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Improving sleep

vincelwt.com

141–150 of 162 posts

Re: Improving sleep

#141
Biggest improvement in sleep quality happened to me, when I returned to intermittent fasting.

For more than a year, I stopped doing it (along with the diet) and indulged myself in junk food, tasty things like ice creams, bakery et cetera.

All that carbs and sugar overload made me stay awake overnight with no added value really. Eventually, I calculated the sleep stats — around 5,5 hours of sleep per night. Needless to say, I felt lousy and self-loathing a lot of mornings. Neither coffees, nor cold showers helped me to really wake up properly.

Once, I cut off junk food again, returned back to 18/6 fasting cycle, I sleep like a baby. I shut down by 10.30 PM and awake by 7 AM or little bit earlier. Before the alarm goes off!

Garmin watch reports, that I have good to excellent sleep quality with no wake ups: at least 2 hrs of deep sleep and 2+ hrs of REM.

I drink around 2 regular mugs of coffee per day (around 20oz) and at least 1 liter of green tea. The rest is still water, so 2,6 quarts each day.

Re: Improving sleep

#142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Swiss water process Wow, I had never heard of this before. The chemical process for decaf had always put me off before. From their website: [0] > When you see the Swiss Water® name, it means your favorite roaster offers 100% chemical-free decaffeinated coffee. You may have just convinced me to switch to decaf... [0] https://www.swisswater.com

It still tastes like garbage.

It doesn’t. Some of the Swiss waters are very good. My baseline for coffee is quality single origin Geisha, and good Swiss water is better than most espresso places.

Re: Improving sleep

#143

Biggest improvement in sleep quality happened to me, when I returned to intermittent fasting. For more than a year, I stopped doing it (along with the diet) and indulged myself in junk food, tasty things like ice creams, bakery et cetera. All that carbs and sugar overload made me stay awake overnight with no added value really. Eventually, I calculated the sleep stats — around 5,5 hours of sleep per night. Needless t…

So the biggest improvement was likely more from you stopping eating of junk food (ice creams, bakery et cetera) than set a time window for eating?

Re: Improving sleep

#144

I don't use any of them, but I've heard firsthand from some like the author complaining about inaccurate data from devices like the Apple Watch and Oura, some getting rid of them due to this. Since the OP continues to use them, am I to understand there is no better alternative that is comparable on the comfort/ease-of-use/cost-effectiveness axis with these devices? The idea of making health decisions based on bad dat…

There's a Youtube channel from a Dutch researcher doing scientific tests on sleep and fitness tracking performance of wearables[1]. Ardently Apple devices and Oura are at the top in terms accuracy of what wearables can do, but if you want proper accuracy then you need to invest in dedicated sleep monitoring equipment as a watch on your wrist will never come close to electrodes on your head. [1] https://www.youtube.co…

The withings sleep mat analyser seems very accurate (Its approved by the European Medical council). It diaganosed my sleep apnea.

Re: Improving sleep

#145

Biggest improvement to sleep quality I had was giving up caffeine, which isn't mentioned in this article. I'm inclined to bet, most people in the west who self report suffering form poor sleep, can narrow it down to caffeine over-consumption, since it leads you slowly to this march of death burning the candle at both ends where you drink coffee to compensate for poor sleep and you sleep poorly because of too much caf…

What I found out recently: people are different. Some people have a slow and some a fast caffeine metabolism.

I’m a fast metabolizer. I can drink coffee very late and don’t feel anything. A friend of mine stops drinking coffee after 1pm because he won’t sleep otherwise.

Re: Improving sleep

#146
post #145

Biggest improvement to sleep quality I had was giving up caffeine, which isn't mentioned in this article. I'm inclined to bet, most people in the west who self report suffering form poor sleep, can narrow it down to caffeine over-consumption, since it leads you slowly to this march of death burning the candle at both ends where you drink coffee to compensate for poor sleep and you sleep poorly because of too much caf…

What I found out recently: people are different. Some people have a slow and some a fast caffeine metabolism. I’m a fast metabolizer. I can drink coffee very late and don’t feel anything. A friend of mine stops drinking coffee after 1pm because he won’t sleep otherwise.

I have noticed it takes my body 12h+ to metabolise a single cup of coffee - if I haven’t had it for a while. This trait shows up in genetic tests https://www.23andme.com/en-gb/topics/wellness/caffeine-consu...

While I love a good coffee, the sleep cycle mess it causes isn’t worth it for me except very occasionally - this also means there is no tolerance build up. I drink on average one cup of cappuccino every 1-2 weeks, and seek out the good stuff to make it worth it. You really notice the effects too this way vs drinking it daily.

Re: Improving sleep

#147

Biggest improvement in sleep quality happened to me, when I returned to intermittent fasting. For more than a year, I stopped doing it (along with the diet) and indulged myself in junk food, tasty things like ice creams, bakery et cetera. All that carbs and sugar overload made me stay awake overnight with no added value really. Eventually, I calculated the sleep stats — around 5,5 hours of sleep per night. Needless t…

So the biggest improvement was likely more from you stopping eating of junk food (ice creams, bakery et cetera) than set a time window for eating?

Not really.

I did intermittent fasting before and it helped me to loose 33 pounds in two months while maintaining low physical activity.

But that comes along with the proper diet to achieve maximum results in shorter time.

In general, significant calories past 10 PM lead to sleep issues. You get an energy boost, the digestive system is busy. So why would you feel sleepy.

Re: Improving sleep

#148
I don’t see any mention of cold showers / ice baths. That seems trendy now and people suggest sleep improvements. I notice my restless leg has a lot to do with sleep quality.

Re: Improving sleep

#149
For the last several years, I wake up almost every morning after only 4-5 hours of sleep. Then I don't feel right during the day unless I am able to go back to sleep.

It makes me think that theory of pre-industrial dual sleep periods may be true.

It's also possible that I'm just older and have to urinate. Or the reflux issues that interfere with my breathing somewhat need to be cleared out.

As far as falling asleep, I have found that Vitamin D3 can help quite a bit, if taken in an adequate dose.

Re: Improving sleep

#150
post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True, failed to mention that I never drink caffeine after 2pm. I never understood how some people can have a coffee in the evening and go to bed just fine.

>I never understood how some people can have a coffee in the evening and go to bed just fine By building tolerance and genetics.

Or by having ADHD - coffee before bed can give me just enough focus to fall asleep.
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