Australia: The QUEST Initiative 12-month follow-up observational study — PLOS One

The post Medicinal cannabis linked to health-related quality of life appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

That’s because microvascular diseases like retinopathy, known as diabetic vision loss, and nephropathy, which can lead to kidney failure, are major contributors to complications associated with T2D.

It’s a significant reason your doctor will recommend you follow a healthy diet and exercise regularly.

But if your doctor hasn’t also talked to you about your sleep, you could be missing a crucial step in supporting the health of your arteries.

That’s because, according to research presented at the Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, sleep plays a vital role in keeping arteries healthy, especially in people with T2D.

And too much or too little could set you on the road for arterial damage, and all that comes with it…

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The Goldilocks principle of sleep duration

Researchers aimed to explore the relationship between sleep duration and the presence of microvascular disease in individuals newly diagnosed with T2D.

They recruited 396 participants and measured their sleep duration for 10 nights. The classification for sleep duration was split into three groups:

• Short – Less than seven hours of sleep
• Optimal – Getting seven to nine hours a night
• Long – Sleeping nine hours or more each night

Microvascular damage was also assessed among participants and compared to their sleep habits.

The researchers found a true Goldilocks principle at work: Those who slept not too little, not too much, but just the right amount were the least likely to experience poor arterial health.

The numbers showed that while the prevalence of microvascular damage was 38% in the short sleep group and 31% in the long sleepers, it was only 18% in people who found the right balance and slept optimally.

When everything was calculated, this meant that short sleep duration was significantly associated with a 2.6 times higher risk of microvascular disease than optimal sleep duration.

And sleeping too long each night was associated with a 2.3 times increased risk of microvascular disease compared to optimal sleep duration.

Microvascular/sleep risk increases with age

Even worse, the researchers found that the dangers of sleeping too much or too little went up as a person with diabetes gets older.

The research showed that for those under 62 years old with T2D, short sleep duration increased the risk of microvascular damage by 23%.

However, those 63 and older saw their risk for microvascular damage climb by 5.7 times compared to optimal sleep duration.

The researchers’ conclusion?

“Age amplifies the association between short sleep duration and microvascular disease, suggesting increased vulnerability among older individuals.”

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Finding your sleep balance

So, if you’re living with T2D and want to keep your arterial health on track, do what Goldilocks did and find the sleep sweet spot.

A few tips to help include:

• Go to bed and get up at the same time each day – Sticking to a sleep schedule can help you regulate your patterns and get the proper amount of rest.
• Banish devices from the bedroom – Phones and tablets can be a distraction and a light source that can keep you from getting the rest you need.
• No sugar or caffeine after 6:00 p.m. – Caffeine and refined sugar can lead to short-term energy bursts that make your mind race when you want to sleep or wake you up once you’ve fallen asleep.
• Don’t exercise late – Exercise is best in the morning or afternoon. If possible, skip physical activity that stimulates the body after 7 p.m.
• Try natural sleep aids – Supplements like melatonin can help you get your zzz’s and provide numerous other health benefits. L-theanine, an amino acid found in green tea, is also a great option and a powerhouse for fighting off the stress that keeps you up at night.
• Consider supporting the health of your arteries with vitamin K2. You can read more about its protective effects here.

Sources:

Study finds short and long sleep duration associated with blood vessel damage in those recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes – EurekAlert!

The post Sleep impacts microvascular complications in T2D appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

The fact is that the world operates in my favor. I mean, unless you work the night shift, most jobs happen during the day. And night owls aren’t built for this.

And this is more than an annoyance. It affects the amount and quality of sleep that people can get.

And this, in turn, can have disastrous consequences for their health…

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What’s your chronotype?

A recent study that builds on past research shows that paying attention to your sleep pattern can help save you from hardened arteries, heart disease and stroke.

Every one of us has a chronotype, and according to sleep scientist Dr. Matthew Walker, it’s something we’re born with.

“It’s genetic,” says Dr. Walker. “You don’t get to decide whether you’re a morning type or an evening type. It’s hard-wired into your  genes.”

Past research shows that night owls are more likely to die early and one reason is that poor sleep can harden your arteries.

But a new study goes even further…

Night owls at more risk for hard arteries

Based on their study results, two researchers at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden propose that night owls may have a far greater likelihood of developing hardening of the arteries, better known as atherosclerosis.

The study involved 771 adults aged 50 to 64 who are part of a larger population study known as the Swedish CArdioPulmonary bioImage Study, or SCAPIS study.

SCAPIS studies cardiovascular disease (CVD) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in the Swedish population.

After evaluating the degree of artery calcification through the use of a CT scan, participants were asked to rate their chronotype on a five-point scale: extreme morning type, moderate morning type, intermediate type, moderate evening type, or extreme evening type.

Among participants in the “extreme morning type” group, only 22.2% showed pronounced artery calcification – the lowest percentage of all chronotypes – while the “extreme evening” group showed almost double that percentage, or 40.6%.

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And in case you’re wondering, this was after the researchers looked at other factors connected with atherosclerosis, such as blood pressure, blood lipids, weight, physical activity, stress level, sleep and smoking.  

“Our results indicate that extreme evening chronotype may be linked not only to poorer cardiovascular health in general, but also more specifically to calcification in the coronary arteries calcification and atherosclerosis,” says Mio Kobayashi Frisk, a doctoral student at Gothenburg and the study’s first author.

Chronotype should be considered for disease prevention

“We interpret our results as indicating that circadian rhythms are more significant early in the disease process. It should therefore particularly be considered in the preventive treatment of cardiovascular diseases,” says Ding Zou, another study author.

In other words, knowing that you’re a “night owl” can help your doctor guide you toward preventive measures to avoid heart disease.

What preventive measures are those?

A great place to start is the advice laid out by the American Heart Association in their program, Life’s Essential 8. This advice offers key measures for improving and maintaining cardiovascular health that consist of health behaviors and health factors that are modifiable and if improved, can reduce the risk for heart disease, stroke and other major health problems.

But any conversation about artery health wouldn’t be complete without mentioning vitamin K2. Emerging evidence from animal and clinical studies has associated low K2 levels with calcification and an elevated risk of heart problems.

And my last piece of advice would be to drink tea daily — black or green. Teas and foods like berries, apples, grapes and dark chocolate are rich in flavonoids that in studies cut down on artery calcification.

Sources:

Artery calcification more common in night owls — Eureka Alert

Eveningness is associated with coronary artery calcification in a middle-aged Swedish population — Sleep Medicine

Chronotypes: Your natural propensity to be an early riser or night owl — Found My Fitness

The post The sleep habit that calcifies your arteries appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

It’s a sleep issue that affects close to 30 million Americans and carries serious risks, including obesity, diabetes, anxiety, depression and even heart disease.

That’s not even counting the research that poor sleep nearly doubles dementia risk.

Study after study has shown that processes that deep clean the brain occur during sleep. Sleep disruptions hinder these processes and may allow plaques to spread throughout your brain.

And if you’re a woman, the brain dangers of sleep apnea are even greater…

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Females face a higher dementia risk at every age

Michigan Medicine researchers uncovered an alarming link between sleep apnea and dementia while examining cognitive screening data from more than 18,500 adults.

They found that all adults 50 and older with known obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) or its symptoms have a higher chance of developing symptoms of or receiving a diagnosis of dementia in the coming years.

But for women, the risk was more pronounced…

They saw that at every age level, women with known or suspected OSA were more likely than men to be diagnosed with dementia. 

In fact, the rate of dementia diagnoses decreased among men while growing in numbers for women as they aged.

Considering that about two-thirds of those currently living with dementia are women, these results are not surprising. They only add to a growing list of reasons women are particularly affected, including…

The menopause link to sleep apnea

“Estrogen starts to decline as women transition to menopause, which can impact their brains,” reminds study co-author Galit Levi Dunietz, Ph.D., M.P.H.

“During that time, they are more prone to memory, sleep and mood changes that may lead to cognitive decline. Sleep apnea increases significantly post-menopause yet remains underdiagnosed.”

The researchers point out that OSA heightens the risk of both heart disease and insomnia, which have powerfully adverse effects on cognitive function.

Of course, OSA also deprives the brain of normal oxygen levels. Combine that with menopause, and you get a sleep apnea/menopause double threat for women, shortchanging the brain of oxygen and sleep.

See, estrogen is more than a female hormone. It affects factors that regulate vascular wall elasticity, mainly the production of nitric oxide (NO). NO is a compound that helps blood vessels dilate so more oxygen-rich blood can flow through your body — including to the brain and the heart.

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Better sleep for a better brain

Experts estimate that 90% of women living with sleep apnea are undiagnosed.

This makes paying attention to sleep apnea symptoms vital for your brain health. Factors to look for include:

• Waking up frequently during the night (often with shortness of breath)
• Loud snoring
• A dry mouth or sore throat in the morning
• Feeling sleepy or irritable
• Having a difficult time concentrating
• Insomnia
• Episodes where you stop breathing during sleep
• Heartburn

If you have any of these signs of OSA, talk to your doctor about whether you need a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine. A CPAP is designed to keep your airways open while you sleep by blowing compressed air into them.

Dentists can also help by recognizing signs of sleep apnea in the mouth. Along with a patient’s medical history and other screening tools, dentists may be able to spot up to 80 percent of patients at risk for sleep disorders, including sleep apnea. They can also recommend oral appliances that can help.

Sources:

Sleep apnea contributes to dementia in older adults, especially women — EurekAlert!

Sleep apnea — Mayo Clinic

Sleep Apnea Statistics for 2024 — Sleep Advisor

Better sleep provides better odds against mind-stealing plaques — Easy Health Options

The post Sleep apnea’s dementia double threat for women appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

In fact, quality sleep has been found to reduce your risk of cognitive decline and dementia as you age.

However, sleep problems can creep up with age, stealing those hours that allow your brain to reset.

Because of this, many of us turn to sleep medications for help.

Unfortunately, new research is revealing that one of the most common of these sleep drugs could exert a negative influence on a little-known brain system that prevents the organ from clearing out toxic waste.

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The brain’s plumbing system works while you sleep

The glymphatic system is a network of plumbing in your brain that drains waste out of your brain as you sleep. This system is vital because, unlike the rest of your body, your brain doesn’t have a lymph system to get rid of accumulated dead cells, bacteria and other toxins.

“Instead, the brain uses cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), a brain fluid that is produced inside the brain, to flush the brain tissue and wash away unwanted molecules,” explains Maiken Nedergaard, MD, PhD, of the Universities of Rochester and Copenhagen.

This system also differs in that it only works to clean out the toxic waste buildup linked to neurodegenerative diseases through slow synchronized oscillations of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine.

Those oscillations that power the glymphatic system produce a combined action with CSF only during non-rapid eye movement (non-REM) sleep, as norepinephrine is released in slow cycles every 50 seconds.

This “drives a slow fluctuation in the diameter of the arteries and the blood volume in the brain,” creating a pump to flush out the brain waste that accumulates throughout your day.

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A hitch in the system

But what happens to that pump if you use sleep aids?

That’s exactly what Dr. Nedergaard’s team set out to study, keying in on one of the most common medications used — zolpidem, also known as Ambien.

What they discovered is something to give anyone who has used sleep aids a reason to worry…

The results showed that taking zolpidem seemed to halt norepinephrine oscillations, blocking the glymphatic system’s ability to remove brain waste during sleep.

According to the researchers, this means that despite the fact that sleep medications might help you actually get to sleep, the rest you get could lack the beneficial effects of natural, restorative sleep.

As Natalie Hauglund, PhD, explains, “Sleep is crucial as it gives the brain time to perform homeostatic housekeeping tasks such as waste removal. On the contrary, sleep aids block the neuromodulators that drive the waste removal system and prevent the brain [from] properly preparing for a new day.”

The researchers’ conclusion?

Sleep aids should only be used for short periods of time and then only as a last resort.

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Natural support for glymphatic system health

So, how can you support your glymphatic system and your cognition to help reduce the damage caused by sleep aid use?

The number one way is through exercise.

In fact, exercise improves glycemic health in a number of ways.

Studies have shown that physical activity:

• Enhances glymphatic transport and accelerates glymphatic clearance
• Reduces amyloid β-protein accumulation (a hallmark in Alzheimer’s disease)
• Blocks neuroinflammation
• Protects against synaptic dysfunction and decline in cognition

The research results have been so clear that experts conclude it’s been “convincingly demonstrated that exercise has the potential to enhance the glymphatic activity in the brain.”

In addition to exercise, to best support your glymphatic system, try sleeping on your side.

It’s been shown that your glymphatic system works best when you sleep on your side.

Finally, be sure to get enough of these essential fatty acids that work as garbage men for your brain to help take out the trash.

Sources:

Common sleep medication may prevent brain from clearing ‘waste’ — MedicalNewsToday

The newly discovered glymphatic system: the missing link between physical exercise and brain health? — frontiers

Sleep on your side to diminish Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s — Easy Health Options

The post What happens when sleep aids clog the brain’s waste drain appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

It’s a known fact that sleeping poorly can damage your heart.

Men who don’t sleep enough hours to achieve a deep, restful sleep could be doubling their risk for heart attack and stroke.

And women who sleep poorly are at higher risk for hypertension.

Now, researchers have dug a little deeper into exactly what happens during deep sleep that offers protection for our hearts…

They’ve found that if you’re not a deep sleeper, your circulation may be subpar. And how certain brain waves can be harnessed to improve both problems…

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Deep sleep increases blood flow

Researchers at the University of Zurich have demonstrated that increased deep sleep prompted by pink noise improves cardiac function and may be helpful in disease treatment and especially preventive medicine.

The study involved 18 healthy men aged 30 to 57, who spent three non-consecutive nights in a sleep laboratory.

When their brain activity indicated that they had entered deep sleep, a computer played a series of brief tones at a pink noise frequency. This targeted stimulation during deep sleep causes the heart — in particular the left ventricle — to contract and relax more vigorously.

When the heart contracts during deep sleep, the left ventricle contracts and relaxes vigorously, which means it pumps blood into the circulatory system and then draws it out again more efficiently.

Related: Nitric oxide: The pathway to better blood vessels, blood flow and blood pressure

The left ventricle is squeezed and wrung out like a wet sponge. The more immediate and more powerful this wringing action, the more blood enters the circulation and the less remains in the heart. This increases blood flow, which has a positive effect on the cardiovascular system.

This experimental setup allowed the researchers to directly monitor whether the sound simulation enhanced deep sleep and whether it influenced the subjects’ heart rate and blood pressure. “During stimulation, we clearly see an increase in slow waves, as well as a response from the cardiovascular system that is reminiscent of cardiovascular pulsation,” says lead author Stephanie Huwiler

This is the first time anyone has shown that an increase in brain waves during deep sleep (slow waves) improves cardiac function. This is important not only to your heart but to your kidneys, brain and other organs.

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How to sleep more deeply… naturally

So now you know just how important deep sleep is to your heart health — literally helping your blood circulate through your body as you sleep.

And the research also provided a big clue on how to achieve it — using pink noise.

Pink noise is a mix of high and low frequencies that sound more natural than white noise, something you’re probably more familiar with. White noise sounds more like static and provides a steady sound that may drown out other noises or disruptions that could otherwise awaken a sleeper.

According to the Sleep Foundation, pink noise is more prevalent in nature sounds — like falling rain, wind rustling through trees or waves at the shoreline.

They also report previous studies show pink noise enhances memory, especially when played in synchrony with specific types of brain waves — most likely the same slow waves referenced in the Zurich study.  

You can sleep to the sounds of pink noise by purchasing a pink noise machine or using a smartphone app, like Spotify. After a quick search, I found several pink noise playlists were available.

Now, the quickest way to interfere with slow-wave activity and deep sleep is to eat junk food.

According to research I shared a few months back, less slow-wave activity was exhibited during deep sleep when participants had eaten junk food, compared with consumption of healthier food. This adverse effect on slow wave activity also lasted into a second night.

Some basic sleep hygiene can be helpful too. Don’t forget these tips:

• Go to bed and wake up at the same time each day, even on weekends.
• No sugar, caffeine or drinks (to avoid bathroom trips) after 6 pm.
• No exercise or vigorous physical activity after 7 pm (or with 2 hours of your projected bedtime).

Sources:

Increased deep sleep benefits your heart — Science Daily

Auditory stimulation of sleep slow waves enhances left ventricular function in humans — European Heart Journal

The post The bedtime activity for better blood flow and heart health appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Those well-intentioned resolutions can actually create stress and feelings of failure when we don’t live up to our own expectations. And a lot of experts agree, that’s just more stress no one needs.

But, here’s the thing. We can’t help but reflect on the transition from the old year to the new one without thinking about what we might like to be different about our lives.

For most of us, that’s simply to feel better… have a little more energy, feel calmer, happier and mentally sharper… and feel positive about how we’re aging.

Ultimately that starts with getting back to the basics of good self-care. So toss the resolutions and try three simple habits that take little effort but payout big-time…

#1 – Boost your morning hydration

If there’s one health hack you should do every morning, it’s to drink a glass of water as soon as you wake up.

In fact, one study found that in participants who had not consumed water for 12 hours overnight:

• Drinking about 7 ounces of water upon waking — just one glass — not only helped them recover from nightly dehydration and reduce thirst but also reduced anger and fatigue and improved mood.
• Even better, drinking two glasses boosted working memory.
• Those who didn’t drink any water complained of being tired, grumpy and thirsty — not surprising!

The Heart Foundation warns that dehydration can thicken blood and impact circulation, and also recommends getting in the habit of drinking a glass of water first thing in the morning!

#2 – Take a walk once a day

A daily walk is a simple healthy habit just about anyone can start. Walk a little or walk a lot.

And when you pick up the pace, the benefits ramp up for your telomeres — the little caps at the ends of your DNA. Short telomeres are synonymous with aging and frailty, so you want to keep yours long for as long as you can — and walking briskly seems to do the trick.

Research using the genetic data of more than 400,000 U.K. adults found that a faster walking pace was associated with longer telomeres — regardless of the amount of physical activity — and could translate to the equivalent of turning your biological age back 16 years!

#3 – Prioritize sleep

A mind-body health practitioner, whose advice I’ve always respected, said to me a long time ago about sleep, “Do not look at it as a privilege or a treat; it is an essential piece of the wellness puzzle.”

He also said getting eight hours a night can do more to ward off risk of heart disease, stroke, anxiety, obesity and reduce pain, than diet and exercise alone. But a lot of adults struggle with getting a good night’s sleep.

If stress happens to be part of the mix — as it often is — adrenal fatigue is often the cause of sleepless nights. But unless your doctor practices functional medicine, you’ll never know.

You might get a prescription for sleeping pills, but it won’t be long before other health problems begin to snowball…

Less stress, better days ahead

The adrenal glands sit atop your kidneys and produce hormones necessary for moderating your stress response — also known as your “flight-or-fight” response. When we’re under a constant level of stress, the stress hormone cortisol fires almost constantly, and the adrenal glands can’t keep balance.

The result? Disrupted sleep, to start. But if not corrected, weight problems, mood swings, loss of energy, cognitive trouble and more can follow.

I refused to lose my health and vitality to stress and turned to “adaptogens” for help. Adaptogens are nutritional herbs known for their special ability to help your body manage stress and restore balance, including Boswellia, Holy Basil, Ashwagandha, Rhodiola and L-Theanine.

Along with mindfulness practices, stress has much less of a hold on me. Unlike resolutions that only add to your stress levels, take concrete steps to support your health this year and beyond.

The post Why New Year’s resolutions can backfire appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

In fact, sleep is now officially recognized by the American Heart Association (AHA) as part of the Essential 8 — a set of lifestyle measures proven to enhance cardiovascular health. 

So how does sleep protect your heart? What happens to your body during sleep? And how can you make rest a priority in your daily life?

Sleep: A Cornerstone of the Essential 8

The AHA added sleep to its list of Essential 8 because research has confirmed that good-quality rest is critical to overall health, including the health of your heart.  During sleep is when your body performs vital functions: repairing tissues, regulating hormones, and giving your heart and blood vessels a much-needed break. Without enough rest, these critical processes are interrupted, increasing your risk for high blood pressure, diabetes, and even heart attacks.

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What Happens During Sleep

Sleep is more than just downtime for your body. When you sleep, especially during deeper stages, your heart rate and blood pressure drop, reducing the workload on your cardiovascular system. This nightly “reset” allows your heart to recover and prepare for the day ahead. Additionally, your body regulates essential hormones during sleep, such as:

• Stress hormones: Levels of cortisol, which can raise blood pressure, naturally decrease during sleep.
• Hunger hormones: Sleep balances ghrelin and leptin, the hormones that control hunger and fullness. 

What Happens When You Don’t Get Enough Sleep

Skipping sleep, or even regularly getting less than seven hours a night, puts your heart at risk. Here’s how:

• Higher Blood Pressure: Without the nighttime drop in blood pressure that occurs during sleep, your heart and blood vessels remain under constant stress.  Sleep apnea, specifically, can be the sole reason someone has hypertension.  So if you snore and have high blood pressure, discuss sleep apnea screening with your physician.
• Increased Inflammation: Poor sleep is linked to higher levels of C-reactive protein, an inflammatory marker tied to heart disease.
• Elevated Stress Hormones: A lack of sleep can raise cortisol levels, contributing to higher heart rate, blood pressure, and blood sugar.
• Weight Gain: Sleep deprivation alters hunger-regulating hormones, making overeating more likely. 

Over time, these factors can lead to conditions like hypertension, obesity, and diabetes — all of which strain your heart and increase your risk of heart disease and stroke.

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How to Prioritize Sleep

The good news? Sleep is something you can control. Here are steps to help you get the quality rest your heart needs:

1. Stick to a Sleep Schedule: Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, even on weekends. A consistent schedule reinforces your body’s circadian rhythm, helping you fall asleep and wake up more easily.
2. Create a Relaxing Bedtime Routine: Ease into sleep with calming activities like reading, meditating, or taking a warm bath. This signals your body that it’s time to wind down.
3. Limit Stimulants: Avoid caffeine, nicotine, and heavy meals in the hours leading up to bedtime. These can disrupt your ability to fall or stay asleep.
4. Turn Off Screens: Blue light from phones, tablets, and TVs can interfere with your body’s melatonin production, making it harder to fall asleep — power down at least an hour before bed.

If You’re Still Struggling

Poor and non-restorative sleep has wide-ranging health effects. This blog has focused on cardiometabolic health, but not getting enough nightly rest can contribute to cognitive decline and even cancer risk. 

So if you’ve tried everything and are still struggling, talk to your doctor.  For perimenopausal women, hormone replacement may be the answer.  For others, sleep apnea evaluation may be appropriate.

In some circumstances, a formal referral to a Sleep Medicine specialist is required. The one thing NOT to do? Ignore your sleepless nights. 

The post What happens to your body and heart during sleep appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Much of it hinges on communication between different organs and systems that work together to maintain our health and protect us when we especially need it.

An example we’ve heard a lot about is the gut-brain axis and the vagus nerve that connects them and various organs along the way.

Now, we’re learning about another such crucial “conversation” that happens between the heart, the immune system and the brain to trigger healing when someone’s had a heart attack…

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How and why your body regulates sleep after heart attack

After a heart attack, it makes sense that you’d want to sleep more. However the need for sleep is more than the physical exhaustion of going through a traumatic health event.

As part of the process to heal itself and reduce inflammation, the heart triggers the desire for more sleep through actual changes to the brain, as shown through mouse studies at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai Hospital.

After inducing heart attacks in mice, researchers found a three-fold increase in slow-wave sleep, a deep stage of sleep characterized by slow brain waves and reduced muscle activity. This increase in sleep occurred quickly after the heart attack and lasted one week.

And when they studied the brains of those mice, they discovered that immune cells called monocytes were recruited from the blood to the brain and used a protein called tumor necrosis factor (TNF) to activate neurons in an area of the brain called the thalamus, which caused the increase in sleep.

“This study is the first to demonstrate that the heart regulates sleep during cardiovascular injury by using the immune system to signal to the brain,” says senior author Cameron McAlpine, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine (Cardiology), and Neuroscience, at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Poor sleep increases risk of another heart attack

To further identify the function of increased sleep after a heart attack, the researchers also interrupted the sleep of some of the mice.

The mice with sleep disruption after a heart attack had an increase in heart sympathetic stress responses and inflammation, leading to slower recovery and healing when compared to mice with undisrupted sleep.

The Mt. Sinai researchers also performed human studies, and their findings confirmed what they’d seen in mice.

First, they studied the brains of people a couple of days following a heart attack. They saw an increase in monocytes compared to people without a heart attack or other cardiovascular diseases.

Then, they analyzed the sleep of more than 80 heart attack patients four weeks after heart attack and followed them for 2 years..

The patients were divided into two groups — good sleepers and poor sleepers. The patients who slept poorly in the weeks after their heart attack had twice the risk of another heart attack.

Those who slept well showed significant improvement in heart function. Poor sleepers showed little or no improvement.

Dr. McAlpine and the research team hope that the understanding of sleep in healing post-heart attack can be recognized in intensive care units, where sleep is frequently disrupted

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Develop sleep habits to protect your heart

Well-rested cells can produce antioxidants that fight destructive free radicals. But in sleep-deprived cells, this response fails. The result: dysfunctional cells that easily succumb to cardiovascular disease.

This isn’t a new idea.

For example, a 2018 Duke University study found that people with irregular sleep patterns may be at higher risk for obesity, heart disease, hypertension, and stroke.

So, how do you keep to a sleep schedule when life is busy? How do you ensure you get those 7-8 hours of good sleep you need?

Dr. Jessica Lunsford-Avery of the Duke study has some simple advice: set an alarm for the same time each day. And NO sleeping in on weekends!

This may sound hard to do, but if you stick to it for a few weeks, you may even find yourself waking up without the alarm.

That’s actually a good sign — your body is adjusting to the rhythm you’ve set for it.

Other studies have shown that poor sleep leads to clogged arteries.

Besides setting a regular sleep schedule, here are some other ways to get a better night’s sleep:

Don’t look at computers, smartphones or TV screens an hour before bed. The blue light they emit can hurt your circadian rhythm and your ability to fall asleep.

Get exercise during the day. If you’re physically exhausted, you’re more likely to fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer.

Expose yourself to natural light in the morning hours. This helps set your circadian rhythm, which controls your sleep.

Don’t drink caffeine or alcohol in the evening. Both interfere with sleep quality.

If you snore a lot or don’t feel rested when you wake up, get tested for sleep apnea. It can significantly hamper your ability to get a good night’s sleep.

If you have insomnia, talk to your doctor about cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBTI). It’s one of the more effective natural therapies for insomnia and can help you avoid the use of prescription sleep aids.

Sources:

After a heart attack, the heart signals to the brain to increase sleep to promote healing — Eureka Alert

Myocardial infarction augments sleep to limit cardiac inflammation and damage — Nature

It’s not just for kids — even adults appear to benefit from a regular bedtime — Science Daily

The post The sleep trigger that could prevent a 2nd heart attack appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

That’s one reason why so much research has been conducted to find ways to help people combat insomnia and achieve a restful night’s sleep.

A recent study might seem to fly in the face of conventional wisdom, which cautions against exercising before bedtime.

When it comes to high-intensity exercise, that’s still good advice.

However, this study examines a different type of exercise, one that, when performed correctly, can actually lead to more hours of sleep.

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Sleep longer and reduce risk of heart problems

Researchers at the University of Otago in New Zealand recruited thirty non-smokers, aged 18 to 40, to complete two 4-hour sessions in a controlled lab setting.

In one, they remained seated for four hours, while in the other, they did just three-minute bursts of simple resistance exercises every 30 minutes over the 4-hour period.

Activity trackers showed that after resistance training, with breaks in between, participants slept for an average of 27 minutes longer than they did after just sitting.

The researchers noted that there were no significant differences in sleep efficiency – uninterrupted sleep – or the number of times people woke during the night, whether they sat or exercised, indicating that the activity before bed didn’t disrupt sleep.

They also point out that by helping people sleep longer, especially those who are getting far less than the recommended nightly hours of sleep, this type of resistance activity before bed could potentially reduce the number of people with heart disease over the long term.

And guess what? This isn’t the first time resistance exercise has been shown to improve sleep…

Another study found that compared to aerobic exercise, resistance exercise:

• Increased sleep time by 40 minutes
• Decreased the time it took to fall asleep by three minutes
• Improved sleep quality and sleep disturbances

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What is resistance training?

When we talk about resistance exercises, we’re not referring to activities like running, cycling, or other high-intensity exercises.

Resistance exercise increases muscle strength by making your muscles work against a weight or force.

You can do resistance training at home with no equipment other than your own body. Some examples of this include doing push-ups, squats, stair climbing (which offers great cardiovascular benefits), and lunges.

Elastic bands, known as resistance bands, as well as free weights, can also help and are easily found in big-box stores or online.

Check out this resistance band workout for beginners and seniors to see what I’m talking about. It’s a full-body 30-minute routine, but could easily be broken into three-minute segments.

And the best time for these activity bursts — during commercial breaks while watching the evening news and your favorite shows!

More ways to ensure a solid night of sleep

Apparently, once we reach 60, there are changes to the built-in time clock that regulates our sleep-wake cycle, known as the circadian rhythm.

In addition to resistance exercise bursts, there are things you can do to improve your sleep, and they don’t involve the dangers of sleeping pills.

Melatonin is one of my favorites. Not only is it a safe and natural sleep aid (your body produces it to an extent), but people who supplement it regularly are also much less likely to develop age-related macular degeneration. That’s a win-win.

Some foods help produce the neurotransmitters that are needed to put you to sleep. Cherries are one. At the same time, the wrong foods can increase your risk for chronic insomnia.

One thing to avoid in the evening is blue light from your smartphone or tablet. That can undercut all the new ways you’ve just discovered to sleep better and longer.

Sources:

Resistance exercise ‘activity breaks’ at night may improve sleep length — Eureka Alert

Evening regular activity breaks extend subsequent free-living sleep time in healthy adults: a randomised crossover trial — BMJ

The post Sleep longer with this 3-minute activity appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

But in more recent years, naps have gotten a bad reputation because of their potential effects on heart health.

In 2020, an analysis of 20 nap studies revealed a connection between daytime napping and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Another one, published in 2022, found that frequent napping may be a stroke warning. And still another found that if you’re depending on naps to make up for sleepless nights, you’re still losing out.

Getting good sleep matters — so much so that the American Heart Association (AHA) recently revised Life’s Simple 7 to Life’s Essential 8 (a checklist for lifelong good health).

The new version acknowledges the growing body of research showing how people who get 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night are better able to manage various aspects of their heart health — and how shortchanging that can have dire consequences you should know about… especially if you’re a napper.

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Hypertension, cardiovascular disease and sleep duration

Sleep duration is known to affect blood pressure and can increase the risk of hypertension. So, a team of researchers decided to evaluate the connection between sleep duration and the risk of hypertension and cardiovascular disease (CVD) using data collected on adults who were middle-aged and older.

Participants were divided into two groups: a hypertension group and a non-hypertension group. There was also a CVD group and a non-CVD group. All participants underwent follow-up for an average of 6.5 years, during which any stroke or cardiac event was tracked.

In addition to nighttime sleep duration, researchers evaluated how often participants took naps, total day and night sleep duration and the percentage of naps in total sleep duration. Here’s what they found:

• According to the study results, middle-aged and older adults who reported sleep duration of less than 6 hours and those with a high nap ratio (at least 0.4) were at risk of hypertension. Men 60 years and older with a high nap ratio saw a higher risk of hypertension.
• As for CVD, risk was elevated in participants who had a sleep duration of less than 6 hours per night, those with a total sleep duration of less than 6 hours, and those with a nap duration of less than 0.5 hours. Women 60 years and older who slept for less than 6 hours were also at increased risk of CVD.

There were some limitations to the study. The only correlations that could be obtained were between hypertension or CVDs and nap, sleep duration at night, total sleep duration and nap ratio.

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The problem with naps: shortening your nighttime sleep duration

These study results show that if you’re 45 years of age or older, you should get more sleep at night instead of taking a long afternoon nap.

To improve nighttime sleep, the AHA recommends taking steps to optimize your sleep hygiene as much as possible. These include keeping your phone away from your bedside, dimming your devices at night to reduce blue light exposure and blocking device notifications overnight so you don’t get woken up.

Consider these tips as well to get better sleep:

• Resistance exercise has been shown to increase sleep time by an average of 40 minutes. But never exercise within a few hours of your bedtime. Exercising then could make it harder to fall asleep.
• Whether you’re three or 43, having a bedtime routine can help you sleep better. Here are four pillars of a good bedtime routine to help you sleep better than a toddler.
• A healthy gut microbiome is essential to produce serotonin — a key player in our sleep/wake cycle. Probiotics and prebiotics can help balance gut bacteria and support the production of serotonin.
• People who eat more fruits and vegetables sleep better. One study saw improvements in sleep quality in as little as 24 hours.
• Rule out sleep apnea. Signs include waking frequently during the night, gasping for air, having dry mouth or snoring. If you suspect sleep apnea, tell your doctor.
• If you have an overactive bladder, or BPH, stop drinking anything at least 2 hours before bedtime to avoid frequent bathroom trips overnight.

If you do all this and still struggle to get more than 6 hours of nighttime sleep, an occasional afternoon nap may be helpful — as long as it’s done strategically…

Take your nap early in the afternoon since napping after 3 p.m. can interfere with your nighttime sleep. Nap in a dark, quiet place with a comfortable temperature and few distractions. And keep your nap between 10 and 20 minutes, since the longer you nap, the more likely you are to feel groggy afterward.

Sources:

Sleep Duration Associated With Higher Risk of Hypertension — AJMC

Associations of siesta and total sleep duration with hypertension or cardiovascular diseases in middle-aged and older adults — Clinical Cardiology

Healthy Lifestyle — American Heart Association

Life’s Essential 8 — American Heart Association

Napping: Do’s and don’ts for healthy adults — Mayo Clinic

The post The strong connection between naps, hypertension and heart trouble appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

It can raise the odds of several cardiovascular complications including metabolic syndrome (METs), heart attack and stroke — just to name a few.

As if these risks weren’t concerning enough, a new study has added another life-threatening one to that list you should know about…

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OSA and abdominal aortic aneurysms

Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) occur when a major artery, the aorta, swells and potentially ruptures, causing life-threatening internal bleeding.

Previous research has hinted at a higher prevalence of AAA in patients with OSA. That prompted researchers at the University of Missouri (MU) School of Medicine and NextGen Precision Health to look further…

Using mouse models, they discovered that the intermittent hypoxia (low oxygen levels) caused by OSA increased the susceptibility of mice to develop AAA.

“Chronic intermittent hypoxia by itself is not enough to cause abdominal aortic aneurysms, but for a patient with obstructive sleep apnea who also has additional metabolic problems like obesity, our findings suggest it may help degrade aortic structures and promote aneurysm development,” says study author Luis Martinez-Lemus, a professor at MU.

To put it more simply, the study found that oxygen deficiency increased the risk of weakened cardiovascular tissue in the mice.

In OSA, the throat muscles relax and block the flow of air into the lungs, causing intermittent hypoxia. According to the study, the loss of oxygen triggers certain enzymes called MMPs. This increased enzyme activity can degrade the extracellular matrix, a sort of cell scaffolding network, thus weakening the aorta.

Neekun Sharma, the lead author of the study, notes that patients with AAA don’t notice any symptoms beyond some back and belly pain until the aneurysm bursts. Once that happens, the patient must be brought into surgery immediately to repair the aorta.

“Learning how these aneurysms develop can help us find ways to monitor or slow down their progression, especially for patients who have obstructive sleep apnea,” Sharma says.

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OSA and METs can team up to increase AAA risk

If you suspect you might have OSA, see a doctor as quickly as possible. They can help you determine whether you have a mild, moderate or a severe case of OSA.

In mild OSA, doctors often recommend lifestyle changes to manage the condition. Weight loss is a great place to start, especially since it can also impact metabolic syndrome (METs).

METs is highly prevalent in patients with OSA. Some experts even suggest OSA should be considered an additional manifestation of METs, along with elevated waist circumference (or obesity), blood pressure, blood sugar, triglycerides and low HDL cholesterol.  But not only is there a connection between OSA and METs, there’s also a connection between METs and AAA.

Previous research on human patients shows that the risk for AAA increases with each METs condition, except for elevated blood sugar. But even with that one exception, the highest risk for AAA was found in people who have all 5 components of METs.

A 10 percent loss in body weight can significantly improve OSA for people with excess weight or obesity and have a positive impact on METs as well.

Also consider:

• Regular physical activity
• Giving up or limiting alcohol intake (no more than one drink per day for women and two per day for men)
• Avoiding caffeine before bed
• Quitting smoking
• Sleeping on your side instead of your back
• Trying OTC nasal sprays or breathing strips to improve nighttime breathing

In the case of moderate to severe OSA, the most common treatment is a continuous positive airway pressure machine — the dreaded CPAP. The newest treatment is an upper airway stimulation implant that sends electrical signals to the tongue to keep the upper airway open during sleep.

Dentists can also help with oral appliances that can help maintain an open airway during sleep.

The most important take-home message is not to ignore symptoms of OSA, including daytime sleepiness, waking up during the night to gasp, choke, or urinate, morning headaches, dry mouth or memory problems. You could lose much more than sleep.

Sources:

Obstructive sleep apnea may increase risk of abdominal aortic aneurysms — EurekAlert!

Chronic intermittent hypoxia facilitates the development of angiotensin II-induced abdominal aortic aneurysm in male mice — Journal of Applied Physiology

Obstructive Sleep Apnea — Cleveland Clinic

The post When sleep apnea sets you up for aortic aneurysm appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

And it’s not just the usual health and lifestyle suspects anymore, like lack of exercise and carrying around too much weight we have to worry about.

Instead, weird factors like air pollution and traffic noise are being shown to dramatically increase our risks for heart disease.

And now, there’s one more to at least consider…

Mobile phones may contribute to heart trouble

Yanjun Zhang, MD, Division of Nephrology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China, explains, “Mobile phone use is a ubiquitous exposure in modern society, so exploring its impact on health has significant public health value. Radio-frequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) emitted by mobile phones cause dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, inflammatory responses, and oxidative stress, and are therefore expected to affect a variety of organs such as the heart and blood vessels. However, whether mobile phone use is associated with the risk of cardiovascular diseases remains uncertain.”

That is, until they got to work assessing data collected on 444,027 individuals from the UK Biobank — without a history of cardiovascular diseases — who self-reported on the frequency of their mobile phone use from 2006 to 2010. Regular mobile phone usage was defined as at least one call per week.

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Using linked hospital and mortality records, the outcomes of incident stroke, coronary heart disease, atrial fibrillation and heart failure were ascertained over 12 years. The researchers also investigated sleep patterns, psychological distress and neuroticism among the participants.

They found that regular mobile phone use was positively associated with cardiovascular disease risk, especially in current smokers and people with diabetes.

“We found that sleep patterns, psychological distress, and neuroticism may be potential mechanisms of the association between mobile phone use and cardiovascular diseases,” said Co-investigator Xianhui Qin, MD, Division of Nephrology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China. “A poor sleep pattern and poor mental health may adversely affect the development of cardiovascular diseases through disrupted circadian rhythm, endocrine and metabolic disruption, and increased inflammation. In addition, chronic exposure to RF-EMF radiation emitted from mobile phones could lead to oxidative stress and inflammatory response.”

Should you put the phone down and step away?

This is one threat most of us didn’t expect. But if we were paying attention, we’d have known that last year the European Society of Cardiology published a study linking mobile phone usage to increased risk of high blood pressure.

But the data from both studies is more than a decade old. Some researchers skeptical of the findings argue that people use cell phones these days to relax, read and play games.

But we keep our phones within arms reach at all times, in purses, backpacks or pockets. Many of us keep them in hand while doing other activities, including watching TV, eating dinner or scrolling while we lay down for night.

That means we are constantly connected to the world around us and the stress of it — whether from personal situations or the socio-economic-political news and updates that are practically impossible to escape from.

The combined effects of stress, distress and lack of sleep are a perfect recipe for vascular dysfunction. Previous research found that in just eight minutes of feeling angry, the normal function of cells lining the blood vessels is impaired to the point they are no longer able to relax — something that can significantly restrict blood flow — increasing the risk of developing atherosclerosis.

Not only that, the effects of anger on the blood vessels lasted up to a full 40 minutes! How can you reduce these effects on your cardiometabolic health?

Disconnect. I know it feels impossible to put the phone down and walk away. But it’s good practice to limit your accessibility at times throughout the day, and especially at night. In the moment, there’s also a practice you should try…

Nasal breathing techniques help control the body’s reactions to stress, anxiety and anger on your blood vessels, especially when your “fight or flight” mode is triggered by the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis that starts secreting the stress hormone cortisol.

When that happens, breathing becomes fast and shallow, the heart races and blood pressure goes up. This stress response lowers your nitric oxide (NO) levels — a natural vasodilator responsible for signaling artery cells to relax and open for normal blood flow.

Breathing mindfully through the nose releases NO into the nasal passages, which then reaches the lungs and finds its way into the bloodstream where it signals “normal” unrestricted blood flow.

Certain foods, like spinach and beets, can help the body produce NO. So if you eat dinner with your phone in hand, remember that.

Sources:

New research shows regular mobile phone use can increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases, especially in smokers and people with diabetes — EurekAlert!

Air pollution: What you should know about this silent threat — Easy Health Options

Surprising Things That Lead to Heart Disease — WebMD

The post A growing connection: Cardiovascular disease and cell phones appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Turns out exact sleeping times vary from person to person. But for the majority, the best sleep is achieved by going to sleep between 10 p.m. and midnight and waking around 7 a.m. That’s great news for me!

Some people (like my husband) need to go to sleep earlier, while a few are natural “night owls” that can go to sleep past midnight as long as they can sleep a little later in the morning. But these folks are in the minority.

Most of us have a circadian rhythm (our internal body clock) that fits the 10 p.m.-to-midnight scenario. And research shows when we ignore that pull to go to sleep, we pay the price — even more so if we’re overweight….

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Circadian rhythm and your cardiometabolic health

Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) researchers recruited 30 people to study the consequences of disrupting the body’s internal biological clock in overweight people.

Participants were split evenly between men and women, and all had a body mass index (BMI) above 25, which put them in an overweight or obese category, though they were generally healthy.

Saliva samples were collected every 30 minutes until late into the night at a sleep lab to determine what time their bodies started naturally producing the sleep hormone melatonin.

After that, they went home and logged their sleep habits over the next seven days.

The investigators assessed the time difference between melatonin onset and average sleep timing. The participants were then divided into two groups based on that data: those who had a narrow window, with a short duration between melatonin onset and sleep — and those with a wide window, with a longer duration between melatonin onset and sleep.

A narrow window suggests that a person is staying awake too late for their internal body clock and is linked with poorer health outcomes.

In fact, a range of potentially harmful health measures in the group with the narrow window, including key differences between men and women. were confirmed:

• Men in the narrow window group had higher levels of belly fat and fatty triglycerides in the blood, as well as higher overall metabolic syndrome risk scores, than the men who slept better.
• Women in the narrow window group had higher overall body fat percentage, glucose and resting heart rates.

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The importance of good sleep habits

Senior author Dr. Andrew McHill, a professor at OHSU, says it was “somewhat surprising” to see these differences. “It’s not one size fits all, as we sometimes think in academic medicine,” McHill adds.

“This study builds support for the importance of good sleep habits,” says lead author Dr. Brooke Shafer, a postdoctoral researcher at OHSU. “Sleep practices, like going to bed when you’re tired or setting aside your screen at night, can help to promote good overall health.”

Shafer notes the growing public health threat of obesity and cardiometabolic disease. “Our research shows that disruptions in the body’s internal biological clock could contribute to negative health consequences for people who may already be vulnerable due to weight,” she says.

Here’s the bottom line: for healthy sleep, you should stick as closely to your body clock as possible (especially if you’re overweight). And that means not varying your sleep schedule: no staying up late and sleeping in on weekends. If you have to, set an alarm so you wake at the same time every day. You can even set a reminder to go to bed at a set time.

If you need help falling asleep, try the bedtime routine of a toddler and these other sleep-inducing tips.

Sources:

Good sleep habits important for overweight adults, OHSU study suggests — EurekAlert!

Circadian alignment, cardiometabolic disease, and sex specific differences in adults with overweight/obesity — The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism

The Best Time to Sleep According to Science — SnoreMD

The post Ignore your body clock at peril, especially if overweight appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

A night or two of shortened sleep can make you irritable and result in brain fog and memory problems. But chronic sleep problems can lead to much worse — like increasing the risk of diabetes, hypertension, dementia, depression, heart disease and respiratory disease.

These impacts may be worse for women than men, especially on the cardiometabolic front. Researchers at Columbia University decided to examine this phenomenon, and what they found isn’t good news for women who have trouble sleeping…

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How sleep deficiency impacts insulin

It can be difficult to study the health impacts of chronic sleep loss. Laboratory studies have shown a brief period of total or partial sleep deprivation impairs glucose metabolism. However, these studies don’t reflect the typical mild sleep deprivation a lot of people experience, when they get by on roughly six hours of sleep for long stretches of time.

So researchers decided to look at the impact of mild, chronic sleep deprivation by enrolling 38 healthy women, including 11 postmenopausal women, who routinely slept for at least seven hours a night.

“Throughout their lifespan, women face many changes in their sleep habits due to childbearing, child-rearing, and menopause. And more women than men have the perception they aren’t getting enough sleep,” says study leader Dr. Marie-Pierre St-Onge, a Columbia professor and director of the Center of Excellence for Sleep and Circadian Research at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.

The participants underwent two study phases in random order. In one phase, they were asked to maintain their usual sleep patterns. In the other, they were asked to delay their bedtime by an hour and a half, which shortened their total sleep time to roughly six hours. Each phase lasted six weeks. Compliance was measured with wearable devices, and researchers measured insulin, glucose and body fat throughout the study.

Results showed that shortening sleep by 90 minutes for six weeks increased fasting insulin levels by over 12 percent overall and by more than 15 percent in postmenopausal women. Plus, insulin resistance rose by nearly 15 percent overall and by more than 20 percent among postmenopausal women. Average blood sugar levels remained stable for all participants throughout the study.

“Over a longer period of time, ongoing stress on insulin-producing cells could cause them to fail, eventually leading to type 2 diabetes,” St-Onge says. 

That means getting enough sleep each night may lead to better blood sugar control and reduced type 2 diabetes risk, especially among postmenopausal women.

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Preventing a sleep deficit

Previous studies have suggested people whose sleep amounts vary from day to day have a higher risk of diabetes. So the researchers next step will be to examine if stabilizing sleep patterns among people with variable sleep schedules improves blood sugar control.

Additional studies will look at whether restoring sleep for people perpetually short on sleep may improve glucose metabolism.

Restoring sleep is simple to talk about, but hard to do for many people who struggle with chronic sleep deficit. But, as we’ve noted in past articles, there are a number of steps you can take to improve the quality and duration of your sleep — including adopting the bedtime routine of a toddler (don’t knock it till you’ve tried it!). The key may be finding what works best for you.

Just one thing — if you sleep with a night light, stop. That too has a crazy impact on your metabolism and glucose tolerance.

Sources:

Shortening sleep time increases diabetes risk in women — EurekAlert!

Chronic Insufficient Sleep in Women Impairs Insulin Sensitivity Independent of Adiposity Changes: Results of a Randomized Trial — Diabetes Care

Why Lightbulb Choices Matter — Natural Eye Care

The post The surprising deficiency that could raise diabetes risk appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Medications we take, stress from the day, pain, bathroom trips, too much screen time, daytime napping and irregular sleep habits can add up to sleepless nights.

Chronic insomnia, where sleep is elusive night after night can be maddening. But a solution may be within reach — one that doesn’t require a prescription or come with side effects…

Researchers are onto a strong connection between chronic insomnia and a particular “food group.” If they make up a large part of your diet, getting the valuable sleep you need may be as easy as giving them up…

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The rise of fake food

Within the last decade, the proliferation of “fake food” has gotten so out of hand that the United Nations began applying the NOVA system of food classification to keep it all straight.

The NOVA system separates foods into four classifications: unprocessed or minimally processed, culinary ingredients (like olive oil), and two more: processed and ultra-processed foods.

Processed foods, by definition, are any “raw agricultural commodities that have been washed, cleaned, milled, cut, chopped, heated, pasteurized, blanched, cooked, canned, frozen, dried, dehydrated, mixed or packaged” — like a can of vegetables.

But ultra-processed foods are products that have gone through so much processing that they no longer bear much resemblance to real food. If you read the labels on these foods, you’ll see multiple unrecognizable ingredients.

Things like chicken nuggets, frozen pizza, microwaveable meals, and chips… even some cereals and packaged baked goods fall into this category.

Ultra-processed foods have been linked to a host of health conditions including dementia, depression and anxiety, and hypertension, bowel disease and a range of cancers.

And evidence says they’re stealing our sleep too…

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Ultra-processed foods’ connection to chronic insomnia

A group of French and American researchers recently looked at the possible connection between chronic insomnia and the consumption of ultra-processed foods.

“At a time when more and more foods are highly processed and sleep disturbances are rampant, it is important to evaluate whether diet could contribute to adverse or good quality sleep,” says Marie-Pierre St-Onge, a nutrition and sleep scientist at Columbia University.

St-Onge and her colleagues looked at data collected on 38,570 adults as part of the NutriNet Health Study, a study that focused on connections between nutrition and disease.

While St. Onge and her colleagues did not establish a causal relationship between ultra-processed foods and insomnia, they did find a statistically significant association between higher consumption of ultra-processed foods and increased chronic insomnia risk.

It’s important to point out that this is not the first time these foods have been associated with stealing sleep…

A Columbia University study demonstrated that postmenopausal women who ate the most refined carbohydrates — particularly added sugars — were 16 percent more likely to develop insomnia than those who ate the least. And if any food “group” contains a bevy of refined carbs and added sugars, it’s the ultra-processed one.

By the way, that same study found women who ate more vegetables, fiber and whole fruit (not juice) were about 14 percent less likely to lie awake at night.

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Beat insomnia the easy way

If you’re having trouble sleeping, it’s clear that sticking to “real” food could help eliminate one thing that’s likely to be causing it.

But of course, kicking the ultra-processed food habit is not easy. So start slow if you can’t go cold turkey, by ditching the two foods a 30-year study found to be the worst ones you could eat.

Then start adding in more of the good stuff. If eating fresh fruits and vegetables seems difficult at first, consider green powder mixes. They mix with water and many also contain fruit and fiber.

Steer clear of sleeping pills if you can. They come with some nasty side effects and aren’t guaranteed to work for everyone.

Instead, try the bedtime routine of a toddler and these other sleep-inducing tips.

Sources:

Chronic Insomnia Linked to Ultra-Processed Foods, Study Finds — Science Alert

The association between ultra-processed food consumption and chronic insomnia in the NutriNet-Santé Study — Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

One in four Americans develop insomnia each year: 75 percent of those with insomnia recover — Science Daily

Mediterranean diet pattern and sleep duration and insomnia symptoms in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis — Sleep

The post Are these foods behind your chronic insomnia? appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

It’s caused by excessive amounts of two proteins in the brain: β-amyloid and tau.

An “amyloid cascade” is thought to start with an abnormal increase of β-amyloid protein in the brain, which triggers “tau tangles.”

Once this happens, neurons begin to die, memory and cognition start to falter, and eventually, Alzheimer’s sets in.

But is this truly an inevitable sequence of events?

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Alzheimer’s is NOT inevitable

A recent study from UC Berkeley shows how some people appear to stave off the memory and cognitive impairment of Alzheimer’s disease, even when their levels of amyloid-beta proteins are relatively high.

When I read this research, the name Matthew Walker sounded familiar, and it didn’t take me long to figure out why.

Dr. Walker is a professor of neuroscience and the director of the Center for Human Sleep Science at University of California, Berkeley. He is also senior author of the present study.

A few years ago, I wrote about Dr. Walker and his thoughts about the importance of sleep, especially for the elderly.

In the present study, Dr. Walker and his colleagues prove that deep sleep can stop the brain changes signaling the onset of the “amyloid cascade,” and preserve memory and cognition.

Deep sleep is the answer

Dr. Walker and researchers from Stanford University and UC Irvine looked at 62 cognitively healthy adults.

Regardless of subjects’ education or physical activity (two factors known to improve cognitive resilience in old age), people who already had Alzheimer’s-associated brain changes performed better on memory function tests when they got more deep sleep.

Interestingly, deep sleep made little difference in memory function for people who did not have the same brain changes — in other words, the positive effect was restricted to those who had Alzheimer-related brain changes.

“Think of deep sleep almost like a life raft that keeps memory afloat, rather than memory getting dragged down by the weight of Alzheimer’s disease pathology,” Dr. Walker says.

“This is especially exciting because we can do something about it. There are ways we can improve sleep, even in older adults.”

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How to get better sleep

Deep sleep is like the slow cycle on your washing machine. It washes away β-amyloid plaque.

So how do you get not just more sleep, but more deep sleep?

Ventilate your sleep space.  Earlier this year, a team of Danish scientists showed that a higher rate of ventilation can remove more carbon dioxide and particulate matter (pollution) from a room, allowing for better sleep.

Take a warm bath before bed. This brings more blood to the surface of your skin. According to Dr. Walker, this effect, known as water-based passive body heating, can increase deep sleep.

Here are some other things you can try:

• Get enough vitamin from your diet (eggs, salmon, dairy products) or from supplements.
• Expose yourself to morning sunlight so your body’s sleep clock can reset itself.
• Move every day! Walking, yoga, and stretching are all good ways to do this; just do it earlier in the day.
• Avoid alcohol, caffeine, and spicy foods 4-6 hours before bed. Try a light bedtime snack, like warm milk or a banana.
• Keep phone and computer screens out of your bedroom! Instead, try using pink noise to help you get a good night’s sleep.

Sources:

There’s One Critical Thing We Can Do to Keep Alzheimer’s Symptoms at Bay — Science Alert

NREM sleep as a novel protective cognitive reserve factor in the face of Alzheimer’s disease pathology — BMC Medicine

‘Catastrophic’ lack of sleep in modern society is killing us, warns leading sleep scientist — The Independent

Deep sleep may mitigate Alzheimer’s memory loss, Berkeley research shows — Berkeley News

Four-Week Experiment Reveals an Ingeniously Simple Way to Boost Your Sleep Quality — Science Alert

The post The most critical habit for keeping Alzheimer’s symptoms at bay appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Many people with migraine also suffer from sleep disorders, including insomnia, trouble falling or staying asleep, poor sleep quality and excessive daytime sleepiness. During a migraine attack, they can also be woken from sleep or forced to have to sleep.

One team of researchers decided to explore whether migraine is what’s causing these sleep problems or vice-versa. And what they found is a bit of encouraging news for migraine sufferers…

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Migraine could be brought on by lack of sleep

Researchers from the University of Arizona Health Sciences used preclinical mouse models to evaluate sleep disruption through electroencephalogram recordings and visual observations. Like humans, mice have cycles of deep sleep, REM sleep and light sleep.

What they found was different from what was previously believed about migraine. It’s true that when the mice were sleep-deprived, they were more likely to experience migraine-like pain. However, migraine-like pain did not disrupt their normal sleep patterns.

Principal investigator Dr. Frank Porreca, a professor at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tuscon, says the way sleep has been investigated in migraine patients in the past is through patient-reported information, which can be subjective.

“We quantitatively measured sleep in preclinical models and found that migraine-like pain does not influence sleep, but if you have disrupted sleep, your chances of having a migraine attack if you’re a migraine patient are much higher,” Porreca says.

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Sleep hygiene is one solution

Porreca notes that sleep deprivation can happen for many reasons, including stress. However, for this study, the researchers ensured they were studying the effect of sleep, not stress, by giving mice novel objects to explore to keep them awake.

“Mice are compelled to explore novel objects. They just have to go and look,” Porreca says. “It reminds me of how teenagers are often sleep deprived because they’re on their phones. Anybody who studies sleep will tell you that from a sleep hygiene point of view, you don’t want any devices in your bedroom where you’re trying to sleep.”

The team recommends that people with migraine limit the use of electronic devices before bedtime and follow other sleep health tips to help reduce the likelihood of migraine attacks.

“Early morning is one of the most common times people experience migraine attacks,” Porreca says. “Improved sleep is critically important and probably would diminish the frequency of migraine attacks.”

It can also help to make sure your bedroom is dark, quiet and comfortable, and that you avoid eating, drinking or exercising too close to bedtime.

It’s also very important for people with migraine to do what they can to avoid known triggers like:

• Stress or anxiety
• Depression
• Hormones
• Weather changes
• Dietary factors (like caffeine and alcohol)

My colleague Dr. Adria Schmedthorst also has some more great tips for avoiding migraines. One of the most surprising to me was exercise. Yet it has proven to be just as effective as one common migraine medicine at preventing migraines. And exercise also helps with sleep, so added bonus there.

Sources:

Poor sleep linked to migraine attacks in new UArizona Health Sciences study — EurekAlert!

Unraveling the directional relationship of sleep and migraine-like pain — Brain Communication

Migraine Signs & Symptoms — American Migraine Foundation

The post Unraveling the sleep connection to migraine appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

And what’s even more amazing is how improving one shortfall can make a huge difference — even a lifesaving one.

That’s the story I’m going to tell you today.

It’s a twisted tale of how bad sleep can trump a healthy diet and set the stage for type 2 diabetes…

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Poor sleep, poor blood sugar

While you’re asleep, restorative processes take place. If your sleep is interrupted or cut short, so are these important processes.

If you regularly get less than 7.5 hours of restorative sleep per night, you’re facing the likelihood of developing chronic conditions such as heart disease, kidney disease and hypertension — and diabetes.

Research has already proven that the brain waves produced in deep sleep actually predict glucose control for the next day!

Now a new study has succeeded in pinpointing an association between how long you sleep and your likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes, even when following a healthy diet…

Using data from the UK Biobank, a large biomedical database that serves as a global resource for health and medical research, an international research team followed the health outcomes of 247,867 adults for more than a decade.

They found that although healthy eating habits were associated with a lower overall risk of diabetes, in people who slept less than six hours a day, the risk of type 2 diabetes increased compared to people in the normal sleep category (getting at least 7.5 hours of sleep).

And the lower the sleep duration, the higher those risks went:

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How are sleep and blood sugar connected?

The researchers believe two main factors that could explain their findings…

First, sleep deprivation often leads to an increase in inflammatory markers and free fatty acids in the blood, both of which make the body less responsive to insulin, leading to insulin resistance.

Second, people whose sleep is interrupted, including shift workers, experience disruptions to their body’s natural circadian rhythm.

This can interfere with the release of hormones that meet the body’s energy needs and help keep blood glucose balanced throughout the day. These include glucagon and cortisol.

The daytime secret to better sleep

If you’re concerned about type 2 diabetes, or if you already have pre-diabetes and sleep trouble — this is a wake-up call to work on better sleep.

Exercise may be the help you need — in more ways than one. Recent research has found moderate to vigorous daytime activity can help you feel less tired, have less troubled sleep and better-quality sleep. But that’s not all…

A study in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that some simple lifestyle changes resulted in a 58 percent reduction in the development of type 2 diabetes, compared with the use of the drug metformin.

Those lifestyle changes included:

• Exercise! Walking, biking or swimming are all great low-impact exercises that can help control blood sugar.
• Reducing weight.
• Eating healthier. Choose minimally processed foods, healthy fats, and plant-based proteins.
• And reducing alcohol intake.

Sources:

Scientists Identify a Link Between Sleep And Type 2 Diabetes Risk — Science Alert

Habitual Short Sleep Duration, Diet, and Development of Type 2 Diabetes in Adults — JAMA Network Open

Does Insufficient Sleep Increase the Risk of Developing Insulin Resistance: A Systematic Review —California Institute of Behavioral Neurosciences and Psychology

The post Why sleep trouble can lead to blood sugar trouble appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

For example, there’s plenty of research showing that exposure to the blue light of computers, tablets and phone screens… or even too much daylight in your sleeping space can affect the quality and duration of sleep.

But we need to pay attention to our entire 24-hour cycle of activities, of which sleep is only one part.

That means if you have trouble sleeping, or you feel tired in the morning, and you’ve tried everything under the sun (and moon), it’s time to examine what your day looks like.

It may hold the secret to the elusive and essential sleep your health depends on…

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Daytime activity tied to sleep quality

“When people think about sleep quality, they tend to focus on adjustments immediately before bedtime – for example, avoiding screens, not eating too much, and avoiding alcohol – but our research looks beyond this to the range of activities we undertake during the day,” says Dr. Matricciani, a researcher at the University of South Australia.

Dr. Matricciani has led what she believes to be the first study of its kind. It shows that getting a good night’s sleep is tied to how you structure your day, and that exercise is at the heart of the activities you should be including in order to achieve good sleep quality.

After examining different components of time use and different aspects of sleep, the research found that people with higher levels of moderate to vigorous physical activity had less troubled sleep, reduced tiredness and better sleep quality. 

The study included 1168 children (average age 12 years) and 1360 adults (their parents), with an average age of 44 years.

Subjects wore an activity monitor on their wrist for eight consecutive days and completed an activity record to document bed and wake times.

“We found that if children and adults increased moderate to vigorous physical activity, they would feel less tired, have less troubled sleep and better-quality sleep,” says Dr. Matricciani.

In other words, they’d sleep more peacefully, with fewer interruptions, and wake in the morning feeling wide awake, not tired and sluggish.

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Exercise may be just the beginning

This may not seem like news to some of you.

But the study authors believe that these results could open the door for more detailed information about how we can structure our entire day so that we set ourselves up for the best sleep possible.

But for now, exercise is the centerpiece of the “perfect sleep” day.

And remember, exercise can be as simple as walking daily, doing stretching exercises or practicing yoga.

Start slow and easy if you haven’t been exercising and work up to more. The key though, may be doing enough so that you feel a little tired. But as you’re body gets used to a level of exercise, you may need to up your exertion to keep reaping the sleep benefits of it. Consider upping aerobic activity or strength training then.

Several experts, however, have warned that exercising too close to bedtime can keep you awake. So try to get it in a few hours before your regular bedtime.

If you have any health conditions that could be impacted by exercise, be sure to discuss an exercise with your physician.

Sources:

Healthy sleep needs a healthy day: boost exercise to beat your bedtime blues — Eureka Alert

Time use and dimensions of healthy sleep: A cross-sectional study of Australian children and adults — Sleep Health

The post The daytime secret to better sleep at night appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

It’s a dishwashing system that, if you get enough sleep, will deep clean your brain, wash out toxic waste buildup and possibly keep you from ending up with Alzheimer’s or another dangerous neurological condition.

But just like the one in your kitchen, if it doesn’t work in power wash mode, your brain could be in trouble…

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Metabolic waste and brain health

To manage all the processes the brain performs in a single day, including forming and saving memories and directing the functions of your organs, requires a lot of energy in the form of fuel.

And like any fuel, the nutrients that fuel the brain leave waste products behind. Over time, if your brain’s dishwasher isn’t taking out the trash efficiently, metabolic waste builds up.

The good news is that past research has shown us that as we sleep, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) surrounding the brain enters in and weaves through intricate cellular webs, collecting toxic waste as it travels.

Then to exit the brain, the contaminated fluid has to pass through a barrier before spilling into the lymphatic vessels where it’s carried away by the body’s natural detoxification system.

The thing is, no one knew where the “start button” was that powers the movement of the fluid into, through and out of the brain…

Unitll Washington University researchers set out to gain a better understanding of what’s happening.

While studying the brains of sleeping mice, they discovered it’s tiny little neurons in the brain (the brain cells that send signals to your body) that drive cleaning efforts.

“These neurons are miniature pumps. Synchronized neural activity powers fluid flow and removal of debris from the brain,” explained first author Li-Feng Jiang-Xie, PhD, a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Pathology & Immunology. “If we can build on this process, there is the possibility of delaying or even preventing neurological diseases, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, in which excess waste — such as metabolic waste and junk proteins — accumulate in the brain and lead to neurodegeneration.”

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Better sleep for a better brain

So considering how important sleep is to your brain health, what can you do to improve your sleep quality so that your brain’s dishwasher can go to work?

Here are a few easy tricks to help you sleep better:

• Kick the junk food habit – Research has shown that eating junk food interferes with your ability to get the deep sleep you need to restore your brain health. Stick to organic fruit as well to avoid pesticides that steal sleep.
• Avoid blue light from electronics, especially in the evening. Research has repeatedly proven that exposure to blue light is a powerful sleep disruptor.
• Take a bath – A very interesting study found that a warm bath could be the key to better sleep – if you time it just right.
• Try L-theanine – L-theanine, an amino acid found in green tea, fights the stress that keeps you from slipping into dreamland by lowering cortisol (stress hormone) levels. And, it even works to elevate levels of a brain chemical known as GABA that promotes sleep and relaxation.
• Balance your gut – The microbes in your gut play a powerful role in your gut-brain axis and therefore your circadian rhythm. This makes prebiotics and probiotics a must in your better sleep plan.

Remember, with better sleep comes a better brain. So start taking steps now to support your sleep and keep the dishwasher in your brain running strong.

Sources:

Neurons help flush waste out of brain during sleep — ScienceDaily

The post Are you sleeping enough to finish your brain’s wash cycle? appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Then there are days when I just feel “old” — and that worries me…

Studies have shown that our perceptions about aging can have a very real impact on our health.

For instance, feeling negative about aging equates to negative physical, mental and cognitive health. Conversely, feeling younger than your age is associated with living a longer, healthier life.

There is even evidence that subjective age predicts actual brain age, with those feeling younger having brains with younger biomarkers.

Knowing all of this, I would very much like to feel young — at any age. And now I have a clue how to do just that…

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Sleep could be the key to feeling younger

Researchers at Stockholm University were curious to see if sleep had any effect on how old people “felt.”  So they conducted a couple of studies to find out.

“Given that sleep is essential for brain function and overall well-being, we decided to test whether sleep holds any secrets to preserving a youthful sense of age,” says Leonie Balter, a researcher at Stockholm University.

In the first study, they asked 429 individuals aged 18 to 70 how old they felt, how many days in the past month they had not gotten enough sleep and how sleepy they were. They found that for each night with insufficient sleep in the past month, participants felt 0.23 years older on average.

In the second study, the researchers explored whether there was truly a connection between inadequate sleep and participants feeling older. They restricted the sleep of 186 participants aged 18 to 46 for two nights, having them spend only four hours in bed each of those nights. Then, they had them sleep sufficiently for two nights, with nine hours in bed per night.

The results were stark. After sleep restriction, participants on average felt 4.4 years older compared to when they got sufficient sleep.

Not surprisingly, the effect appeared to be related to how sleepy they felt. Feeling extremely alert was related to a participant feeling 4 years younger than their actual age, while extreme sleepiness was related to feeling 6 years older.

“This means that going from feeling alert to sleepy added a striking 10 years to how old one felt,” Balter says.

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Sleep: A fundamental pillar of health

Just a couple of years ago, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine issued a special statement declaring sleep essential to health and placing it on the same level as proper nutrition and exercise for our health and well-being.

Dr. Balter’s research seems supportive of that.

“Safeguarding our sleep is crucial for maintaining a youthful feeling,” she says, “This, in turn, may promote a more active lifestyle and encourage behaviors that promote health, as both feeling young and alert are important for our motivation to be active.”

If you’re waking up feeling tired and older than your age, here are a few suggestions for improving your sleep to help you feel younger:

• Kill the blue light. Try to avoid the light from computer screens, LEDs and fluorescent bulbs for at least an hour before bedtime. This will encourage your body to produce melatonin, the sleep hormone that signals your body to start to wind down for sleep.
• Try pink noise. Listening to pink noise can help older adults attain slow-wave deep sleep to feel more rested and cognitively sharper.
• Exercise during the day. Getting physical makes it more likely that you’ll fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer. Just make sure you don’t exercise within an hour of your bedtime or it could have the opposite effect.
• Check your vitamin D levels. Adequate levels of vitamin D are necessary for the regulation of melatonin as well as serotonin, the “happy” hormone. That means insufficient levels can negatively impact your sleep and your mood.
• Get a checkup. If you’re experiencing chronic sleep problems, talk to your doctor about them. Your doctor may recommend you be tested for sleep apnea or examine you for any other disorders that could be interfering with sleep.

Sources:

Want to feel young? Protect your sleep — EurekAlert!

Sleep and subjective age: protect your sleep if you want to feel young — Proceedings of the Royal Society B

Does exercising at night affect sleep? — Harvard Health Publishing

Effects of vitamin D on mood and sleep in the healthy population: Interpretations from the serotonergic pathway — Sleep Medicine Reviews

The post How to start feeling younger overnight appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

But the term ‘sleep divorce’ gives it a bad taste, says psychologist Susan Albers. She calls it a ‘sleep separation’ or ‘alternative sleep arrangement.’

One in every five couples chooses to sleep in separate beds, even in separate rooms. And they have a healthier and more loving relationship because of it.

Could you and your partner benefit from a sleep divorce? Here’s what you need to know to help you decide.

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What is a sleep divorce and why you might need one

Why would people in a happy relationship choose to sleep separately?

In the end, it comes down to having incompatible sleep habits:

• Maybe you and your partner need different environments to get a good night’s sleep. One of you might need a room that’s pitch black, silent, and cool, while the other might require exactly the opposite.
• One of you might spend the night tossing and turning due to restless leg syndrome or insomnia.
• One of you might use a noisy CPAP machine for sleep apnea.
• One partner might work the night shift.

Regardless of the reason, sleeping separately might be a way to guard your sleep time.

Getting a good night’s sleep is incredibly important to your health. Over time, poor sleep can harden arteries.

Sleep loss is also linked to breast, bowel, and prostate cancer. In fact, the World Health Organization has classified any type of night-shift work as a probable carcinogen.

And lastly, bad sleep and a bad attitude add up to bad aging.

The benefits of a sleep divorce

As I’ve implied above, sleeping separately could improve your prospects for better health. But there are benefits that could improve your relationship, too.

• You get your personal space. Maybe you can go back to reading in bed, listening to “your” music, or just spreading out a little bit. These can be incredibly beneficial for your mood and mental health, which can only benefit your partnership.
• You have fewer things to fight about. Crumbs in the bed, the volume of music, or lights in your eyes… the next time you and your partner argue, these are not on the roster of things to complain about.
• Your relationship is more intentional. When you’re not sharing a bed, then snuggling and sex become an affirmative choice that you and your partner make. It doesn’t just “happen.”

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The downside of sleeping separately

Sleeping separately isn’t for everyone, says Dr. Albers. Here are some of the possible drawbacks.

• It may decrease intimacy. “Sleeping in separate rooms may create some emotional distance or disconnection,” Dr. Albers acknowledges. “There’s something about being in a bedroom at night — a privacy that leads to talking with your significant other in a way that you don’t when you’re outside of that space.”
• It may hurt your sex life. If you aren’t intentional about intimacy at other times, sleeping separately can diminish desire when you do have sex.
• It may be expensive. Not everyone has a separate room or a separate bed for separate sleeping. Purchasing a second bed can be pricey.
• It may be lonely. Once you’ve made the move to separate rooms, you may find that you miss having someone there every night, even with the things that annoy you.
• It may foster resentment. Both people need to be comfortable with the arrangement. You both need to be good communicators and willing to sort out concerns as they arise. Otherwise, the situation just becomes another source of resentment and arguing.

How to give separate sleeping a try

Here are two strategies you and your partner can try to increase the odds that a separate sleeping arrangement will be successful for you and your partner.

Weekend sleep-ins together. During the week, when work and responsibilities loom large, having separate sleeping spaces can be a blessing. But why not let weekends be a “mini-reunion” where you reconnect, cherish the intimacy of sharing a bed, and get to talk and reinforce your bond.

Prioritize pre-sleep rituals. Just because you’re not sleeping in the same bed doesn’t mean you can’t share your pre-sleep rituals.

Rituals before going to bed signal your brain that it’s time to sleep. They’re an essential step to a good night’s sleep. Shared rituals might be as simple as playing a board game, practicing a meditation routine or just talking over your day.

The idea of a ‘sleep divorce,’ when approached with mutual care and respect, can add to your relationship, rather than diminish it. It’s not about sleeping apart. Rather, it’s about sleeping well so you are each the best version of yourself.

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And if you need a little help sleeping better, separately or not, consider these recommendations from the Center for Human Sleep Science at UC Berkeley:

Vitamin D is important to maintaining your body’s sleep cycle. It is available from food (fatty fish like salmon and sardines, eggs, and dairy products) or through a supplement. Vitamin D helps the body produce the sleep hormone, melatonin.

Exposure to sunlight. Morning sunlight helps reset your body’s sleep clock and increases the likelihood of a good night’s sleep. Conversely, exposure to artificial light, especially blue light that emits from smartphones and other devices, in the evening can disrupt your body clock making it harder to fall asleep.

Get moving! Even a brief and easy walk each day will have a positive effect on your sleep. Get your exercise earlier in the day so your body has a chance to calm down for sleep.

Watch those bedtime snacks! Avoid alcohol, caffeine, and spicy foods 4-6 hours before bed. Try a light bedtime snack like warm milk or a banana.

Sources:

A ‘Sleep Divorce’ Might Be Exactly What Your Relationship Needs — Cleveland Clinic

2 ‘Sleep Divorce’ Strategies That Bring Couples Closer, According To A Psychologist — Forbes

The post The health and relationship benefits of a sleep divorce appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Enough to drive you crazy? For the person living with tinnitus, this is often how they feel.

In fact, living with tinnitus over months and years is linked with high levels of stress that often lead to anxiety and depression.

About fifteen percent of the world’s population suffers from tinnitus, and while it may not be life-threatening, it certainly is life-altering.

Currently, there is no cure for tinnitus. But research into its causes is ongoing.

Most recently, scientists are working to find connections between tinnitus and sleep, and how each affects the brain, in the hope that this will lead to a treatment.

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Tinnitus prevents deep sleep …

A team of British researchers has identified several brain mechanisms that are related to both tinnitus and sleep.

First, they looked at brain activity during slow-wave sleep (also known as deep sleep).

During slow-wave sleep, brain activity moves in “waves” through different regions of the brain. It activates these areas, then moves on to others. This mostly happens in areas of the brain that we use most while awake, like those for sight and motor function.

Sometimes, though, some brain regions become overactive during slow-wave sleep. For example, the motor region becomes overactive when someone sleepwalks.

The researchers believe that something similar may happen with tinnitus — that the auditory region of the brain may be far more active than other brain regions.

People with tinnitus also tend to spend less time in deep sleep. The researchers believe that tinnitus keeps the brain from producing the slow-wave activity needed to have a deep, restful sleep.

… but deep sleep isn’t interrupted by tinnitus

Ironically, while people with tinnitus spend less time in deep sleep, when they do achieve it, their deep sleep is virtually unaffected by the ringing of tinnitus.

The researchers think that the brain activity unique to deep sleep actually suppresses tinnitus.

For example, as you start to get sleepy, the brain’s neurons start to go into slow-wave activity in order to recover. The more neurons that join this “slow-wave,” the stronger the urge to sleep.

And it seems that the brain regions affected first, and most strongly, are those that are overactive during waking hours. In someone with tinnitus, the auditory region is overactive. This would explain how tinnitus is suppressed during deep sleep.

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A direction for treatment

So what does all this mean in terms of finding a cure for tinnitus?

These researchers are looking toward tracking tinnitus activity alongside the stage of sleep someone is in, and recording brain activity, as they continue to learn how natural brain activity could hold the key to relieving tinnitus.

For now, there are exercises and other techniques, and even an app, that have helped many people with tinnitus.

Here are some suggestions for supplements that have been helpful, as well as a specific exercise to try.

And here are a few nutritional interventions that some have found helpful, as well as some research showing how CoQ10 might offer significant relief.

Sources:

Tinnitus Seems to Be Somehow Linked to a Crucial Bodily Function, Studies Hint — Science Alert

Tinnitus: at a crossroad between phantom perception and sleep — Brain Communications

Tinnitus — The Lancet

The post Deep sleep holds clues to cause of tinnitus appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

For many of us, however, sticking to a sleep routine where we climb under the sheets early enough to get 7 to 8 hours of sleep is hit-and-miss. Most adults rise at the same time every morning, but there can be a lot of variability as to when we go to sleep each night.

That may not seem like a big deal, but the consequences of getting only five to six hours of sleep can be dire. Even a mild chronic sleep deficit can raise your risk of heart disease later in life. Researchers at Columbia University have been working to find out exactly why…

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Vascular cells face an oxidative assault

The researchers enrolled healthy women who normally sleep seven to eight hours a night for the 12-week study. For six weeks, the women slept according to their usual routine. Then, for six weeks they went to bed 1.5 hours later than usual.

And the results were stunning…

Researchers found that after just six weeks of delaying their normal bedtime by just 90 minutes, endothelial cells that line blood vessels were inundated with oxidants. Also known as free radicals, these oxidants cause chronic inflammation and cellular damage.

Well-rested cells can produce antioxidants to eradicate these destructive free radicals. But this response fails in sleep-restricted cells. The cells then become inflamed and dysfunctional, which is the first step in developing disorders like cardiovascular disease.

“This is some of the first direct evidence to show that mild chronic sleep deficits cause heart disease,” says study leader Dr. Sanja Jelic, a Columbia professor and director of the Center for Sleep Medicine at Columbia.

Jelic notes that prior studies showing a connection between sleep and heart health have been epidemiological, meaning they track a disease’s prevalence and try to identify causes. “But these studies could be tainted by many confounders that cannot be identified and adjusted for,” she says.

Many sleep studies also examined the effects of a few nights of profound sleep deprivation, rather than a mild chronic sleep deficit.

“Most people get up around the same time each day but tend to push back their bedtime one to two hours,” Jelic says. “We wanted to mimic that behavior, which is the most common sleep pattern we see in adults.”

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Getting more sleep — and antioxidants

The bottom line, Jelic says, is that many health problems like heart disease could be solved if people get at least seven to eight hours of sleep per night.

“People who are young and healthy need to know that if they keep getting less sleep than that, they’re aggravating their cardiovascular risk,” she says.

The next step for the research team is to design a study to see if bedtime variability affects vascular cells in the same way as chronic, regular short sleep.

In the meantime, do whatever you can to get a regular good night’s sleep, including sticking to regular wake and sleep times. It may be tempting to catch up on household tasks that could keep you up past your bedtime a few nights a week—but it’s just not worth the risk.

In addition, make sure you get your hormone levels checked. An imbalance in adrenal hormones, thyroid, progesterone, testosterone, growth hormone or melatonin all could contribute to poor sleep.

It also helps to take in plenty of antioxidants. Many of the foods we eat are rich in antioxidants, particularly colorful fruits rich in resveratrol and pterostilbene, like berries and grapes (including red wine). Dark chocolate and green tea also have plenty of free radical-fighting antioxidants.

If you don’t think you’re getting enough of these antioxidant-rich foods, you can always add an antioxidant supplement to your regimen. Vitamins A, C, E and D₃ all are free radical fighters. CoQ10 is especially helpful in protecting your heart health as well as neutralizing oxidants.

Sources:

Not getting enough sleep? Your vascular cells are drowning in oxidants — ScienceDaily

Mild sleep restriction increases endothelial oxidative stress in female persons — Scientific Reports

What Are Sleep Deprivation and Deficiency? — National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

The post The artery assault that happens when you go to bed late appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

I wrote about Dr. Walker here a few years back. He’s the director of the Center for Human Sleep Science at the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Walker said that we are in the midst of a “catastrophic sleep-loss epidemic,” and it’s costing people their lives by putting them at high risk for diabetes, dementia, hypertension, depression, heart attack, stroke and respiratory disease.

Today, the evidence of that epidemic, and that sleep is crucial to health and life, continues to pour in.

Most recently, a large-scale study has turned up a distinct link between poor sleep and hypertension… particularly in women.

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Poor sleep is highly associated with hypertension

Researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital followed 66,122 participants between 25 and 42 years of age in the Nurses’ Health Study II (NHS2) cohort for sixteen years (from 2001 until 2017).

In 2001, they first measured how long these women slept. Then they measured it again in 2009, recording the average number of hours slept over a 24-hour period.

None of the women had hypertension at the start of the study.

Upon analyzing the data, it became clear that women with sleeping difficulties also had higher BMIs, lower physical activity and poorer diets. They were more likely to smoke as well.

In a follow-up to the study, 25,987 cases of hypertension were documented, and it was shown that women who slept less than seven to eight hours a night had a significantly higher risk of developing hypertension.

This was also true for women who had trouble falling asleep and staying asleep.

Women who sleep poorly should be screened for hypertension

Dr. Shahab Haghayegh, a research fellow at the Brigham and Harvard Medical School, sums up the significance of these findings well:

“These findings suggest that individuals who struggle with symptoms of insomnia may be at risk of hypertension and could benefit from preemptive screening.”

In other words, women who consistently sleep fewer than seven hours a night and who have trouble falling or staying asleep ought to be screened for hypertension, even if they show no symptoms of hypertension per se.

Dr. Haghayegh goes on to say that “hypertension is associated with many other physical and mental health complications. The sooner we can identify individuals with high blood pressure and treat them for it, the better we can mitigate future health issues.”

While it hasn’t been proven that lack of sleep causes hypertension, Dr. Haghayegh further notes that sleep difficulties can lead to a chain of events that can increase sodium retention, arterial stiffness, and cardiac output, potentially leading to hypertension.

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Sleep away your blood pressure risks

If you’re a woman who struggles with sleep, it seems like trying to get a better night’s sleep would be a wise health move.

Not only could it save you from hypertension, but it could also help control your blood sugar and even keep Alzheimer’s away.

But that’s easier said than done…

Over the years I’ve read up on quite a few tips. The one that’s worked best for me when I have a bout of sleep trouble is a warm bath as part of my bedtime routine.

Water-based passive heating has a lot of science behind how it improves sleep — but it also helps burn calories and improves blood sugar levels which could have a positive impact on BMI.

Of course,e one of these 7 best diets for lowering blood pressure and putting the power of blueberries to work would be smart moves too.

Sources:

Sleep Struggles Link to Elevated Risk of Hypertension Neuroscience News

Sleeping Difficulties, Sleep Duration, and Risk of Hypertension in Women Hypertension

‘Catastrophic’ lack of sleep in modern society is killing us, warns leading sleep scientist Independent

The post Why women who struggle to sleep risk high blood pressure appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

I love the quiet time to collect my thoughts before anyone else is up.

I’m at my desk with coffee in hand as the sun is rising. By noon my work is done. The afternoon is for things that don’t require a sharp mind.

Until now, I’ve never considered whether there might also be health advantages to the fact that my body’s sleep clock is naturally set to “morning.”

Apparently, there are.

My “night owl” friends are at greater risk than I am of developing diabetes.

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“Night owl” habits are a set-up for diabetes

It’s not that being a night owl in and of itself is a built-in flaw that dooms you to disease.

Several years ago, a study at Northumbria University in England uncovered the fact that the lifestyle and diet habits of night owls are a set-up for developing type 2 diabetes.

For one thing, people who go to bed later tend to have unhealthier diets. They report consuming higher levels of caffeinated beverages, sugar, and snacks than early risers, who eat slightly more fruit and vegetables per day.

Night owls also consistently report more erratic eating patterns, missing breakfast and eating later in the day.

This potentially explains why night owls have a higher risk of suffering from chronic disease.

Study confirms night owls have higher risk for diabetes

More recently, a study from Brigham and Women’s Hospital confirms the fact that ‘night owls’ are more likely than ‘early birds’ to develop diabetes.

Dr. Tianyi Huang, an associate epidemiologist at Brigham and Women’s, along with his colleagues, analyzed data from 63,676 female nurses from the Nurses’ Health Study II collected from 2009-2017.

Their analysis included self-reported chronotype (the extent to which participants perceived themselves to be an evening person or a morning person), diet quality, weight and body mass index, sleep timing, smoking behaviors, alcohol use, physical activity, and family history of diabetes.

The team determined diabetes status from the participants’ self-reports and medical records — and they found that those identifying with an evening chronotype were associated with a 72 percent increased risk for diabetes before accounting for lifestyle factors.

However, after accounting for other lifestyle factors, the evening chronotype weighed in at a 19 percent increased risk of diabetes.

“When we controlled for unhealthy lifestyle behaviors, the strong association between chronotype and diabetes risk was reduced but still remained, which means that lifestyle factors explain a notable proportion of this association,” said first author Dr. Sina Kianersi.

In other words, the daily habits of night owls set them up for an increased risk of diabetes.

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Night owl habits affect blood sugar levels

Those with evening chronotypes were found to be more likely to drink alcohol in higher quantities, get fewer hours of sleep per night, currently smoke, and have weight, BMI, and physical activity rates in the unhealthy range.

Also, night owls eat fewer but larger meals, and their diets contain fewer grains, fruits, and vegetables. They also report higher levels of consumption of caffeinated beverages, sugar, and snacks than those with a morning chronotype.

But it’s the timing of eating that really affects glucose levels and swings so many night owls toward diabetes.

Glucose levels should naturally decline throughout the day and reach their lowest point at night. However, night owls often eat shortly before bed, increasing their glucose level when they are about to sleep. This could negatively affect metabolism as their body isn’t following its normal biological process.

Once a night owl, always a night owl?

“Chronotype, or circadian preference, refers to a person’s preferred timing of sleep and waking and is partly genetically determined so it may be difficult to change,” says Dr. Huang of Brigham and Women’s.

In addition to that, a person’s career can also impact whether trying to become a morning owl is even possible, especially if it requires night shift or swing shift hours.

But if you have a day job but still find yourself burning the midnight oil, check out the tips in this excellent short video on how to become less of a “night owl” and save your health.

Regardless, try to avoid the one habit that makes the night owl lifestyle habit especially harmful — unhealthy late-night snacking.

Research has found eating late makes fat grow because it makes a significant difference in our hunger levels, the way we burn calories after we eat and the way we store fat. That adds up to weight gain and that’s one more diabetes risk factor.

So trade in snacks like chips, pizza pockets or cookies with a handful or two of berries. Berries can put you back in control of your hunger by suppressing appetite and they contain anthocyanins — compounds that help fight blood sugar problems and obesity.

Sources:

‘Night owls’ more likely than ‘early birds’ to develop diabetes — Eureka Alert

Chronotype, Unhealthy Lifestyle, and Diabetes Risk in Middle-Aged U.S. Women  — Annals of Internal Medicine

Is being a night owl bad for your health? — Science Daily

The post Why late nights lead to blood sugar trouble appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

Offering a firm handshake when you meet someone is often taken as a sign of self-confidence. It shows that you’re interested and reflects your character. It’s also a sign of strength.

However, you may be as muscular as a young Arnold Schwarzenegger, but your handshake will reveal the true state of your health and strength — and whether you’re at risk for chronic disease and premature aging.

These are the findings of medical researchers in a study led by respiratory and sleep expert Professor Robert Adams of Flinders University in South Australia…

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Sleep apnea leads to inflammation, disease and early muscle loss

Prof. Adams and his team assessed 613 men ages 40 to 88 in the Men, Androgen, Inflammation, Lifestyle, Environment and Stress (MALES) Study.

Their goal was to measure the connection between muscle mass and grip strength in men who have obstructive sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea is a condition where the airway is closed off by soft tissue, causing a person to stop breathing for up to 30 seconds, sometimes hundreds of times per night.

The MALES study found that, no matter how muscular a man was or how much muscle mass he had, if his grip strength was weak, it indicated other underlying problems — including issues connected with aging, as well as systemic inflammation and hypoxemia (lack of oxygen in the blood).

“Without good levels of oxygen in the blood, we cannot use the muscles we have to their maximum,” says Professor Adams.

“Our findings suggest impairments in hand grip strength (HGS) may be related to fat infiltration of muscle, hypoxemia-induced reductions in peripheral neural innervation, or even endothelial dysfunction — a risk in chronic inflammation and even cancer.”

“Furthermore, considering that over a quarter of the MAILES participants have moderate to severe OSA, this suggests a large proportion of the population are at risk of early reductions in strength.”

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If you think you may have sleep apnea

According to Adelaide Sleep Institute for Sleep Health researcher Dr. David Steven, “This is important as up until now, age-related declines in strength and immobility (sarcopenia) were thought to be due to reductions in muscle which started when someone was over 60 years old. Instead, the declines in strength appear to begin at a younger age in people with obstructive sleep apnea.”

That means if you’re living with untreated sleep apnea, you could experience muscle loss at a much younger age. And that can lead to functional decline — in other words, male frailty.

Some definite signs of sleep apnea to watch for are:

●     Waking up with a very sore or dry throat

●     Occasionally waking up with a choking or gasping sensation

●     Sleepiness or lack of energy during the day

●     Waking up with a headache that goes away as you move around

●     Difficulty concentrating, or just not feeling as sharp as you used to

Your doctor can help you determine if sleep apnea is the cause and discuss treatments.

Another thing you can try is helping your body optimize oxygen levels. This is important also if you’re what’s known as a mouth breather.

Dimethylglycine or DMG for short, is a nutrient known to athletes to help give them a performance edge — thanks to its reputation as an all-natural oxygen and endurance enhancer.

DMG is created in the liver from the amino acid glycine and is involved in at least 41 different processes. Nothing, however, tops DMG’s abilities to support healthy oxygen levels in your body and optimize oxygen utilization in your cells, organs, and tissues.

You can read more about DMG here.

Sources:

Getting a grip on better health — Eureka Alert

How Hand Grip Strength, Body Composition May Influence Health of Patients With OSA — American Journal of Managed Care

The post The surprising condition causing premature muscle loss in men appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

In fact, surveys say that over one-third of adults in the U.S. regularly get less than seven hours of sleep per night, and that results in sleep debt or sleep deficit — the difference between the amount of sleep we need and how much we get.

Sadly, missing out on good sleep can not only leave you at higher risk of Alzheimer’s, but poor sleep is also the common denominator behind obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes.

“No problem,” you think. “I’ll just catch up on the weekend and all will be good, right?”

That’s a big “nope” according to Penn State researchers who found that no matter how much extra shut-eye you get on Saturday and Sunday, it still can’t make up for the damage of sleeping too little the rest of the week — especially when it comes to your heart.

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Too much of a deficit for the weekend to fix

In their study comparing sleep loss to heart dangers, the team recruited 15 healthy men between the ages of 25 and 35 to participate in an 11-day in-patient sleep study.

For the first three nights, all were allowed to sleep up to 10 hours per night to achieve a baseline sleep level.

And that’s when things got tough…

For the next five nights, the participants’ sleep was restricted to just five hours a night, followed by two recovery nights (think Saturday and Sunday), where they could hit that 10-hour mark again.

Every two hours while the men were awake throughout the study, the researchers measured their resting heart rate and blood pressure.

And sure enough — lack of sleep was bad news for the men’s heart health.

The researchers discovered that for each successive day of the study, their heart rate increased by nearly one beat per minute (BPM), with an average heart rate of 69 BPM on day 1, compared to nearly 78 BPM on the second day of recovery.

Unfortunately, increased heart rate wasn’t the only cardiovascular danger sign the men experienced…

Systolic blood pressure also increased by about 0.5 millimeters of mercury (mmHg) per day, starting out at an average of 116 mmHg and landing at nearly 119.5 mmHg by the end of the recovery period.

“Both heart rate and systolic blood pressure increased with each successive day and did not return to baseline levels by the end of the recovery period,” explained the study’s lead author, David Reichenberger. “So, despite having additional opportunity to rest, by the end of the weekend of the study, their cardiovascular systems still had not recovered.”

In other words, whether it’s work or play that prevents you from getting enough sleep during the week, assuming you can make up for it by sleeping in over the weekend is a big mistake that could cost you the health of your heart.

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Better sleep, better heart

In the last decade, so much research has come out on the direct impact of sleep on our health that the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) has declared it “essential to health” — in a special statement endorsed by 25 medical, scientific, patient, and safety organizations.

So if you’re not getting enough sleep during the week, it’s time to find a way to catch more zzz’s.

One way to make falling asleep and staying asleep easier is to drink a couple of ounces of tart cherry juice before bed. A natural source of the sleep hormone melatonin, tart cherry juice has been shown to boost both sleep time and sleep efficiency. To avoid waking up for a trip to the restroom, drink it at least an hour before you plan to hit the sheet.

To rest better, it’s also important to focus on good gut health since gut microbes play a role in the chemical processes in your brain via the gut-brain axis.

Finally, if those tip don’t quite work for you, some experts say to get good sleep, get naked!

Researchers have found that people who sleep naked are more likely to report high-quality sleep at a rate of 53 percent compared to 27 percent for those who slip between the sheets in pajamas.

Sources:

Playing catch-up on weekends may not improve cardiovascular cost of sleep loss — ScienceDaily

The post Weekend sleep-ins won’t undo sleep deficit heart damage appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

It’s easy to see why. During sleep, your body goes through restorative processes that maintain the health of the brain, cardiometabolic system, skeletal muscles and boney matrix system. Sleep also balances the health of the gut, hormones and immune system and allows the body’s detox processes to do their thing.

When your sleep is shortchanged, it can make you cranky, foggy and forgetful. But chronic sleep problems can lead to much worse — like increasing the risk of diabetes, dementia, depression, heart disease and respiratory disease.

While the connection between lack of sleep and these disorders is clear, what’s less so is exactly what mechanisms involved in sleep help keep these diseases at bay.

A team of sleep scientists at the University of California, Berkeley decided to take a closer look at how sleep influences one of these conditions. And what they found is exciting news for the 37.3 million Americans affected by it…

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Brain waves and blood sugar control

For years, researchers have been studying how the pairing of non-REM sleep spindles (a type of brain wave) and deep, slow brain waves corresponded to learning and memory. In fact, the UC Berkeley team previously discovered that deep-sleep brain waves improved the ability of the hippocampus to retain information. The hippocampus is the part of the brain associated with learning.

But this new research reveals a previously unrecognized role for these combined brain waves in humans when it comes to blood sugar management.

First, the UC Berkeley team examined sleep data from a group of 600 individuals. After controlling for other factors such as age, gender and the duration and quality of sleep, they found that the pair of non-REM sleep spindles and deep-sleep brain waves actually predicted glucose control for the next day.

“This particular coupling of deep-sleep brain waves was more predictive of glucose than an individual’s sleep duration or sleep efficiency,” says Raphael Vallat, a UC Berkeley postdoctoral fellow and co-author of the study.

Next, the team set out to locate the pathway that might explain how these deep-sleep brain waves might send a signal down into the body, ultimately predicting the regulation of blood sugar.

“These synchronized brain waves act like a finger that flicks the first domino to start an associated chain reaction from the brain, down to the heart, and then out to alter the body’s regulation of blood sugar,” says Matthew Walker, a UC Berkeley professor of neuroscience and psychology and senior author of the study.

Specifically, he adds, the signal predicts an increase in the body’s sensitivity to insulin…

“In the electrical static of sleep at night, there is a series of connected associations, such that deep-sleep brain waves telegraph a recalibration and calming of your nervous system the following day. This rather marvelous associated soothing effect on your nervous system is then associated with a reboot of your body’s sensitivity to insulin, resulting in a more effective control of blood sugar the next day.”

The researchers were able to replicate the same effects in a separate group of 1,900 participants.

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Sleep as part of diabetes care

One reason the researchers are excited by this advance is that sleep is a modifiable lifestyle factor that could be used alongside other treatments for high blood sugar or Type 2 diabetes.

It can be difficult for patients to adhere to diabetes medication and lifestyle changes — especially healthier eating habits and regular exercise. But who wouldn’t want to grab some deep sleep?

Compared to the total amount of hours we sleep, typically 7 to 9 per night, deep sleep duration is only about an hour and 45 minutes to 2 hours of that.

If you find it elusive, try pink noise. Some people need the noise of a fan to sleep soundly, but that’s considered white noise. Pink noise includes sounds like a babbling brook, ocean waves or rain falling on a leaf-covered forest floor.

In a Northwestern University study, subjects saw a significant increase in the amount of deep sleep they achieved after exposure to pink noise.

If you often wake feeling like you didn’t get a good night’s sleep, take steps to rule out sleep apnea or mouth breathing.

Sources:

Deep-sleep brain waves predict blood sugar control — ScienceDaily

Coordinated human sleeping brainwaves map peripheral body glucose homeostasis — Cell Reports Medicine

The Facts, Stats, and Impacts of Diabetes — Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The post How deep sleep tonight improves blood sugar tomorrow appeared first on Easy Health Options®.

However, these benefits are elusive for some. If you’re not a habitual napper, you may find yourself groggy after waking from a nap and dragging for the rest of the day.

It’s tough to say why the napping experience differs for each person. And that’s why researchers decided to dig into factors that may impact our likelihood to nap — as well as to measure the benefits…

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Genetics, napping and brain volume

A study led by Harvard University identified several genetic variants involved in napping by collecting data on almost half a million UK Biobank participants.

But recently, an international team of researchers decided to take this data a step further to see if there is a causal relationship between daytime napping and specific measures of brain health.

They analyzed health and cognition outcomes for people aged 40 to 69 and used Mendelian randomization to examine 97 snippets of DNA believed to show people’s likelihood of habitual napping. Then, they compared measures of brain health and cognition in those who were more genetically predisposed to nap against people who did not have these genetic variants.

What the researchers found was fascinating. Overall, people who are genetically “programmed” to nap had a larger total brain volume than those who aren’t. They estimated the average difference in brain volume between the two was equivalent to 2.6 to 6.5 years of aging.

In other words, daytime napping may help significantly slow the rate at which our brains shrink as we age. This is great news, as larger total brain volume is linked to a lower risk of dementia and other diseases.

The researchers did not obtain any specifics on nap duration. But earlier studies suggest naps of 30 minutes or less provide the best short-term cognitive benefits.

The researchers did note that they did not find a difference in how well those predisposed to be habitual nappers did in terms of hippocampal volume, reaction time and visual processing, all of which are additional markers of brain health and cognitive function.

Still, senior author Dr. Victoria Garfield of the MRC Unit for Lifelong Health & Ageing at UCL says the findings “suggest that, for some people, short daytime naps could help preserve the health of the brain as people age.

“I hope studies such as this one showing the health benefits of short naps can help to reduce any stigma that still exists around daytime napping,” Garfield adds.

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Keep it short and sweet

Now, you may have heard that frequent daytime napping is connected with cardiovascular disease, hypertension, stroke, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease and death. However, there was one thing that these studies had in common: the naps in question tended to be 60 minutes or longer. If someone is experiencing a constant sleep deficit and persistent state of exhaustion that leads them to sleep during the day, it could be a sign of an existing, underlying health issue.

Some experts believe the point where napping becomes problematic is in the zone between 30 minutes and 1.5 hours. At this point, the body can drop into a deep sleep, but it doesn’t have the chance to complete a full sleep cycle. This could be why some nappers feel groggy upon waking.

So, if you’re looking to get the brain benefits of napping but avoid the risks, the sweet spot appears to be between 20 and 30 minutes in the middle of the day. This gives you just enough time to get some light rest without slipping into the heavier sleep that can be difficult to rouse yourself from.

If you have a hard time napping, the Sleep Foundation has some advice: For some people, naps may feel natural or even necessary after lunchtime. This is sometimes known as the post-lunch dip. While eating lunch may play a role in afternoon sleepiness, the post-lunch dip is linked to circadian rhythm. Circadian rhythm is the body’s internal clock that follows a 24-hour cycle. Within this cycle are two peak periods for sleepiness. The greatest peak is during the night, and the second one falls in the early afternoon.

Try napping during that dip in the early afternoon to train your mind and body. to nap. Plan ahead and take care of noise or comfort issues. And if you nap before 3 p.m., it reduces the likelihood of the nap impacting your nighttime sleep.

Sources:

Regular napping linked to larger brain volume — EurekAlert!

Is there an association between daytime napping, cognitive function, and brain volume? A Mendelian randomization study in the UK Biobank — Sleep Health

29 Napping Statistics & Facts to Boost Your Energy Levels — DisturbMeNot!

The science of naps — American Psychological Association

Who’s Napping, How Long, and What Does It Mean for Our Health? — Sleep Foundation

The post Can napping save you from brain shrinkage? appeared first on Easy Health Options®.