Not Sleeping Well? Maybe You Need To Eat More!

Consider this: We sleep for about 1/3 of our life.  That, my friends, is a significant amount of time!

So, what happens when we sleep?

Have you ever thought about it?

Well I’m here to tell you that there is a world of action going on as we lay supine bridging one day to the next.

Brain Action

While we sleep our brain is working hard to process what we’ve learned during the day. Research also shows that sleep may promote the removal of waste products from brain cells.  Effectively this means that while we sleep our brains are detoxifying.brain

Detoxifying and Repairing

While we sleep our body is also hard at work detoxifying other areas of our body, as well as repairing it.

Our liver is at its peak detox stage between 1 and 3 am and our lungs around 4am.

And during sleep our body repairs cells, tissues and muscles. It synthesizes proteins and releases hormones.

Immune System

While we sleep our immune system is hard at work defending us.  It releases cytokines (proteins that fight inflammation and infection) as well as antibodies and immune cells that work to fight off harmful germs and infection.

So, as I am sure you can surmise, sleep is not a passive passage of time.  It’s an essential piece of our health puzzle.

Sleep Disruptors

There are many things to take a look at when you are trying to figure out why you may not be getting a good night’s sleep:

  • Poor sleep habits like not going to bed at a consistent time each night
  • Stress
  • Certain medications
  • External light
  • Room Temperaturesleep

And I am going to offer up one more.  A reason not often considered.

Are you consuming enough good quality food each and every day?  If not, this could be a contributing factor to poor sleep.

You need to provide your body with enough of the essential nutrients that it requires to have the energy it needs to perform all of those tasks that I mentioned above.  It’s vital for a restful sleep.

Our activity level, metabolism, body weight and how much we sleep each night are key factors in determining how many calories we burn while we sleep.

You can turn to calculators like https://captaincalculator.com/health/calorie/calories-burned-sleeping-calculator/ to help you determine more precisely how many calories you burn while sleeping but to put things into a bit of perspective here, a person weighing 150lbs may burn 400 calories during 8 hours of sleep while someone who is 185lbs may in the area of 500 calories.

It’s significant isn’t it?

I’m seeing this issue pop up more and more, especially in people who are experimenting with some form of fasting.  Fasting can be a great tool if done properly.  But it is not for everyone and definitely should be discussed with a practitioner who has experience in this area.

So here is a parting tip for you if you are trying to improve your sleep.

Keep a daily food journal.  Record what and how much you eat every day.

What you learn from it may surprise you!

References

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/how-sleep-clears-brain

https://www.healthline.com/health/why-do-we-sleep#restoration

https://www.healthline.com/health/calories-burned-sleeping

 

cancer

Fasting-like Diet Turns the Immune System Against Cancer

I read many studies and theories about nutrition and nutritional therapies within the realm of cancer care. Although I do try to keep an open mind to all that I read and base my opinions on the evidence presented, I must admit that I tend to favour those that resonate with me.  I do understand that this may put me under the umbrella of bias, but it allows me to be fully invested when my thoughts do align with solid research that I read. 

I have been follow the work of Professor Valter Longo for some time now.  I find his research to be both solid and promising.  He has researched and published findings on fasting, the immune system and increasing effectiveness of chemotherapy.

The study referenced below was published in 2016.  In it, Longo demonstrated (in mice) how implementation of a fasting-mimicking diet can stimulate the immune system of the mice and increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy in breast and skin cancer.

In speaking about his findings he stated:

“The mouse study on skin and breast cancers is the first study to show that a diet that mimics fasting may activate the immune system and expose the cancer cells to the immune system,” Longo said. “This could be a very inexpensive way to make a wide range of cancer cells more vulnerable to an attack by the immune cells while also making the cancer more sensitive to the chemotherapy.”

He further noted:

“It may be that by always being exposed to so much food, we are no longer taking advantage of natural protective systems which allow the body to kill cancer cells,” Longo said. “But by undergoing a fasting-mimicking diet, you are able to let the body use sophisticated mechanisms able to identify and destroy the bad but not good cells in a natural way.”

Below is the link to an article reporting Longo’s finding.

Fasting-like Diet Turns the Immune System Against Cancer