6/13/2023 0 Comments Increase deep sleep![]() ![]() When we do slip into a caffeinated sleep, it is often fitful and disrupted. The chemical blocks adenosine from entering the brain, staving off sleep. Caffeine, too, can hinder deep sleep, although the mechanics are different. With both sleeping pills and alcohol, those who take them often wake feeling groggy, weary, and fatigued - despite having “slept” for eight hours. ![]() ![]() It lulls people to sleep, but prevents them from reaching the physically restorative deep sleep stage. In fact, while sleeping pills induce “sleep,” they stymie progression into deep sleep.Īlcohol performs a similar function. The medicines target a set of receptors in the brain to induce a state of unconsciousness - a poor imitation of sleep. Many common substances have sinister sleep side effects. But our environment is only half the equation. It uses chilled air to emulate natural sleeping conditions, lowering the sleeper’s core body temperature and promoting the same deep sleep our ancestors would have enjoyed. We designed the Bryte Balance™ mattress to address the disparity between biological presets and modern life. While sleep scientists recommend temperatures between 60☏ and 66☏, most Americans set their thermostats much higher. Modern bedrooms couldn’t be more different. Our bodies adapted for natural caves and basic outside shelters - environments that grow cool and dark overnight. The phenomenon’s cause lies in evolutionary biology. By reducing our core temperature by one or two degrees in the first half of the night, our bodies more readily slip into deep sleep. Modern sleep science uncovered a link between temperature and deep sleep. The quality of our sleep is impacted by our environment, personal health, and life choices, and continues to change and evolve. But being unconscious for nine hours is rarely enough. While the old adage advises eight hours of sleep, the CDC prescribes between seven and nine. To increase our deep sleep, we must first create the opportunity for it to exist. Just one night of four hours of sleep will drive a 70% reduction in immune cell activity. Deep sleep deprivation need not be long-term to deliver harm, either. Without deep sleep cleansing our minds, toxic proteins like amyloids will accumulate, killing the surrounding cells and leading to degenerative illnesses like Alzheimer's. Memories that were crystal clear yesterday will fade into the ether, half-remembered or wholly forgotten. Unbeknown to us, insufficient deep sleep also wreaks havoc on our cognition. With our energy supplies depleted, exhaustion will arrive early, wearing us down further. Our muscles will ache and our joints grind. Without sufficient deep sleep, our bodies will not recover from the stresses of our waking lives. Clearly, it might be easy to let those precious few minutes of deep sleep go unachieved if our time spent asleep is cut dramatically short-after all, several minutes of non-deep sleep are essentially required as payment for each single minute of deep sleep. That said, if a good night’s sleep consists of seven to nine hours of sleep, and deep sleep comprises approximately 13-23% of that time spent sleeping, that means about one hour to 100 minutes of deep sleep has been accomplished during a full night of rest. As deep sleep is only one of four different steps in the continuous cycle of sleep, and deep sleep stages are variable in length throughout the night, it’s hard to “plan” for a certain amount of time spent in deep sleep particularly. To keep it simple, an adult typically should get seven to nine hours of sleep each night. During deep sleep, we process memories, reinforce our immune systems, and wash away harmful toxins from our brains. It allows our bodies to heal worn-down muscles and replenish exhausted energy supplies. It’s the physically-reparative stage of sleep. This is deep sleep - otherwise known as “NREM” (or non-REM) stages three and four. From cardiovascular to digestive, our body’s systems automatically recalibrate. Our bodies release a deluge of hormones and proteins. Powerful delta brainwaves erupt in our heads. It’s time to take a good look at how deep sleep works, why it is necessary, and how we can all get more of it. Deep sleep, a crucial component of any sleep cycle, is becoming harder and harder to come by in our sleep-deprived world. And not all kinds of sleep are equal in impact-or, arguably, in importance. ![]() In fact, while sleep can appear boring on the outside, it is quite a dynamic internal process. While a casual approach to sleep improvement may simply focus on getting in a certain number of hours each day, such a concept doesn’t embrace the full complexity of humanity’s sleep needs. Over 70 million Americans suffer from various sleep disorders or intermittent sleep issues on an annual basis. Increasingly, sleep deprivation is a silent burden on modern society. ![]()
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