The latest research on sleep is putting a greater influence into its’ importance and raising big questions about the health of growing number of Americans that are opting out of getting a good nights sleep.  In 1910, the average American got 9 hours of sleep per night compared to today’s average of 7 hours.  This is causing major problems as sleep loss last year in the U.S. cost over 70 billion dollars in lost productivity and accounted for 38,000 deaths. New studies have led scientists to conclude that sleep is less for the body’s sake and more for the brain.  Sleep acts to detoxify the brain, purging it of free radicals, preserving the brain from atrophy and decay, similar to that found in dementia, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s disease. 

Researchers have concluded that a decrease in sleep can lead to a slow down of your body’s metabolism.  It appears that a hormone called Leptin is produced during sleep and this hormone tells the brain when the body has enough fatty tissue. Therefore,  if you don’t get enough sleep your brain will tell the body to store fat.

Our obsession with caffeine in this country is making some Americans feel sleep is unnecessary.  Today 167 million Americans are coffee drinkers consuming 6.3 billion gallons per year.  That equals out to 3.4 cups per day.  Worse than that is the amount of caffeinated soft drinks that are consumed in this country.  In 2003, we drank 15.3 billion gallons of soda which equals out to 574 cans for every man, woman, and child.  Caffeine is like all other drugs in its effects on the brain.  A first time coffee drinker will feel a buzz with as little as 20mg of caffeine.  That is the amount in just one and half cups of coffee.  However, an experienced coffee drinker may need over 1200mg for the same effect, leading to hypertension, jitteriness and sleeplessness.  In fact, physical dependence can occur in just three days of caffeine intake.

I have some recommendations to those who are experiencing sleep loss.  First, start by resetting your internal clock by going to bed at the same time each night, sometime between 9:00 and 10:30 is preferred.  Second, perform a routine for one half hour before bed that will act to set the stage for sleep.  A relaxing routine may include a shower, brushing your teeth, changing into your sleep-wear, cervical tractioning, 5 grams of L-glutamine, and finally reading and/or praying for 10-15 minutes before turning out the light.  Just make sure you are reading something that is relaxing or calming, not a murder mystery or the front page of the paper.  Like Pavlov’s dogs, this will train your brain to relax to prepare you for a good night’s sleep.

Dr. Daryl Rich