Why Your Diet Isn't Working: Sleep and Circadian Rhythm

For today’s podcast, I’ve rounded up several of the NBT coaches to look more deeply at the single factor that is capable of improving athletic performance, mood, testosterone levels, blood glucose, fatigue, productivity, stress tolerance and gut health. We’re talking about sleep - the under-rated and often slighted backbone of a healthy lifestyle. In today’s busy world it’s easy to put sleep last on the list, but there are many reasons not to let that happen.

Coaches Megan Roberts, Clay Higgins, and Zach Moore are with me today to discuss the specific benefits of getting good sleep, as well as evidence-based steps you can take if you’re struggling with persistent thoughts at night or waking too early. We share what has worked for our clients (and ourselves!) to create habits and environments conducive to sound sleep.

Here’s the outline of this conversation with Megan, Clay, and Zach:

[00:01:03] Megan's article: Why Your Ketogenic Diet Isn't Working Part 2: Sleep and Circadian Rhythm.

[00:01:45] Podcast: How to Entrain Your Circadian Rhythm for Perfect Sleep and Metabolic Health, with Greg Potter.

[00:02:10] Circadian rhythm.

[00:04:55] Sleep deprivation increases hunger hormones; Study: Spiegel, Karine, et al. "Brief communication: sleep curtailment in healthy young men is associated with decreased leptin levels, elevated ghrelin levels, and increased hunger and appetite." Annals of internal medicine 141.11 (2004): 846-850.

[00:05:03] Glucose tolerance.

[00:06:45] Carb Back-Loading by John Kiefer.

[00:07:47] Effect of restricted sleep on perception of attractiveness; Study: Sundelin, Tina, et al. "Negative effects of restricted sleep on facial appearance and social appeal." Royal Society open science 4.5 (2017): 160918.

[00:08:21] How to know if you're getting enough sleep.

[00:10:14] How to quiet the monkey mind.

[00:11:02] Box breathing.

[00:12:04] Podcast: How to Get Perfect Sleep with Dr. Kirk Parsley, MD.

[00:12:57] Getting sleep with a baby in the house.

[00:14:29] Podcast: Perfect Health with Paul Jaminet.

[00:17:55] Ancestral Health Symposium; Kevin Boyd, DDS.

[00:18:21] Things that disrupt circadian rhythm.

[00:18:44] Bright light during the day prevents light-induced melatonin suppression at night; Study: Kozaki, Tomoaki, et al. "Effects of day-time exposure to different light intensities on light-induced melatonin suppression at night." Journal of physiological anthropology 34.1 (2015): 27.

[00:19:11] f.lux; getting more light during the day; blue blocking glasses; iris.

[00:20:35] Ben Greenfield.

[00:21:35] Caffeine.

[00:24:04] Swiss Water Decaf.

[00:25:14] Rooibos tea; Bryan Walsh’s Detox Protocol.

[00:25:20] Alcohol inhibits melatonin.

[00:27:12] Simon Marshall podcasts: 1, 2, 3.

[00:27:36] Book: The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, by Charles Duhigg.

[00:28:26] Podcast: Why Cholesterol Levels Have No Effect on Cardiovascular Disease (And Things to Think about Instead), with Dr. Malcolm Kendrick.

[00:28:50] Neurotransmitter imbalance caused by stress; Study: Mora, Francisco, et al. "Stress, neurotransmitters, corticosterone and body–brain integration." Brain research 1476 (2012): 71-85.

[00:29:28] Changing the environment.

[00:29:45] Low-blue light bulbs, amber bulbs; Chilipad.

[00:32:38] Obstructive sleep apnea; elevated hemoglobin.

[00:33:31] Pulse oximeter.

[00:34:08] Kevin Boyd’s Amazing Shrinking Face presentation.

[00:34:25] Breathe Right strips; mouth taping.

[00:35:37] Podcast: How to Achieve High Intensity Health with Mike Mutzel; High Intensity Health Podcast.

[00:36:19] Dripkit coffee.

[00:36:58] Nocturia.

[00:41:09] Early time restricted eating.

[00:43:17] Alarm clocks.

[00:44:30] Podcast: The Migraine Miracle, with Josh Turknett, MD.

[00:45:08] Chamomile tea; Study: Abdullahzadeh, Mehrdad, Pegah Matourypour, and Sayed Ali Naji. "Investigation effect of oral chamomilla on sleep quality in elderly people in Isfahan: A randomized control trial." Journal of education and health promotion 6 (2017).

[00:45:41] Great Lakes Collagen Hydrolysate.

[00:46:43] Doc Parsley’s Sleep Remedy.

[00:47:15] Paradoxical intentions.

[00:47:40] Electromagnetic radiation; Podcast: Electromagnetic Fields (EMFs): The Controversy, the Science, and How to Protect Yourself, with Dr. Joseph Mercola.

[00:48:12] Faraday cage.

[00:48:36] Tracking sleep; Oura Ring: Study: de Zambotti, Massimiliano, et al. "The sleep of the ring: comparison of the ŌURA sleep tracker against polysomnography." Behavioral sleep medicine (2017): 1-15.

[00:49:16] Orthosomnia; Study: Baron, Kelly Glazer, et al. "Orthosomnia: Are Some Patients Taking the Quantified Self Too Far?." Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine 13.02 (2017): 351-354.

[00:50:37] Dan Pardi; Podcasts: How to Track Effectively and The Ideal Weight Program.

[00:51:18] Bedtime for iPhone.

[00:51:42] Better athletic performance in the afternoon, study: Heishman, Aaron D., et al. "Comparing Performance During Morning vs. Afternoon Training Sessions in Intercollegiate Basketball Players." Journal of strength and conditioning research 31.6 (2017): 1557; Adjusting to consistent training times: Chtourou, Hamdi, and Nizar Souissi. "The effect of training at a specific time of day: a review." The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research 26.7 (2012): 1984-2005.

[00:52:39] Effect of changing seasons; Study: Wehr, Thomas A. "Melatonin and seasonal rhythms." Journal of biological rhythms 12.6 (1997): 518-527.

[00:53:38] Jet lag; melatonin supplementation.

[00:54:47] Camping to reset circadian clock; Study: Stothard, Ellen R., et al. "Circadian entrainment to the natural light-dark cycle across seasons and the weekend." Current Biology 27.4 (2017): 508-513.

[00:55:55] Sleeping pills.

[00:57:01] 5-HTP.

[00:58:11] Tommy's alternative sleep remedy (before sleep): 5HTP (2 caps = 200mg) + Magnesium Glycinate (100mg) + Melatonin (0.5mg) + Cougar Tranquilizer Tea (1 cup).

[00:59:11] Gratitude; Studies: Wood, Alex M., et al. "Gratitude influences sleep through the mechanism of pre-sleep cognitions." Journal of psychosomatic research 66.1 (2009): 43-48 and Jackowska, Marta, et al. "The impact of a brief gratitude intervention on subjective well-being, biology and sleep." Journal of health psychology 21.10 (2016): 2207-2217.

[00:59:58] Chronotype.

[01:00:45] Book: Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, by Carol Dweck.

[01:05:50] Elite Performance Program.

[01:06:40] nourishbalancethrive.com; book a 15-minute starter session.