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Good sleep, good learning, good life (2012)

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Re: Good sleep, good learning, good life (2012)

#61

How can I explain to my 6 months old girl that we all need to sleep :D This is a bug in the universe! We need to sleep so that the levels of dopamine, and hormones of hunger and not hunger are at good levels, so that we can be healthy and strong, so that the immune system is stable and strong... And we need to get good sleep so that we can protect our children and be sane.... BUT the nature decided that the kids will…

Last month there was a heartbreaking news about a I imagine the predator situation would have been much worse during the early human evolution years. I don't know if that was a beneficial trait or not in that environment.

As a parent, I just wonder what-if.

Re: Good sleep, good learning, good life (2012)

#62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The older I get the more sensitive to a single poor night's sleep I become. Can relate. > The most frustrating effect is that even a few drinks in the evening (maybe over 2-3 units). Unsettles my sleep that if I'm in the process of learning something feels like it sets me back several days. I'm not noticing it unsettles my learning but can relate to a few drinks already upsetting my sleep. I wouldn't be surprised i…

I'm in a similar age bracket. Here is some research around the alcohol effect. What I found most surprising is the mean consumption was over 80g, since 8g of ethanol is a unit that's an astonishing mean of 10units. I was of the impression that the effect was around 1 unit. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5524957/

While there's no consistent standard, most countries appear to be using something in the 10-14g range for what they call a "standard drink"/"unit" of alcohol. (UK is 8g, but the rest of the EU typically uses 10g or 12g, US uses 14g).

I actually hadn't realized until I went looking that the "standard drink" isn't much of an international standard unit at all. Will have to keep that in mind when reading papers/recommendations from different health authorities in the future.

-----

Anyway, it's pretty interesting. I'm not sure I'm going to believe the effect just on one noisy study, but even if the reality is something lesser - like it just not harming memory formation of things you'd learned earlier in the day, the implications are still a bit interesting.

It certainly adds a bit to some of the historical social biases against "day drinking", and also does a bit to explain how plenty of high-performing young people seem to use alcohol pretty heavily after they're done learning (college students partying, etc) with limited direct impacts on their educational performance.

Re: Good sleep, good learning, good life (2012)

#63
post #48

The older I get the more sensitive to a single poor night's sleep I become. The most frustrating effect is that even a few drinks in the evening (maybe over 2-3 units). Unsettles my sleep that if I'm in the process of learning something feels like it sets me back several days. That's not even counting the slowed processing I feel, and lower productivity the next day. I genuinely have to revisit old information. A gen…

I’m 49 and have all but given up on drinking. It does nothing for me except make me tired and then, ironically, mess up my sleep. On fridays I grill cheeseburgers for the family and usually have one Half-Life tall boy from Manhattan Brewery because it’s my favorite of all time but that’s about it. Otherwise, I don’t drink at all. Being tired and not sleeping well is handled perfectly adequately by my job hah.

This must be a marketing campaign bit

Re: Good sleep, good learning, good life (2012)

#65

The older I get the more sensitive to a single poor night's sleep I become. The most frustrating effect is that even a few drinks in the evening (maybe over 2-3 units). Unsettles my sleep that if I'm in the process of learning something feels like it sets me back several days. That's not even counting the slowed processing I feel, and lower productivity the next day. I genuinely have to revisit old information. A gen…

>The older I get the more sensitive to a single poor night's sleep I become.

Back when I was 20 I had a drinking problem. One time I drank so much that I passed out sitting at a table. Woke up with friends having stripped my clothes and washed them. I woke up at 9AM, feeling 100% sober, just anxious about my 20 missed calls from my mom. I got a bit drunk at about 33 and next day I thought I was dying.

That's how I learnt what hangovers were.

Again, at around 25, I helped my brother in-law move bee hives all night, including some 8 hours of driving.

Went straight to work and in the evening I had dinner with my wife at a restaurant.

Now I crash in bed at 9PM and if I'm lucky, I also sleep (but quite often I wake up at 2AM).

Getting old(er) sucks, and I'm only 42 and I miss so much how nice being in my 20 something body felt all the time.

Re: Good sleep, good learning, good life (2012)

#66
post #64

Has someone found that they have better alcohol "recovery" if they are pursuing intense or at least regular(at least 3x a week) stamina building exercise like running/swimming?

Unfortunately not in my case. I wouldn't be surprised if hangovers are worse if you're fit.

But what I've found is that forcing a run when hung over does help me move past it. Maybe it helps expel the metabolites from my body.

Re: Good sleep, good learning, good life (2012)

#67

How can I explain to my 6 months old girl that we all need to sleep :D This is a bug in the universe! We need to sleep so that the levels of dopamine, and hormones of hunger and not hunger are at good levels, so that we can be healthy and strong, so that the immune system is stable and strong... And we need to get good sleep so that we can protect our children and be sane.... BUT the nature decided that the kids will…

FWIW, and understanding that individual babies do differ, most babies can sleep through the night (10-12 hours) by 3-4 months old. Check out the books "Twelve Hours' Sleep by Twelve Weeks Old" or "Precious Little Sleep" for guidance.

In my case where n=2, naps during the day are/were not all that consistent but at night (unless they are very sick or something) the kids sleep.

Re: Good sleep, good learning, good life (2012)

#68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not religious at all, and it’s not religious fundamentalism to point out that alcohol disrupts sleep, and that this likely is the primary factor affecting the poster’s sleep. Also not religious fundamentalism to point out that alcohol is a known carcinogen (: that’s just science. It’s a Group 1 carcinogen, the same group as tobacco and asbestos.

Sunlight is a carcinogen

> Sunlight is a carcinogen

But sunlight is essential for the cutaneous conversion of 7-dehydrocholesterol to vitamin D3, whereas ethanol serves no essential purpose, irrespective of whether one enjoys it or not.

Personally I don’t consume ethanol; but I don’t care if others do or not so long as they stay off the roads and are not piloting my flight.

I will say that when I did consume ethanol even in small quantities, my sleep was much worse than it is at baseline; and that effect only worsened as I got older.

Re: Good sleep, good learning, good life (2012)

#69

> There is only one formula for healthy and refreshing sleep: Go to sleep only when you are very tired. Not earlier. Not later. Wake up naturally without an alarm clock. This is very easy to say when you're not suffering from insomnia and other sleep disorders.

or have even a single obligation in the morning
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