Book review of "Why We Sleep" by Matthew Walker, PhD
Shared by DeniseM
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You can also listen to this great book on Audible. I love Audible! It has changed my life. I listen to so many more books now. I will usually listen when I’m doing something else, like cooking dinner or driving. You can get children’s books too!
Here’s where to go for a free 30-day Trial and book! Prime members get 2 free books! It's hard to beat free books!
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OK, I’m done! I have now taken in every fact about sleep known to man! I even am now an expert on duck REM sleep! Ha! Actually it’s kind of nice to think I don’t need to concern my pretty head with anymore sleep information because there cannot possibly be anything else out there about sleep that I don’t know now!😂
I have known good quality sleep is vital for a very long time and questioned what benefit I could get from this book. I thought I needed just to get the best nights sleep I possibly could and call it a day on what I needed to do! But I was SO wrong! There is so much more to sleep than that. A LOT more! This book by Matthew Walker PhD a sleep expert, was a tremendous amount of information to take in for my very unscientific brain. I doubted whether I could do it, but after being encouraged by friends reading this same book I persevered and I’m actually very glad I did. It helped me to realize even more how connected sleep is to mood, energy, health, and just basic quality of life!
Why We Sleep serves as a call to acknowledge the importance of sleep. Dr. Walker's sleep tips include explanations on how sleep works and how it affects health, encompassing sleep and metabolism, which of course gets tied into Tyoe 2 diabetes! Aging and sleep interact too! He also corrects myths about sleep like-
Myth: Thanksgiving turkey makes you sleepy due to tryptophan.
Fact: Tryptophan in turkey or cheese does not significantly affect sleep.
Myth: People need a specific amount of sleep.
Fact: Matthew Walker: 'How much sleep do we need?' Adults generally need seven to nine hours of sleep, but individual needs vary.
Myth: Exercise before bed improves sleep.
Fact: Exercising right before bedtime can worsen sleep quality.
Myth: Sleeping sleeping less than 5 hours a night is enough, defying sleep science.
Fact: The National Sleep Foundation's sleep recommendations state 7 to 9 hours of sleep for adults for optimal health.
This book presents 5 key insights from Walker's scientific studies. These insights could change how you understand sleep and how you live your life. There's useful information for everyone, whether you think you sleep enough or suffer from sleep deprivation.
Chronic chronic sleep deprivation and sleep deficiency pose severe health risks:
Increased risk of type 2 diabetes
Higher chance of obesity, linking sleep and weight gain
Elevated risk of cardiovascular disease
Greater likelihood of hypertension
Association with depression and anxiety
Risk factor for Alzheimer's disease
Cognitive decline and dementia
Contributions to serious car crashes, falls, and workplace accidents
Impairment of the immune system
Emotional difficulties, decreased motivation, and hindered academic success
One of my most important takeaways, from this book, was the chapter on napping!
In "Why We Sleep," Matthew Walker discusses napping as a beneficial practice when done correctly. He highlights the potential cognitive and health benefits of short naps, particularly in combating the negative effects of sleep deprivation. Walker suggests that naps can help improve alertness, enhance memory consolidation, and boost overall cognitive function. I particularly liked his explanation of the impact of napping in the countries that practice a “siesta” culture! Dr. Walker calls this “Biphasic Sleep.”
Here’s the definition.
Biphasic sleep describes a pattern of sleep in which a person sleeps in two segments, or phases, per day.
There are countries in Latin America, Spain, the Philippines, and Greece that practice closing their businesses in the afternoon and returning home for a mid-day nap after lunch.
One particular study in Greece was sited by Dr. Walker and was conducted over the course of six years to study the affects of napping and cardiovascular health with disastrous outcomes.
Businesses in Greece typically maintained these hours.
9-1 AM open
Closed I-5 PM
Open 5-9PM
Those in the study had no history of heart attack or stroke at the start, thus Indicating an absence of cardiovascular ill health.
Those in the study were asked to abandon the practice of an afternoon nap and over the course of the six year study had a 37% increase of of death from heart disease and in working men the mortality rate increased over 60%! Wow, they made a huge sacrifice for this study!
There is however further evidence of how beneficial this siesta culture really is. There is the Island of Icaria, in Greece, where men are four times more likely to reach the age of 90 than American males and this is very much attributed to their napping culture! The Island of Icaria is called “the place where people forget to die!”
However, Dr. Walker also advises against overly long naps or napping too close to bedtime, as this can interfere with nighttime sleep patterns. Overall, he advocates for strategic napping as a tool to supplement regular sleep and promote optimal functioning throughout the day.
Also in Why We Sleep, Matthew Walker explains the vital role of sleep in health and cognition. NREM (Non-Rapid Eye Movement) sleep is crucial for memory consolidation, helping integrate new information, while REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep and Non-REM sleep activates the brain and supports functions like creative problem solving, memory retrieval, cognitive flexibility, abstract reasoning, and efficient cognitive function. I thought this was particularly interesting on teenagers and why their early school start times can be very detrimental to their health and ability to learn and function due to their sleep patterns at that age. Teenagers and sleep: The Sleep Foundation suggests varying hours of sleep across different age groups, ranging from 12-15 hours for infants to 7-8 hours for older adults, underlining the necessity of sufficient sleep for maintaining health and cognitive abilities.
Dr. Walker also explains how sleep rhythms, including the circadian rhythm, are managed, significant in his sleep research. Melatonin and adenosine, significant for managing our sleep and circadian rhythms, chemicals our bodies produce, set our circadian rhythms. These rhythms influence when we feel sleepy and alert throughout the day.
Walker briefly touches on how short sleep affects the immune system, emphasizing its connection to an increased risk of cancer. This underlines the crucial role sleep plays in health and disease prevention.
Walker also links sleep deprivation to diseases such as:
Dementia
Alzheimer's disease
Depression
Anxiety
Cardiovascular disease
Cancer
Diabetes
Obesity
I paid a lot of attention to his discussion on sleep and how it affects metabolism and other diseases like diabetes and cancer. His claims on sleep and cancer, sleep and diabetes, and sleep and immune system are supported by scientific evidence!
Dr. Walker does offer practical sleep improvement advice. He explains why on all these tips in the very last chapter. Here are a few:
Keeping a consistent sleep schedule to regulate the body's clock.
Limiting caffeine and alcohol before bedtime to avoid sleep disruption.
Creating a cool, dark, and quiet sleep environment.
Turn off screens an hour before bedtime
Watch what you eat and drink
Watch that daytime naps are not too long
Manage stress
Stay active
Expose yourself to natural light
Establish a relaxing bedtime routine
Seek professional help if needed
Considering 35% of the US population get less than the recommended sleep, and over a quarter do not meet the 7-hour recommendation, Dr. Walker's advice is of vital importance!
Sleep is the single most effective thing we can do to reset our brain and body health each day" - Matthew Walker. I learned so much life-changing and life-saving advice from this book! I hope you can read Why We Sleep and it helps you to fully realize how prioritizing sleep can affect every aspect of your life and it leads to better health and happiness.
Oh! And go take a nap! A short one, not too long!😴
Denise🩷
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