#1 Sleep Neuroscientist: Do This Every Morning To Stop Decline & Stay Young | Russel Foster

Rangan Chatterjee

Feb 7, 2024

Episode description

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Prepare to learn everything you wanted to know about sleep (but were too tired to ask). For today’s episode I’m welcoming back Professor Russell Foster, one of the world’s foremost experts on circadian rhythms and sleep. Russell is Professor of Circadian Neuroscience at the University of Oxford and author of the fantastic Life Time: The New Science Of The Body Clock And How It Can Revolutionise Your Sleep and Health.

The last time I spoke with Russell (on episode 292), we took a deep dive into circadian rhythms, chronotypes, and how best to live in sync with our body clocks. This conversation picks up where we left off and takes in some of the very latest evidence on using circadian science to optimise sleep.

Among many topics, we cover whether you should share a bed with your partner, whether sleep trackers are useful or not, and why routine is key. We discuss the vital importance of daytime light, minimising evening light, helping kids avoid screen time, and how our body temperature cycle affects sleep.

Russell shares the latest research on sleeping pills, magnesium and melatonin and the best ways to use them. We also cover the issue of waking to pee in the night, the importance of rest and relaxation, naps, sound frequency therapy, and weighted blankets.

It’s easy to think that good sleep is something you ‘get’ or miss out on. But Russell wants all of us to know that sleep is dynamic, flexible, and within our control.

This really is a wonderful conversation, jam-packed with practical insights that you can use immediately to improve how you sleep, wake and live.

#feelbetterlivemore
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Connect with Russell:
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Russell’s book:
Life Time: The New Science of the Body Clock And How it Can Revolutionize Your Sleep and Health - US: https://amzn.to/3OLkMCU, UK: https://amzn.to/3qcE5rR

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Episode description

Mindsip insights from this episode:

Address junk light problem to reclaim night environment

Similar to how we created an abundance of junk food, the creation of cheap, efficient light since the 1950s has led to a 'junk light' problem where we've invaded the night.

#environment

#light-therapy

Utilize light therapy to surpass Prozac for depression relief

In a fascinating study on non-seasonal depression, 30 minutes of 10,000 lux light therapy in the morning was found to be more effective than the drug Prozac.

#depression

#light-therapy

Question sleep tracker validity to avoid sleep anxiety

No sleep federation or the FDA has approved sleep trackers, and their 'medically validated' claims can be based on flimsy studies, sometimes leading to a recognized condition called sleep anxiety.

#sleep

#testing

Recognize tongue's role in storing visceral fat and snoring risk

One of the first places the body stores visceral fat is in the tongue, which can restrict the airway and contribute to snoring.

#tongue

#visceral-fat

Sleep separately to enhance relationship quality

Sleeping separately from a partner who disrupts your sleep is not the end of a relationship, but the beginning of a new wonderful phase where both people get decent sleep.

#relationships

#sleep

Reduce nighttime peeing by staying active during the day

For sedentary individuals, fluid that collects in the lower limbs during the day is reintegrated when they lie down, which increases blood pressure and triggers the kidneys to produce urine.

#blood-pressure

#kidney

Recognize melatonin as a biological marker, not a sleep hormone

Melatonin is most emphatically not a sleep hormone but rather a biological marker of darkness that has only a mild modulatory effect on sleep.

#melatonin

#sleep

Get sufficient daytime light to counteract evening dim light effects

Recent studies show that getting sufficient bright light during the day (500 lux or more) can abolish the subtle, negative clock-shifting effects of dim light exposure in the evening.

#circadian

#light-therapy

Embrace biphasic sleep for natural rest patterns

Historical and experimental data show that biphasic sleep, or sleeping in two distinct blocks with a period of wakefulness in between, was the norm for pre-industrial humans.