Gimme a Good Night's Sleep and Food in my Belly......Ahhh!!

5/26/2021

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Getting a good night's sleep and 'eating clean' can help you to get through stressful times.

Helping you get through the Pandemic: Part 2
Sleep routines & nutrition

So a lot of the magazines at the checkout seem to have variations on the themes of sleep, nutrition, exercise and meditation to help you deal with stress. But why?

Foundation Repair in Western WA - Kunkel Moving

Foundation Repair in Western WA - Kunkel Moving

If you think about the developmental stages that we go through as children, it doesn't start with us as thinking and doing humans. We are human BEINGS! The first stage of development of our mind, body and spirit involves, eating, sleeping, letting go of waste and bonding. And also noticing and learning how to explore the environment using our senses. And the next stage of development involves moving. Crawling and walking.....well running for some kids!!! lol It isn't until we are in the third stage of development that we are practicing thinking and finding out how power dynamics play out in relationships. And our society focuses so much on buying and doing that it can be easy to lose the ability to be in touch with that being part of ourselves....our core. That's the foundation of our mind, body and spirit connection. I like to think of it like building a house. It doesn't matter if a house is beautiful or has good wiring if there is not a solid concrete foundation. If there isn't a good foundation then the walls will all shift, the roof will leak and everything starts to fall apart. This is basically the same with our mental health. If you can create a solid foundation re: sleeping, eating, exercising, enjoying life at a sensory level and enjoying the company of a few close people that you can count on...then all of the other stressors in your life become more manageable.

Sleep.
Often people will have great sleep routines for their children but somewhere along the way they have lost them for themselves. Teaching your body when and how to wind down is an important part of 'sleep hygiene' it's called nowadays. Pay attention to the process of what is happening an hour before you go to sleep. If you are driving home from shift then try putting on music that puts you in a good mood and helps you to wind down. Try not to spend time on your phone or ipad at least 20-45 mins before bed. Studies show that the blue light found in electronics, flourescent lights and LED lights reduces the amount of melatonin produced in your body (that's the sleep hormone) and reduces the amount of time you are likely to spend in the short wave and the REM stages of the sleep cycle......which in turn impacts upon cognitive functioning.....which affects your self-esteem....which affects your sleep .....etc.

Some tips to getting good sleeps include:
- keeping chaos out of your bedroom and only using your bedroom for sleeping, reading and sex.
- taking melatonin to aid the body's ability to relax
- stop drinking caffeine or using nicotine
- decrease the time you spend in front of computer screen or get blue light glasses to protect your eyes from the impact

Nutrition:
What we eat is not just for taste. Food not only provides the raw materials for the regeneration of cells in our bodies but the kind of food you eat impacts upon the gut biome.

Remember the movie "Super Size Me"? Wikipedia states that as a result of the 30 day experiment where Morgan Spurlock only ate at McDonalds and would say 'Yes please' if they asked him if he wanted to 'Super size that' he

"gained 11.1 kilograms (24 lb), a 13% body mass increase, increased his cholesterol to 230 mg/dL (6.0 mmol/L), and experienced mood swings, sexual dysfunction, and fat accumulation in his liver."

EWWWH!!
Super Size Me (2004) - IMDb

95% of seratonin is generated in your gastrointestinal tract. Since seratonin is the neurotransmitter that is responsible for regulating your sleep, appetite, moods, and inhibiting your pain, it makes sense that food affects your mental health and your brain functioning. Generally, 'nutritional psychiatry' studies show that: 1) cutting out sugar and processed foods, 2) decreasing lean meats and dairy, while 3)increasing vegetables, fruits and whole grains; will help you maintain healthier gut biome, keep the production of seratonin up and cause less imflammation in your internal organs. So if you're going to go for that donut vs the air fried french fries.....pick the latter!

This may all sound like it is a big 'to do' list while you are already under a lot of stress. It's just information. Do what is 'doable'. Get through however you can but you might find that changing just a few of these things makes it a little easier. And easier is easier and we could all use that 13 months into a pandemic!!

Next blog post I'll focus on meditation and exercise and why they help so much.

Lee

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Gimme a Good Night's Sleep and Food in my Belly......Ahhh!!

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