“If I told you that there is a revolutionary treatment that will allow you to live more fully and longer, improve your emotional intelligence and empathy, make you feel less irritable, happier and more productive, and even make you more likeable and attractive… would you? would you like? What if this same treatment kept you at your ideal weight and made you reduce the risk of having all kinds of diseases? This wonderful treatment is available to everyone: you just have to sleep well”.
This is how the book The Science of Good Sleep (Peninsula) begins, published this week by Dr. Javier Albares, a specialist in clinical neurophysiology, member of the Spanish Sleep Society (SES) and the European Sleep Research Society and coordinator of the care team. of sleep problems at the Teknon Medical Center, a reference in its field. We talked to him about the benefits of sleep and what to do to get them.
Are we living an epidemic of lack of sleep?
We have belittled the importance of sleep and it has even been said that sleeping is wasting time. We have been bombarded with messages like this, when sleep has very important functions. This has caused society to sleep less than it needs, when it shouldn't be.
Since when do we have so much trouble sleeping?
Edison's invention of the light bulb meant that we stopped having biological rhythms synchronized with the planet, light and dark every 24 hours, and we began to have constant light. Our rhythms have been disturbed, but also our stressed lifestyle causes sleep problems.
The ideal is to wake up without an alarm clock, according to you. This is almost impossible for a large part of the population…
If we wake up with an alarm, what do we do? Breaking a physiological process, the body needs that rest. Waking up without alarms is the way to know that you are sleeping enough hours, and also that you have enough quality and depth of sleep. We have to follow our biology, no one sets an alarm to stop eating. We must have enough time to sleep the hours we need. We cannot breathe half the hours we need, nor can our heart beat less so that we lack time... This is what we have done with sleep.
Do we always have to go to the doctor, if we do not sleep well?
Not always. Sometimes, if I wake up tired because I sleep six hours, it's because I lack sleep. If I wake up tired because I lead an overloaded and anxious life, it is necessary to find solutions to this. However, sometimes the help of a health professional can help solve problems. In addition, there are some disorders such as sleep apnea or restless legs syndrome that will require the vision of a specialist to have a correct treatment. It is necessary to see a doctor if you notice that sleep problems recur during the week, and for months, and affect your daily life.
80% of patients with obstructive sleep apnea are not diagnosed, they do not know that they are...
It's a barbarity. This is because sometimes it does not give symptoms. People who snore at night, even though they are fine during the day, should see a doctor. The only way to know if a person has apnea is to have a sleep study.
What are the biggest benefits of sleep?
There are many. The role of sleep and its relationship with short- and long-term memory and cognitive problems (Alzheimer's, dementia) is paramount. But it also plays a key role with the immune system, with mood, metabolism, cardiovascular health, hormonal balance... All sleep functions are relevant.
“When we sleep, the neurons decrease in size, leaving more free space between them so that the cerebrospinal fluid can circulate more easily and carry away the toxins deposited there the night before. It's like passing the sleeve at night to leave the patio clean and fresh”... Is sleeping is passing the sleeve through the brain?
Yes. During the day we produce many toxins that must be eliminated because they are toxic, and this elimination occurs when we are resting. The glymphatic system is responsible for cleaning toxins from the brain at night, as well as from the rest of the body. If we sleep little we do not eliminate toxins that are dangerous to our health, they will accumulate and we will get sick. One of the substances that accumulates is the amyeloid beta protein, which is related to Alzheimer's.
Does melatonin work?
Before treating it is necessary to diagnose. If I have sleep apnea, it won't do anything to me. If I have a sleep disorder due to anxiety or overload, surely it will not do anything to me. If I have a circadian rhythm disorder, it can help me. It depends on the cases, so it is necessary to diagnose before taking it. It is true that it is a hormone that the body produces, and sometimes an extra external contribution can have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immune system regulating effects... It is one of the most powerful antioxidants in nature, it can help us. But take them in spades? No never.
Someone who works shifts, constantly changing hours, what can you do to sleep well?
Shift work generates a chronodisruption, an alteration of biological rhythms, not only sleep, but also temperature, hormones, etc. It is desirable that only those sectors that are absolutely necessary work in shifts. If we have no other choice, it is necessary to minimize the consequences of these schedules, with good routines and habits. Melatonin can be useful, but also at what time do I do physical activity, how do I use natural and artificial light... There is no magic recipe, it must be personalized for each worker.
What is chronodisruption?
Chronodisruption makes it difficult to sleep well, it is when our biological rhythms stop being synchronized or in order, they are circadian rhythms that adapt to the light and darkness of the planet, and it is important that these sleep, muscular, metabolic functions have the rhythms of 24 hours. When they lose these rhythms, because we do not sleep as much as we need or because we have a light stimulus, for example from screens at times when everything should be dark, because we have dysregulation of meal times, or because we are too sedentary, the rhythms they can alter, and that alteration will cause disease.
Everyone has an ideal amount of sleep hours... How do we know what ours is?
You have to go to sleep at your biological time. A chronodisruption occurs when I have to follow schedules due to work or social commitments that do not coincide with my biological schedules. If I'm early, but I just finished work at eleven at night, I already have a chronodisruption. You have to go to bed when you are sleepy, but you can facilitate the conditions so that you fall asleep at the correct time to sleep the necessary hours. We can have dinner early, advance the habits of the day...
He says we should go to sleep rested. We thought it was the other way around, the more tired the better…
We must have physical activity during the day, but we must go to sleep intellectually rested, in peace, at rest, calm. I can't get overexcited to bed and pretend my brain shuts down so I turn off the light. It does not work like that. The path of sleep must be prepared.
Looking at Instagram just before turning off the lamp... a mistake?
Screens generate mental hyperactivation. We must leave them at least two hours before going to sleep. The fewer screens the better. And a TV, less interactive, will always do less damage than a tablet. If we want to watch something, they are well contained as a nature documentary, because it releases the relaxation hormone, oxytocin. If we watch a crime series or a football game, we secrete adrenaline. The soccer fan will be excited by his team, and that will affect the break... and even more so if the game is close and your team loses!
To sleep well we also need to receive a lot of natural light during the day... Why?
Yes, we need natural light, for hundreds of thousands of years we have been outside, in the caves we went to rest. Having artificial light has led us to spend more indoors, and natural light is absolutely necessary for our body, we should spend at least two hours a day outdoors. It is key for our state of mind, for sleep, for eye health, for muscles...
Caffeine, by the way, lasts a lot of hours in our brain!
After 12 hours of drinking a coffee we still have 25% of the active caffeine in our brain. We have a very intrinsic substance in our DNA, it does not let us perceive our tiredness, disconnecting our body and mind. The recommendation if you have sleep problems is not to drink more than one or two coffees, and concentrate them in the morning, not in the afternoon.
And the best diet to sleep well?
We must eat a balanced and healthy diet with all the necessary nutrients. Above all, it is necessary to have dinner early, and that there are no excessive carbohydrates, better proteins, vegetables... Also avoid high glycemic peaks at night: it is typical to eat fruit at night and it produces a glycemia that can harm us. It is easier to explain what to avoid. We must avoid alcohol at night, products that we digest poorly (such as ultra-processed or sugars), depending on the digestion of each one. We should avoid fruit at night, but the cherry, for example, is the richest fruit in melatonin. Bananas or eggs can help us, but above all remember that dinner should be a light meal.
The time zone we have, he says, does not correspond to what it should be... And does the time change affect us a lot?
We should have one hour less, in both schedules. Regarding the time change, the ideal would be not to change the summer and winter time and stay with the winter time. If we were to stay with summer time, January and February would not become daylight until nine or half past nine in the morning, while natural light in the morning is essential. A thorough analysis must be carried out, because also, if there is light until later, we will sleep later and we will sleep fewer hours.
This article was originally published on RAC1.
