How Sleep Influences Your Health & Longevity

In our last article on Burnout (Part 2) we highlighted six key areas for you to focus on to avoid or reverse burnout. In this article, and the ones that follow, we will take a more in depth look at those six areas, beginning with sleep. 

How many times have you heard your colleagues talking about how little sleep they’re getting?

Have you heard someone detailing how much overtime they’re working, how many call backs they’ve done or how many extra shifts they picked up? Like many of you, I’ve done this myself. I mistakenly thought it was some badge of honor to work week after week and be able to keep going on 30 hours of sleep in a week. The reality is when we do this, we’re setting potential burnout in motion. We simply can’t thrive when we don’t get enough sleep to rest, reset and recover.

WHY SLEEP IS IMPORTANT

The number one reason that sleep is important for first responders is that adequate sleep has been scientifically proven to lower cardiovascular risk. In professions where we already face increased cardiovascular disease we want to gain whatever advantage we can in lowering our risk. Reduced sleep at less than 5 hours doubles the risk of heart attack and stroke.

Additionally, during sleep we experience restorative hormone flow, rebalancing of brain chemicals (affecting behavioral health), cellular repair of muscles and organs, muscle growth and growth hormone release, proper immune system and metabolic functioning. Studies have linked quality sleep to higher cognitive functioning, better social functioning and increased memory function. People who get quality sleep also reported enhanced emotional well-being.

WHAT HAPPENS DURING SLEEP

The science of what happens during sleep can be very technical and sometimes complicated. I want to break it down to basics for our learning purposes. It’s important for you to understand that there are actions happening in your body during each phase that benefit you and that there are significant physical and behavioral consequences when sleep isn’t optimized. 

Our sleep is composed of two main types, Non-REM and REM (Rapid Eye Movement). Further, non-REM is composed of four stages. non-REM sleep is where deep sleep and the rest and repair functions occur. Growth hormone and testosterone are released during these stages. This includes brain maintenance with the consolidation of new memories and skills.

While we are sleeping, we experience alternating cycles of Non-REM and REM sleep on average of approximately 90 minutes. The first half of our sleep is composed more of non-REM sleep and the second half of our sleep time is composed more of REM sleep. REM sleep helps with emotional processing, learning, creativity and mood regulation.

HOW DO OUR BODIES GET TO SLEEP?

This may seem paradoxical, but your quality of sleep at night begins in the morning. In the morning hours as REM sleep winds down, cortisol begins to rise in your bloodstream preparing you for activity. Almost every cell in your body has a circadian clock. This is an internal timing system that regulates functions on a 24 hour cycle to match nature. Your circadian rhythm is controlled by a small cluster of neurons in the brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN).  When you wake up and get natural light in your eyes, you are regulating your circadian rhythm on the 24 hour cycle. Melanopsin receptors live in our eyes and skin cells. 

As evening progresses, your body will naturally release melatonin, preparing your body for sleep and rest. This increase in melatonin relaxes brain waves and muscles, lowers blood pressure and slows heart rate and respiration. Melatonin is also an antioxidant that scavenges free radicals and inhibits cancer cells and triggers damaged cell destruction.

PRIMARY SLEEP DISRUPTORS & SOLUTIONS

Let’s talk about the most common sleep disruptors and how you can solve them. 

One common sleep disruptor is improper sleep hygiene. Your sleep space should be clean and mentally associated with no problems. Reserve your sleep space for sleep, sex, reading at night, meditation, prayer or similar activities. Don’t watch TV, phone or computer in your bedroom. Make your sleep space cool, dark and quiet. If you can, turn your phone off or move at least 10 feet away to reduce EMF exposure. Adhere to a regular bed time. 

Low grade, chronic stress is another sleep disruptor. A symptom is the night time racing thoughts or mentally bouncing from one topic to another in your mind. Worry is also another symptom of stress. This is having your nervous system stuck “on” in sympathetic mode. To remedy this, you need to develop skills to regulate your nervous system and move it to parasympathetic mode. You can use breathwork, meditation, a series of stretches or a body scan prior to bed to shift your body to parasympathetic mode. 

Your nutrition and activity level also has an effect on your sleep. Eliminate artificial sweeteners from your diet. Aspartame and sucralose are poisons to your body. Studies have documented that these substances can cause insomnia, anxiety, and depression, as well as decreased sleep quality. Exercise earlier in the day. Hormones released by exercise can interfere with going to sleep. Stop eating 3 to 4 hours before bed so your digestive system is at rest. No alcohol several hours before bed. Alcohol may seem like it relaxes you for sleep but it actually disrupts the sleep cycle pattern mentioned earlier. 

The most prevalent and worst sleep disruptor is artificial light at night (ALAN) also called blue light at night. We reviewed melanopsin, the SCN and melatonin earlier in this article. Artificial light from laptops, tv and your phone is mostly in the blue spectrum. This makes your brain think it is daylight and delays melatonin onset, resulting in delayed cycles of sleep. This is the number one disruptor to your circadian rhythm. A disrupted circadian rhythm caused by ALAN is linked to some cancers, diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease risk. The best option is to stop screen use 2 hours before bed. If that isn’t an option, you can buy blue light blocking glasses. 

WHAT ABOUT SHIFT WORK?

There’s no way around it. Shift work, especially overnight shifts and 24 hour shifts when your sleep is interrupted are detrimental to your sleep and your overall health as a result. That’s a biological fact. My recommendation is that on days off, you reset your natural circadian rhythm to the best of your ability and follow the above guidelines. You have to work harder to overcome the negative effects of shiftwork so you’ll have to focus on the above factors. You can mitigate a lot of health risks by optimizing your nutrition, fitness, and mindset while you work to get the best sleep you can on days off. 

TRY THIS FOR 28 DAYS

Making lifestyle changes can be challenging. If you set a calendar for only 4 weeks and commit to making the changes you know will help you, it will be easy to look back and see your progress. 

• Get morning, unfiltered light outside. 

• Exercise earlier in the day.

• Avoid caffeine after noon or 1pm.

• Work on optimum nutrition. 

• Eliminate alcohol or limit 4 hours before bed.

• Don’t eat within 2-3 hours of bed.

• Avoid artificial light at least 2 hours before bed. 

If you want to do more research or learning on your own, I recommend podcasts with Dr. Matt Walker or Dr. Kirk Parsley. 

Disclaimer: I’m not a medical professional. I provide information for your education. I encourage you to research these topics further for yourself in your journey to healing and health. If you have significant physical or behavioral health concerns you should see a qualified medical provider and preferably one who specializes in holistic health. Understand that medicine is oriented toward pharmaceutical remedies for what can actually be physical health issues. Do your own research. 

If you or a family member are having any issues with mental health or relationships, please reach out for help. Responder Health (responderhealth.com) is an organization that offers resources specifically for first responders and their families. Responder Health provides confidential and full-service solutions that support first responders through stress and traumatic events, and provides them with the education, resources, and community they need to live healthy, happy lives. Our peer advocate hotline (206)459-3020 offers a confidential 24-hour crisis referral service for all public safety employees, all emergency services personnel, and their family members nationwide.