WEBVTT - Mini Motivation: A Doctors Guide to Sleeping Better

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<v Speaker 1>This is Healthy Heir with Amelia Phillips and welcome to

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<v Speaker 1>one of my mini motivation episodes. These are shorter, more

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<v Speaker 1>practical conversations designed to motivate you with simple, actionable expert

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<v Speaker 1>advice that you can implement straight away. So today we're

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<v Speaker 1>going to be looking into a doctor's guide to sleeping better.

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<v Speaker 1>I recently spoke with Doctor Talkal Pharaoh, a GP that

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<v Speaker 1>specializes in lifestyle medicine, especially around tracking our health with wearables.

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<v Speaker 1>Doctor Talkell is the author of The Pulse Cure, which

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<v Speaker 1>is a book that delves into the research behind wearables

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<v Speaker 1>to help us manage our fitness, stress, and sleep better.

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<v Speaker 2>So take a.

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<v Speaker 1>Listen to Dr Torkal's advice for us around how we

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<v Speaker 1>can get a better night's sleep. So many of us

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<v Speaker 1>are scraping by on five to seven hours of sleep,

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<v Speaker 1>or some of us even worse, when the research shows

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<v Speaker 1>that at least seventy to eighty percent of the adult

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<v Speaker 1>population needs seven to nine hours per night of sleep.

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<v Speaker 1>I can't remember the last time I had nine hours

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<v Speaker 1>of sleep, and those of us who might manage to

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<v Speaker 1>be in our bed for seven to nine hours, maybe

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<v Speaker 1>we're not getting the quality of sleep that we need.

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<v Speaker 1>So what are your strategies for helping us get better

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<v Speaker 1>quality sleep?

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<v Speaker 2>Yes, the first thing would be to be able to

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<v Speaker 2>track it and to use wearables, to be able to

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<v Speaker 2>see the sleep and not just have an feeling about it,

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<v Speaker 2>because how we feel in the morning not necessarily a

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<v Speaker 2>good measure of how well we have slept. It could

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<v Speaker 2>be very much dependent on which sleep face you walk

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<v Speaker 2>up from, whether it was a rem sleep or light

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<v Speaker 2>sleep or whatever.

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<v Speaker 1>So well, can you expand on this, because that's really

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<v Speaker 1>interesting because I've heard people will say, oh, if you

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<v Speaker 1>wake up feeling rested and fresh, then that's a really

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<v Speaker 1>good sign. So what do you mean by that?

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<v Speaker 2>If you wake up and you really feel rested, then

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<v Speaker 2>the few people who do that, that's obviously a good sign.

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<v Speaker 2>But I would guess only ten percent would wake up

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<v Speaker 2>by themselves in the morning and feel really, really fresh.

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<v Speaker 2>That is not the reality. So I would think that

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<v Speaker 2>most people will feel not totally arrested in the morning.

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<v Speaker 1>But what you're saying is if you wake up feeling groggy,

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<v Speaker 1>that's not necessarily a sign of or sleep. Your alarm

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<v Speaker 1>might have gone off when you were in a particularly

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<v Speaker 1>deep sleep cycle. Is that what you're saying.

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<v Speaker 2>That's right, So you should wait maybe half an hour

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<v Speaker 2>to one hour until you can better feel how the

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<v Speaker 2>night was, and the feeling of how well you're slept

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<v Speaker 2>will be very much dependent on whether you have gone

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<v Speaker 2>through the sleep faces during the night. We will be

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<v Speaker 2>less aware of whether we have had restorative sleep, like

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<v Speaker 2>fear Ghiologically, with the heart rate variability, we don't have

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<v Speaker 2>that much of a sense. So you could have underrecovered,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, by having a glass of alcohol or eating

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<v Speaker 2>a late night meal, and you wouldn't really feel it

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<v Speaker 2>so much that you could see in the heart rate variability.

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<v Speaker 1>But what about the accuracy. I've heard that the accuracy

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<v Speaker 1>of wearables for sleep is not that great. Is it

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<v Speaker 1>still useful even if it's not laboratory quality?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I think it's useful, and the most useful part

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<v Speaker 2>of it is the heart rate variability part of it,

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<v Speaker 2>so you will get some insight into the sleep faces

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<v Speaker 2>and then the sleep faces. The AI ring is by

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<v Speaker 2>far the best one. But the most important thing. I

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<v Speaker 2>think that whether you have eighty you know in sleep

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<v Speaker 2>score or eighty five, I don't think this is so

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<v Speaker 2>important that you have some degree of insight better insight

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<v Speaker 2>into your sleep. That's very important, I think. And the

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<v Speaker 2>best advice for getting to sleep is of course cut

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<v Speaker 2>out alcohol. That is the first killer of sleep. Even

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<v Speaker 2>though I even as a doctor for many years you

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<v Speaker 2>used to take a couple of glasses over a red

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<v Speaker 2>wine every evening to wind down and thinking it would

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<v Speaker 2>help me sleep. You know what a ridiculous thing. When

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<v Speaker 2>you see the results and you're wearable, and avoid late

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<v Speaker 2>night meals, avoid eating anything for the last two or

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<v Speaker 2>preferably three hours before you go to bed, and in

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<v Speaker 2>the evening to dim the lights, make your room darker

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<v Speaker 2>and calm down, read or do something that you can

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<v Speaker 2>see on your wearable that will calm you down that

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<v Speaker 2>could be different from what you would expect.

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<v Speaker 1>What do you mean by that?

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<v Speaker 2>A lot of people find out that when they think

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<v Speaker 2>they were relaxing, they were watching Netflix and eating a

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<v Speaker 2>bag of crisps. You know, they would think it was

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<v Speaker 2>like totally bless and calm, and they will see on

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<v Speaker 2>their heart rate monitor that their stress level goes just

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<v Speaker 2>through the roof. And because they were not even thinking

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<v Speaker 2>about this effect, and we don't feel it so well,

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<v Speaker 2>we're not equipped to feel that change in heart rate

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<v Speaker 2>very well. Then they thought they were just relaxing and

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<v Speaker 2>going to bed, but that the heartheed monitor will show

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<v Speaker 2>that you are stressed. Their hearted could be ten beats

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<v Speaker 2>higher than their normal resting heart rate. Other than that,

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<v Speaker 2>make sure to get like you say, seven to nine

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<v Speaker 2>hours of sleep, I think seven to eight hours somewhere

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<v Speaker 2>in between there would be enough for most people. And

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<v Speaker 2>if you're able to have a good sleep consistency, go

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<v Speaker 2>to bed and wake up at the same time most

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<v Speaker 2>days and that would be like a good sleep consistency

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<v Speaker 2>would be within a half hour that is recommended variation.

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<v Speaker 2>Then that is important. Then your brain is more prepared

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<v Speaker 2>to go into the right sleep faces and it will

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<v Speaker 2>sleep more effectively. So having shift work or even in

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<v Speaker 2>the weekends, have this social jet lag will be very

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<v Speaker 2>disturbing for your sleep, and that is something as a

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<v Speaker 2>mom you would have to know that. Okay, there's a

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<v Speaker 2>price to pay for sleep inconsistency, so to speak.

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<v Speaker 1>I love that word social jet lag. I've never heard

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<v Speaker 1>that term before, and it's so true, isn't it. When

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<v Speaker 1>you have a night out and you're not used to

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<v Speaker 1>going to bed at eleven thirty and you wake up

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<v Speaker 1>and it does feel like you're jet lagged. Can I

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<v Speaker 1>ask you something that I'm curious about? In our previous interview,

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<v Speaker 1>you were talking about heat being not great for heart

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<v Speaker 1>rate variability, But I've heard that the body likes to

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<v Speaker 1>fall asleep on a falling temperature, So having a hot shower.

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<v Speaker 1>I like to have a hot bath at night before

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<v Speaker 1>I go to bed, and in my mind I'm thinking

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<v Speaker 1>that you know, it's a falling temperature, like to jump

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<v Speaker 1>into bed feeling or nice and warm. I'd love to

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<v Speaker 1>know your thoughts, given your comments on art right variability.

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<v Speaker 2>I think probably probably there and there's all individual variations,

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<v Speaker 2>but probably a warm, hot bath would stress your system

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<v Speaker 2>quite a lot, while a warm shower, a warm short

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<v Speaker 2>shower should be fine and you would get the effect

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<v Speaker 2>from going out to the shower and then your temperature

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<v Speaker 2>goes down. Maybe not dry yourself with a towel, but

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<v Speaker 2>let it kind of naturally cool down could be even better.

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<v Speaker 2>But I would think that a hot bath. I think

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<v Speaker 2>if you had a garment watch, you would see it's

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<v Speaker 2>clearly that it will be a lot of stress.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, Because I mean I sit there, it's like a sauna,

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<v Speaker 1>like I've got beads of sweat coming off my head.

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<v Speaker 1>So I might actually do some little experiments with my

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<v Speaker 1>heart rate variability comparing say that to know a more

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<v Speaker 1>of a tempered shower or something like that.

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<v Speaker 2>And you should have your room temperature in the bedroom

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<v Speaker 2>should be around eighteen degrees.

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<v Speaker 1>Celsius, which is chilly.

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<v Speaker 2>So and you would see that on your heartet monitor

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<v Speaker 2>that that would improve your sleep from fifteen even to

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<v Speaker 2>eighteen degrees in your bedroom. So what you would think,

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<v Speaker 2>you know is a good warm you know in the

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<v Speaker 2>in the bed is not good for your sleep. So

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<v Speaker 2>when you start tracking it.

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<v Speaker 1>There is something nice about feeling cozy and warm in bed,

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<v Speaker 1>but it's nice and cool outside. My mom swear she

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<v Speaker 1>sleeps with the window open even in winter, and it's

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<v Speaker 1>her longevity. Actually said that's why she's so fit and

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<v Speaker 1>healthy at eighty three.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, she maybe right, maybe just right. So, and you

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<v Speaker 2>could see that in your when you start tracking it,

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<v Speaker 2>that being colder is better.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>And it should be totally dark in the bedroom. It

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<v Speaker 2>should be as dark that you cannot see the hand

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<v Speaker 2>in front of you. So it should be that dark

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<v Speaker 2>because any any light there would disturb the melatonin production

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<v Speaker 2>and make and melotonis. It's not just a sleep inducing hormone,

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<v Speaker 2>but it has a lot of things to do as

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<v Speaker 2>it's there to regulate how yourselves are working for better recovery.

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<v Speaker 1>And as a doctor, how important is good quality sleep

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<v Speaker 1>for health and longevity?

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<v Speaker 2>It's extremely important. And do you have you know the

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<v Speaker 2>Matthew Walker. I believe it's Australian and he has written

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<v Speaker 2>the excellent book Why We Sleep, and he's on lots

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<v Speaker 2>of Ted talks and podcasts and all over, and he

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<v Speaker 2>says that the risk of getting cancer if you sleep

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<v Speaker 2>less than six hours compared to more than seven hours

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<v Speaker 2>is twice the risk. You double your risk of cancer.

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<v Speaker 2>You know, me as a doctor, I've been working so

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<v Speaker 2>many night shifts, you know, and been flipping around the

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<v Speaker 2>schedule for sleep, you know, in a terrible, terrible way.

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<v Speaker 2>I knew it was uncomfortable, of course, and tiring, but

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<v Speaker 2>that it was downright dangerous and carcinogenic. I had no

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<v Speaker 2>clue and we didn't know so much about it. As doctors,

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<v Speaker 2>we haven't really learned how to create health. We learned

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<v Speaker 2>how to diagnose and treat disease, so creating a healthy

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<v Speaker 2>life was not on the agenda from the medical study,

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<v Speaker 2>and that would include you know, sleep, exercise, diet, being

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<v Speaker 2>able to regulate stress, you know, cutting down on alcohol.

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<v Speaker 2>Of course, everybody knew we were not supposed to smoke,

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<v Speaker 2>but other than that, we didn't know so much about

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<v Speaker 2>how our lifestyle would affect how sick we would be.

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<v Speaker 2>We were taught that it was mainly a matter of

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<v Speaker 2>genetics or just bad luck, but that is obviously not true.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm happy to see that medical community now is much

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<v Speaker 2>more into preventative medicine, but that we would have to

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<v Speaker 2>learn on our spare time. It's not what we learned

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<v Speaker 2>in school.

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<v Speaker 1>No, and that's why you have this explosion of integrative

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<v Speaker 1>and functional medicine doctors who then go and do the

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<v Speaker 1>extra training in lifestyle medicine to be able to you know,

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<v Speaker 1>incorporate some of these strategies in rather than as you say,

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<v Speaker 1>just you know, going straight to diagnosing and you know,

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<v Speaker 1>treating with pharmacological drugs and things like that. So it's

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<v Speaker 1>so wonderful to see doctors embracing this, but also very

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<v Speaker 1>challenging because a medical system, or here in Australia anyway,

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<v Speaker 1>is under so much load and pressure from an aging

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<v Speaker 1>disease ridden populations. It's not an easy job, but you've

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<v Speaker 1>given us some fantastic strategies to sleeping better, coming from

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<v Speaker 1>a doctor, which is great to know, and particularly starting

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<v Speaker 1>with tracking our sleep, which I'm a big fan of,

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<v Speaker 1>so DTR talker, thank you so much, Thank you, Emelia,