Transforming Your Life

Transforming Your Life

Best Health Tips 2019

#1 : Go to Bed and Sleep

Prioritise your sleep. Sounds easy right?

In an never ending world of infinite distractions, stimulation, great content online, a phone tied to your waist, it has been difficult for patients to make sleep a continual routine. Like a child's sleep routine, you need to work out how many hours of sleep you personally require and set a consistent time to go to bed and a time to wake up. Not keeping a set routine for sleep will make you feel like you have constant jet lag.

You must prioritise your sleep.

Sleep is another often ignored lifestyle factor that has a tremendous impact on your health—physically, mentally, and emotionally. The other side of sleep is related to light. It's actually crucial to get enough light during daytime hours in order to sleep well. Light actually serves as the major synchronizer of something called your master clock. This master clock is a group of cells in your brain called the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN). As a group, these nuclei synchronize to the light-dark cycle of your environment when light enters the eye. You also have other biological clocks throughout your body, and those clocks subsequently synchronize to your master clock.

To maintain healthy master clock timing, you want to get bright light exposure during the day. Going outside for half an hour at lunch time can provide you with the majority of light you need to maintain a healthy circadian rhythm. The ideal time to go outdoors would be the morning light to noon.

In the evening, you want to dim environmental lights and avoid the blue light wavelength such as used in iPads, computer screens, gaming screens,mobile phones, TV's etc. Use blue-blocking light bulbs, dimming your lights with dimmer switches, and turn off unneeded lights, and if using a computer in the evening, consider installing blue light-blocking software like f.lux.10. When it's time to go to sleep, make sure your bedroom is very, very dark. For a good night sleep no light filtering in at all to produce the optimal amount of melatonin.

Before bed, ensure you have al least 90 minutes of no tech respite. Yes!!! 90 minutes before bed - No ipad, No phone invasion and preferably no TV (which means no TV in the bedroom). Use your bedroom for sleeping and other nocturnal activities. Having blue light tech in the bedroom only excites the opioid centres in your brain and nervous system retaliating with biochemical responses that are apt to keep you awake. Always make sure your screen light is set to a warm hue not the blue light hue (settings) and limit screen time during the day. Actually factor in a time limit during the day and stick to it to limit addiction.

Most patients I test for sleep disturbances are found to have high hormone cortisol levels at night and low in the morning which is really going to upset their circardian sleep pattern. Resetting their patterns and habits comes along way with restoring their sleep problems and having them have a great nights rest.

Your bedroom should be your personal happy space, your cocoon. Make sure you have the lighting and decor done to your taste. The temperature should be right. If you're married, make sure you sign a temperature treaty.

Your bed should allow you enough space to stretch and roll without being cramped ..

No stimulants after 12 noon - a lot of patients are sensitive to stimulants such as chocolate, soft drink, caffeine and sugar. Their liver is compromised and has a difficult time detoxing with phase 2 of the elimination system, allowing toxins and stimulants to stay within their systems longer, creating havoc with their nervous systems

Sleep is such an important habit that is hugely under rated. So many functions occur when we sleep that repair, rejuvenate and grow our systems to function optimally during the day. Sleep is a master regulator of hormones. The glymphatic system of the brain requires the swooshing of fluid to cleanse the brain at night. Bad sleep equates to diseases and symptoms of being pre-diabetic for the day, insulin resistant longer term, hormone displacement which factors in growth issues, menstruation issues, bad moods and mental and emotional health just to name a few. I'll expand on the radio show program......

If you want to transform your health in 2019, You must Prioritise Your Sleep - For your sake...............................

Here's to great sleep and dreams.....................................