Dr Greg Potter is a PhD graduate at the University of Leeds & Content Director at HumanOS. His research focus is on sleep and chronobiology; looking at circadian rhythms, light-dark cycles and the potential for meals to entrain peripheral circadian clocks. The unsung hero of health is hiding under our pillow every night and today we learn just how important a good night's sleep is to our short & long term fitness, our mood, cognitive output, physical performance, injury risk, weight and pretty much everything else. Discover the best approach for dealing with sleep deprivation, how to optimise your sleeping environment, how meal content & timing can affect our circadian rhythms and a lot more. Further Reading: Follow Greg on Twitter: https://twitter.com/gdmpotter $1 for 1 month of Premium Membership at: https://www.humanos.me/ (Code: modernwisdom) Check out everything I recommend from books to products and help support the podcast at no extra cost to you by shopping through this link - https://www.amazon.co.uk/shop/modernwisdom - Get in touch. Join the discussion with me and other like minded listeners in the episode comments on the MW YouTube Channel or message me... Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chriswillx Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/chriswillx YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/ModernWisdomPodcast Email: https://www.chriswillx.com/contact
Dr. Greg Potter discusses the importance of sleep and provides tips to improve sleep habits.
Dan Pardi discusses the different sleep patterns of various organisms and the importance of sleep, while sharing his research on the association between sleep duration and diabetes risk markers and eating habits in the UK.
This podcast episode explains the stages of sleep, including non-REM sleep and rapid eye movement sleep (REM sleep) and how they affect humans. The speaker also talks about the benefits of open access data for scientific research.
This episode explores the genetic variants associated with shorter sleep and the objective effects of disrupted sleep on various outcomes, including energy consumption. Sleep studies in laboratory environments are highlighted as an effective way to assess these outcomes.
The light-dark cycle regulates our sleep, and changes in this cycle can modulate our sleep patterns. Sleep scientists have been able to detect the arrow of causality between sleep and issues, such as depression and circadian rhythm disorders, by studying the effects of light exposure on sleep.
Shift work, which affects 20% of people in Europe and North America, not only affects those who work these shifts but also their loved ones. Night shift work, in particular, has been linked to an increased risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and stroke due to disruptions in sleep and the body's natural circadian rhythm.
This episode discusses the importance of sleep and paying off sleep debt. It explains how the brain is restored during sleep and the consequences of not getting enough rest.
You can try to use naps to bank sleep during the day and things like meditation are quite helpful. Being physically active during the day can help burn more energy and accumulate more Adenosine, thus helping you sleep better at night.
It's important to reduce light exposure, specifically to blue light, before going to bed. Blue light affects the circadian system and has other effects on things like cognition.
Raising the temperature of your skin by a couple of degrees before sleep can help you achieve better sleep by creating a gradient between your core temperature, brain temperature, and skin temperature. White noise in the background can also help mask any disturbances in your sleep pattern.
The half life of caffeine is the amount of time it takes for the concentration of the substance in your bloodstream to reach half of the peak value of the experience after consuming caffeine. Improving sleep quality through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) can make people more sensitive to caffeine again, while consuming alcohol can decrease rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.
Melatonin supplements can benefit elderly people with dampening circadian rhythms, insomnia, and post-menopausal women to improve bone mineral density and body composition.
Melatonin may not be a natural sleep hormone and taking common dosages can result in higher levels of the hormone in your bloodstream. It is also unusual as it does not lead to the tolerance and withdrawal effects of other sleep aids.
The timing of your meals serves as the main time cue for peripheral clocks outside the master clock in your body. Consistency in the timing of meals leads to better calorie burning, blood sugar regulation and improved blood lipid profiles.
The benefits of restricted eating periods can include giving the gut a break for consistency in digestive health, although it can also result in consuming fewer calories and expending less energy. It is also important to distinguish the effects of restricted caloric periods from energy restriction as they often coincide.
A study shows that people who sleep less tend to be heavier and have bigger waistlines, as well as lower levels of HDL cholesterol. However, it is important to be cautious of anecdote-based books claiming weight loss success as they may not be scientific or sustainable.
In order to avoid sleep inertia, it is recommended to bank on sleep before if one knows about a long day ahead. Also, it is important to avoid activities that impair good sleep at night to avoid sleep inertia the next morning.
Naps boost immune function and memory consolidation, making it a crucial habit to prioritize for overall health. The podcast covers sleep in depth and related technologies to improve engagement with healthy behaviors.
Greg Potter emphasizes the importance of trying new habits in your lifestyle as a way to better yourself. He encourages a healthy attitude of self-experimentation and trying different things to see what helps without feeling overwhelmed by the options.