Sleep Unplugged with Dr. Chris Winter

Within the field of sleep science, there are few questions asked more frequently than, "How much sleep do we need?" While the answer eight hours seems to make the rounds in the media (and anything less would appear to be cause instant harm or even death), what is the answer? Is the question even answerable? In this episode we will:Evaluate how age is constantly influencing sleep needList other factors affecting sleep amount for an individual including sleep quality, activity level, previous sleep deprivation, pregnancy and illnessExplore the inherent difficulties in applying epidemiological sleep data to individual sleepersLook at the data rejecting the idea that 8 hours is the ideal amount of sleep for adults Define the "J curve" commonly seen in studies exploring optimal sleep amountsUnderstand how sleep behaviors need can be easily mislead in terms of indicators of average sleep needTouch upon how individuals who can get by better with inadequate sleep may misinterpret this as being a healthy practiceProduced by: Maeve WinterMore Twitter: @drchriswinter IG: @drchriwinter Threads: @drchriswinter Bluesky: @drchriswinter The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child Thanks for listening and sleep well!

Information and advice about better sleep comes from more individuals and sources than can be counted. In our current era of "fake news," it can be difficult to determine is the sleep advice or science behind what you are seeing or reading is legitimate. In this episode we will:Differentiate between misinformation, disinformation, and bullshitLook at examples of each and work towards understanding their motivations and how they can be spotted and correctedExplore the consequences of the spread of bad/harmful information, and how current media factors can accelerate the dissemination of false informationList the characteristics of information that spreads quicklyApply epidemiological tools to social media and the spread of bad informationEvaluate the factors that lend themselves to the spread of bad medical informationConsider how intuition and deliberation affect our ability for comprehensive reasoning and detection of bad informationReview remedies to help improve the situation and reduce the spread of incorrect medical informationProduced by: Maeve WinterMore Twitter: @drchriswinter IG: @drchriwinter Threads: @drchriswinter Bluesky: @drchriswinter The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child Thanks for listening and sleep well!

One often overlooked strategy to improve sleep and manage insomnia is to employs bedtime rituals. While most think of these as activities designed to help kids go to sleep easier, their science is deeply rooted in our sleep health. In this episode we will:Revisit the idea of circadian rhythms and why they are important for sleep health and sleep timingDefine the concept of a zeitgeber and how they work to strengthen the effectiveness of our circadian rhythm and its predictive abilityUnderstand the concept of weak and strong zeitgebers and how they relate to the actions that make up our bedtime routinesExamine common bedtime rituals and their relationship to known zeitgebersTouch upon light as historically the strongest/most influential zeitgeberDifferentiate the health (and sleep) benefits of exercise from the circadian benefits and understand how evening exercise could capitalize on both in a bedtime ritualEvaluate stress (and alleviating stress) as an unexpected zeitgeberRevisit the concept of temperature as a zeitgeber and how its mechanism in humans is not entirely clearIntroduce the food entrainable-oscillator (FEO) and how it relates to food as a zeitgeberEnd on more unusual potential zeitgebers like music, and the research supporting themProduced by: Maeve WinterMore Twitter: @drchriswinter IG: @drchriwinter Threads: @drchriswinter Bluesky: @drchriswinter The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child Thanks for listening and sleep well!

The phenomenon of dreaming is an endless fascinating topic for many individuals, and the concept of lucid dreaming is a never-ending source of interest. What is lucid dreaming and what potential does it hold? In this episode we will:Define the concept of lucid dreamingExplore the history of the practice from its roots in ancient Hindu and Buddhist practices, to its first description by AristotleFollow the changing characteristics that define lucid dreaming from its first scientific description in 1931 (when the term lucid dreaming was coined) to the presentTouch upon seminal research exploring ways of communicating and studying the lucid dreamer and their worldList the various techniques for inducing lucid dreams including reality testingReview research studying befits of lucid dreaming applicationProduced by: Maeve WinterMore Twitter: @drchriswinter IG: @drchriwinter Threads: @drchriswinter Bluesky: @drchriswinter The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child Thanks for listening and sleep well!

Over the last several decades, there has been a heightened interested in alternative therapies for sleep disorders, and the practice of yoga as a sleep solution has been frequently investigated. In this episode we will:Define yoga and outline its fundamental philosophyExplore why yoga might be uniquely situated to improve sleep parametersReview research studies exploring yoga and enhanced sleep parametersSubdivide sleep studies exploring yoga nidra or the practice of yogic sleepLook at research exploring yoga in the /pregnant/prenatal populationOutline yoga practices within the elderly/institutionalized populationEvaluate yoga as a pain-mediating intervention and determine what that means in terms of sleepTouch upon yoga as a technique for mitigating restless leg syndromeMention yoga as a therapy within the cancer treatment spaceProduced by: Maeve WinterMore Twitter: @drchriswinter IG: @drchriwinter Threads: @drchriswinter Bluesky: @drchriswinter The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child Thanks for listening and sleep well!

An important subset of parasomnias is sexsomnias--sexual behaviors that arise at night with little or no memory reported from the person involved. In addition to being disruptive to sleep, these behaviors bring with them heightened physical, emotional, and in some cases legal consequences. In this episode we will:Introduce and define sexsomniasExplore the relative short history of this behavior in medical literatureCharacterize was types of behaviors are seen in sexsomniasList the groups of individuals who are at risk for these behaviorsExamine the unique features of sexsomniasDescribe the numerous medical risk factors for sexsomniasProvide solutions and tips for individuals struggling with sexsomniasProduced by: Maeve WinterMore Twitter: @drchriswinter IG: @drchriwinter Threads: @drchriswinter Bluesky: @drchriswinter The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child Thanks for listening and sleep well!

One of the biggest misunderstandings in medicine is the differences between sleepiness and fatigue. Add to this poorly defined terms like "tired" and "exhausted," and you have the makings for not only utter confusion, but also the basis for misdiagnoses and treatments that miss the mark completely. In this episode we will:Provide a research background examining the confusion between the terms sleepy and fatiguedAttempt to define sleepiness and fatigue and provide a physiological and behavioral foundation for their characterizationsEvaluate the misuse of the term fatigue in literature regarding excessive daytime sleepinessUse research to characterize the unique intermediate positioning of the word "tired" in scientific explorations of sleepiness and fatigueLearn how the lack of a "gold standard" for fatigue evaluation has contributed to the problemRevisit the Epworth Sleepiness Scale as the de facto standard for quantification of sleepiness and its intrinsic shortcomingsDiscuss ways in which failure to properly characterize sleepiness or fatigue can lead to diagnostic and treatment delays and errorExpand upon the multitude of fatigue causes and how primary medicine often stops far short of an exhaustive search for an underlying cause of an individual's fatigueLink specific sleep and psychological factors to elements of sleepiness and fatigueProduced by: Maeve WinterMore Twitter: @drchriswinter IG: @drchriwinter Threads: @drchriswinter Bluesky: @drchriswinter The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child Thanks for listening and sleep well!

The five senses are our brain's main way of collecting information about our immediate environment. They have a powerful effect on our moods, cognition, and the way we experience the world. They are also integral to the way we sleep and deal with insomnia. I recently met Gretchen Rubin and read her latest book Life in Five Senses. In this episode, we will explore heightening and honing our five senses as a portal for improving our sleep and managing insomnia. In this episode we will:Discuss visualization and rehearsal as a means to relax and combat insomniaExplore the creation of an Auditory Hypnotic playlist and how curating music/songs that relax you can be a helpful tool to set the stage for improved sleepReview the current data on white noise and its effects on sleep outcomesDiscuss smell and olfaction as a tool for sleepEvaluate different novel smells and their relative effects on sleep and insomniaRevisit tart cherry juice and other pre-bedtime drinks as a way to establish routine via tasteIntroduce the concept of "sleep-touch" and review a recent study about how it effects the sleep of couplesProduced by: Maeve WinterMore Twitter: @drchriswinter IG: @drchriwinter Threads: @drchriswinter Bluesky: @drchriswinter The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child Thanks for listening and sleep well!

There has been an explosion of research looking at relationships between one's proximity to nature and sleep. During the Covid pandemic, this research seemed more pressing than ever and rates of disordered sleep and mental health problems soared. In this episode, we will:Review the research linking improved sleep parameters and access to nature/green spacesList the potential sleep related benefits being in or around nature may createEvaluate the categories of benefit related to nature exposure proposed by Markevych: reducing harm, restoring capacities, and building capacitiesHighlight CO2 reduction as a harm reduction method for improving sleepConsider tress and canopy exposure as a separate harm reduction pathwayExplore the role of nature on mental health and its interplay with sleepTouch upon the ways in which green spaces can facilitate physical activity and social cohesionLook specifically at green space research as it relates to children and teensProduced by: Maeve WinterMore Twitter: @drchriswinter IG: @drchriwinter Threads: @drchriswinter Bluesky: @drchriswinter The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child Thanks for listening and sleep well!

Perhaps the biggest single influence on your sleep is the surface that you sleep on. Choosing a mattress is a process that combines personal preference, but also an emerging body of science. In this episode, we will talk to our first guest and producer of the show Maeve Winter about her quest to find the perfect mattress for her and her boyfriend. In this episode, we will:Discuss how one uses their current sleep experience to inform how they choose their mattressIdentify what factors matter in terms of mattress selectionReview the research about firmness and temperature and how they can improve overall sleep qualityTouch upon other factors that may be important to individuals buying a mattress: construction, materials, size, and motion-suppression , and costSummarize the process of going to a Mattress Firm locally, and how the uniformity of working with a Sleep Expert allows two individuals in different locations to "shop" together.*Dr. Winter has a financial relationship with Sleep.com and Mattress Firm. The content, opinions, and views in this podcast reflect his own opinions and not those of Sleep.com or Mattress Firm. Produced by: Maeve WinterMore Twitter: @drchriswinter IG: @drchriwinter Threads: @drchriswinter Bluesky: @drchriswinter The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child Thanks for listening and sleep well!