Rest & Digest
“High quality sleep fortifies your immune system, balances your hormones, boosts your metabolism, increases physical energy, and improves the function of your brain.”
"In Sleep Smarter, you’ll learn how sleep impacts your mind, body and performance, plus practical solutions to help you get the best sleep ever." read more
Happy Holidays! I picked the title Rest and Digest not because it lines up perfectly with the content that I will be recapping with you today, though it does. I picked it because it matters so much that it’s absolutely worth incorporating it into a talk about Sleep and elimination. You see where I’m going with this…. I am a scientist at heart and I want you to know the deeper science to all the self care measures that I share with you. Most of all, I want you to feel empowered in your personal healthcare. Finally, I want to convince you that taking control of your health and longevity begins with self care. It’s not the woo woo notion that new age magazines and luxury spas make it seem (though I’m all about a spa and learning more about meditation and new age concepts). I’ve stated it before, HEALTH is self-care. The Oxford Living Dictionary defines self-care as “the practice of taking action to preserve or improve one’s own health.” It’s self -love and taking the time developing nourishing practices that respond to what your body needs. For too long we’ve been putting off for another day what we truly need TODAY. We put ourselves second, prioritizing the hustle and bustle that needs our attention…the urgent. It’s the pieces of our life that are the most important (not urgent) that are the pieces that will truly move the needle…give us more energy…more mental clarity… more confidence…a chance to see our grandchildren or travel. To know that we are doing all we can do to turn off the genetic coding for conditions that have plagued our parents and ancestors for generations.
Ok I’m done with that rant! For now… 😉 So Rest and Digest? Do you remember hearing that phrase “rest and digest” in science class? Or your parents telling you not to run around right after eating. Well It’s a real thing and actually a major player in your healthier life and longevity.
The quick science states that our body needs to be in rest and digest mode in order to do its job properly, the brain needs our nervous system to chill out — this responsibility falls to the parasympathetic nervous system. The PNS lowers our blood pressure, promotes digestion and eliminates waste from our bodies. This is known as rest-and-digest mode. With more time resting and digesting (and out of high cortisol fight or flight states) our brains can better learn to distinguish regular life stress from true life-threatening stress.
Learning how to work with life stressors and find strategies for your stress is vital to your body's ability to regulate the processes just mentioned above. AND it’s not just about stress. The Science of self care suggests that all the pieces that we have learned about health and wellbeing over these last weeks from eating well, blood sugar balance, rethinking highly refined sugar choices, exercise, movement, and Sleep hygiene and elimination support our bodies to stay in that parasympathetic mode nicknamed rest and digest. This is the mode where our bodies can regulate itself and we can truly heal. In my childbirth doula practice we call that “The Healing Room” for a reason. Moving on to the subject at hand…
SLEEP
Doctors and personal scholars like Shawn Stevenson, Max Lugavere, Rubin Naiman, and more are giving us a whole new spin on what it means to rest and digest…what many call “rest and repair”. As A holistic health practitioner and coach I haven’t learned any lesson about health more surprising than that of sleep! OMG it’s way more than just getting your zzz's so your not falling asleep on the ride home the next day. Thomas Dekker once said that “Sleep is the golden chain that ties HEALTH and our bodies together.” From physical healing/repair/and energy…all the way to human growth hormone production and weight loss! — Sleep is the master regulator. Humans can’t even survive without sleep for more than 10 or 11 days! After being a busy mom using the “nighttime babysitter” to get EVERYTHING else done — I am now literally a devotee of 7 hours of sleep a night. Though it’s a North Star some days, it’s definitely a central part of my health and healing in every area of my life.
During our third and most recent Health Is The Gift talk we pulled out the two bookends of the parasympathetic mode of the nervous system nicknamed “rest and digest”. Our focus was actually elimination in all it’s manifestations. We began with sleep because during quality deep sleep our body can clear toxins and even cleans proteins that accumulate in the brain (amyloid plaques - associated with Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease).
That’s not all, sleep matters to our overall health because sleep (and melatonin) is one of the master regulator of our hormones. For example, just one night of sleep deprivation can accelerate the aging process and increase your cortisol and suppress Melatonin. Melatonin is needed to help your body go through the sleep phases. More interestingly, poor sleep suppresses leptin, which is your body's satiety hormone, that makes you feel like you are satisfied when you eat food. There's also an increase in ghrelin, which is your body’s hunger hormone. With sleep deprivation we see a decrease in testosterone production in one week and increase in blood sugar and insulin resistance the next day. In plain English among other things we consume more calories after even just one night of bad sleep and our higher insulin and blood sugar encourages weight gain and inflammation in the body. A study that was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that young men who put themselves in a sleep debt for just one week of getting five hours of sleep per night, saw their testosterone levels drop by up to 15 percent!
This is bigger than sleepiness and energy - which is vital for performance and quality of life. The bigger picture is that the human body is designed to power down properly and essentially reboot your system. Self care with quality sleep and restful state are an essential must in your health practice.
A note on napping…
In the Model health podcast TMHS 225: Shawn Stevenson discusses napping. I’ve always learned that a “power nap” is ideal to shake the sleepy vibe and not undermine your energy with grogginess the way a longer nap can. (10-26min) However, napping during prolonged sleep loss may serve to prevent sleepiness much more than it helps to actually recover from the sleep loss. So having that nap might help with the sleepiness you're feeling, but it's not necessarily helping you to recover from the poor quality sleep you're getting.
I also learned that a 45 - 90 min nap does have some advantages. Shawn states that 45 minute nap can produce up to a five fold improvement in information retrieval from memory. And that a 90 min nap can actually offer a complete sleep cycle which can offer many of the benefits of deep sleep plus memory retrieval. Still, we want to focus on getting great sleep at night, it's like a nap is like a supplement, alright, your sleep at night is the real food, you don't want to mistake the two, so make sure that you're getting optimal sleep at night so that you don't feel this draw of sleepiness and fatigue.
We want to make sure we're serving people so they have the strategies to get great sleep at night in the first place, so we can change culture, so we can actually have the health and fitness that we all really desire because that is found in getting great sleep.
*Also consider diet and blood sugar balance to also avoid the dips in the daytime in addition to sleep… I hope by now you are remembering that sleep deprivation negatively influences those high refined carb cravings in the first place!
I hope you’re still with me, this final note on sleep is unexpected and a completely new reason to protect your sacred healing sleep with your lifestyle. Did you know that sleep is also a time that we clear out and integrate our day and life events. Rubin Naiman states that “ sleep loss is more importantly dream loss…and that dream sleep (deep REM sleep) is critical for consolidating memory. Dreams are involved in emotional haling and that the brain is a second gut and when it comes to dreaming - when we dream the mind and brain digests and assimilates information. Much of modern lifestyle suppresses REM sleep. Learn more here.
What goes in must come out!
There are so many things that we need to let go of, am I right? Let's begin with food waste and the third most foundational piece to your overall health. If you’ve been in my programs or talks you know the other two are Blood Sugar Balance and of course Sleep!
Quite frankly, if you're not pooping you're not living! Did you know the recommendation is 1- 3 bowel movements a day! If your norm is less frequent dont worry! Constipation is defined to be having less than 3 bowel movements a week. Functionally, the body needs to clear the waste and toxins every day and it’s worth it to tinker with your diet and lifestyle to help your body get there. It’s worth it for your immune system, mental state, clear skin, energy and seriously every cellular process in the body.
Next, consider that every terd has a tale! Excuse my potty talk but it’s the little s#%@ that does matter in this case. I’ll spare you the full explanation but I’ll quickly reference the Bristol stool scale to give you a quick overview and you can learn more here. How your stool compares to these different types can be a good indicator of your general health.
Stool types 1 and 2 are variations of constipation. This may indicate the need for more water, more healthy fats, maybe even more fiber (with even more hydration). Add movement, stretching, yoga, or aerobic exercise to support. There are so many factors for constipation like stress, withholding, and medication. These are just a couple lifestyle factors that can help. Consult your doctor if you are constipated for more than 7 days.
If your norm is stool types 3 and 4 - you are likely doing just fine! Take a peek at the chart if you're curious here.
Stool types 5, 6, and 7 are progressive forms of diarrhea. Consider the following: food sensitivities, IBS, adding fiber for bulk or reducing fiber if you're new to it. In the case of more severe diarrhea consider your medication/antibiotics, food poisoning, heartburn meds/ statins, food sensitivities or allergies.
Color matters too! Bright red, dark red/black, or pale yellow/greasy stools can indicate something more serious.
Food for thought
Surround yourself with people that empower you, inspire you, encourage you and hold you accountable. Connect to those people who get you — who accept you, support you and make you laugh. Rest, Digest, and elimination is not only reserved for sleep and poop. By now I am certain that you are onto the fact that we also must consider taking a rest from negative people and influences in our life. I always appreciate the quote that “ you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with” by Jim Rohn. It reminds me that just like our cells need good food, good mood, and plenty of water to heal and rejuvenate, we need a healthy environment around us as well. Creating community and connecting to purpose is vital in order to not merely survive but to thrive. No need to kick everyone to the curb but this new year is a great opportunity to take inventory of how you feel about that part of your life - Relationships!
Health huddle, play # 3
Ok team we are nearly to the end of this game - Health Is The Gift this year and from now on. Trying out these plays and learning what works for you in community and with courage and strength of character will set you up for success.
Create a healthy bedtime routine and sleep sanctuary in your bedroom. The body needs routine and thrives on a regular schedule and less stimulation closer to bedtime. Try some of these expert suggestions:
Give yourself some tech free time before bed. Turn off screens and bright lights an hour before bed ( opt to take bath, read or journal with a low light, or plan out your clothes , talk to or connect with your loved ones). Consider blue light blocking glasses or screen protectors or apps.
Practice finishing your meals and snacks 2 (or 3) hours before bed. Then you actually have to go to bed. “A tired brain is a hungry brain” Shawn Stevenson. The later you stay up the hungrier you get. If you do need a snack then remember our motto “better beats bad”. Your body has more quality sleep, repair, and cleansing when your not full or still digesting throughout the night. Especially when these foods are heavy, processed, full of bad or over heated fats, and refined sugars. Sugar affects your hormones and that blood sugar spike can impact quality sleep. Alcohol is a sedative yes but it damages REM sleep and also creates a REM rebound effect and fragments your sleep stages. Give yourself time to clear it 2 hours or so.
Aim for 7 - 8 hours of sleep a night and a bedtime of 10pm. If this isn’t possible for you, focus on getting the max sleep available to you and aim to keep your bedtime and sleep schedule consistent. Meaning go to bed at the same time each day. Our body thrives on routine and rhythms. Same for kids! Yes teens naturally sleep and wake later but the timeframe and consistency is still vital. Melatonin is produced during darkness and the screens are challenging. Melatonin helps us move through our sleep cycles. Sleep refreshes and repairs and supports memory, mood, cravings, human growth hormone and so much more…
Create a sleep sanctuary. There is a science behind these recommendations that you can look up but here are a few ideas: tidy and organize your bedroom, move books and electronics away from where you sleep, dark curtains or black out curtains if your window let’s in a lot of light at night. I’ve hear a few friends tell me that getting a new mattress saved their marriage and their backs. Turn down the temp at night to enhance sleep and melatonin production. Last but not least turn off tech and have out of sight an hour to 30 minutes before sleep.
Remember that naps are a supplement and quality sleep is the real food! Quality sleep may help to eliminate the need for a nap. That and other pieces mentioned above.
Drink more water and healthy fluids in general. To maintain healthy elimination hydration is key. Set alarms or schedule appointments on your calendar to remind yourself to drink water consistently throughout the day.
Don’t hold back! You may have noticed that you eliminate on a schedule (morning, evening, after work or school…) Sometimes we suppress our bodies natural clock and then we loose the urge which leads to constipation. Try not to stress out to the point it hurts your bowel movements. Honor your body's natural rhythms and make space for it. Release to make peace!
Eat less processed foods and add more fiber. Trust me, healthy bowel movements are the ultimate self-care.
*The suggestion for Fiber has come up many times over the Health is the Gift Series. In this case, Fiber normalizes bowel movements. It increases the weight and size of your stool and softens it. It helps to lower cholesterol levels and blood sugar levels and boosts the beneficial bacteria in your gut. It’s associated with colon health and longevity. If you are interested in how to add it here are a few foods to experiment with and see what works for you. *increase water when increasing fiber. Some benefit from starting low and going slow. Some systems need to get used to the added fiber.
7 foods high in soluble fiber everyone should eat | Well+Good
See some of you tomorrow, this New Year’s Day, Jan 1, 2022 at 10am PST/1pm EST. This will conclude our Health is the Gift series! For more info on HEALTH IS THE GIFT and to join tomorrow workshop - visit www.makinihealth.com More programs and offerings for EVERYONE in the new year! *Health Is The Gift is A holiday health series for POC and their friends and loved ones.
Health Is The Gift member Jeannine Hooks shared her Christmas Dinner Salad. She wrote: “Here's a pic of the amazing salad I made with kale, radicchio, persimmon, walnuts and bleu cheese. Also a shot of everything else.” 😊
*Always listen to your own body. I make recommendations and you make the decisions! This information is not intended to replace medical advice. Talk to your doctor about your diet and lifestyle changes (forgive them if they don’t know tons about it). Know your numbers with baseline testing (more talks to come about testing!)
