I couldn't fall asleep last night.  My brain just would not shut up.  I know why, and the reason is really stupid.  If I eat chocolate in the late afternoon or evening my mind revs up and refuses to go to sleep.  Well there was this bag of truffles made basically from coconut oil and raw cacao.  They were so creamy and delicious and...  Well you know what they say, "You can't fix stupid."

So there I was, wide-awake at 2:38 in the morning.  I wanted to sleep.  I needed to sleep.  But sleep was not happening.  At this point I had already blown my sleep cycle production of growth hormone that normally starts about 2 to 3 hours after you go to sleep - generally around 2 AM.  It is the growth hormone surge at this time of night that stimulates repair of any damaged tissues from the day and cleans out the built up toxins from brain activity during the day.

At that point I got up and tried a new nutrient I found that was developed in Soviet era Russia. It is a form of the neurotransmitter that shuts off brain chatter while also opening up blood flow. That is sort of like what my brain felt like at that point.  I had tried it a couple times before and found it did a nice job of shutting off my mind. Normally it is used to create quiet calm confidence during the day, but I found it allowed me to sleep when I was simply amped up from some project.  Unfortunately, last night I also noticed that my heart rate was up above normal - a sure sign for me that I was in the middle of an allergic food reaction.  The truffles and something else I ate were kicking my can.  This allergic reaction would undercut the effectiveness of the brain quieting stuff because of the histamine release from the food reaction.

Finally around 4:30 or 5:00am I drifted off to sleep for an hour or two.  I was going to need a power nap sometime in the afternoon.  Fortunately today is my short day at work to give me time to write this newsletter.  I was also planning to watch a couple videos on how to de-bone a chicken and then give it a try to develop the skills needed to create a Turducken for Thanksgiving.  A Turducken is a chicken stuffed into a duck, which is then stuffed into a turkey - all de-boned.  Thanks to Matt for telling me about them.  P.S. I later discovered that a fish filleting knife does not work at all well for de-boning chicken.  I need a real de-boning knife.

Sleep is important.  We all know that from experience. Just how important is really something to consider.  Poor sleep - not getting at least 6 to 8 good hours of sleep, significantly stresses the body.  Your immune system is dramatically weakened.  Your tissue regeneration and repair malfunctions.  Your brain does not get its needed daily detoxification to allow proper memory formation and clear thinking abilities.  Poor sleep has been linked to the development of pre-diabetes.  Lack of sleep contributes to many stress disorders like heart disease, ulcers, mood disorders, and tumor formation.  In fact one study found that chronic insomnia was linked to a three times greater risk of dying from any and all diseases.

So what can we do to encourage good restful sleep?  Let's start with the obvious one that started this article - don't eat or drink things that you know will keep you awake anywhere close to bed time.  Some people are very sensitive to coffee, tea, chocolate, and other stimulants.  If you are one of these people, find a loved one who is willing to beat you with a wooden spoon when you reach for one of those substances in the evening.  We can't always trust our better judgment, which sounds so much better than "We can't fix stupid."  Sometimes we need the help of someone else's better judgment.

In general, good sleep goes hand in hand with good health.  If you are overweight, fat cells release inflammatory chemicals that cause pain and mess up your sleep cycle hormones. Taking a bunch of meds, not exercising regularly, and eating inflammatory foods will cause your body to feel the effects and not sleep well.  As a side note, make sure you exercise in the morning hours as exercise at night speeds up the body. My personal favorite advice from last night's experience is to avoid foods you might be sensitive to.  A food reaction will cancel any hopes you might have had for a good night's sleep.

What food chemistry can we use to help our sleeping?  It is the amino acid tryptophan that the brain turns into the neurotransmitter serotonin that relaxes you to get you ready for sleep. You can increase the tryptophan levels in your brain to increase serotonin production by eating a high protein snack several hours before bedtime followed by half of a banana or some grapes or cherries.  The natural sugar in these fruits increases the uptake of the tryptophan by the brain, plus these fruits have natural melatonin in them.  The brain then transforms the serotonin into melatonin - the sleep hormone in the pineal gland.  This production is shut down by light at night - particularly light in the blue wavelengths.  Some people have found that wearing blue-blocker sunglasses or goggles in the evening improves their melatonin production allowing them to sleep better.

Aside from the advice in the previous paragraph, avoid sugar and high carb foods in general.  Blood sugar instabilities are the most common cause for sleep problems.  When you have insulin resistance blood sugar problems, it is hard to fall asleep.  When you have hypoglycemic blood sugar problems, you will often experience low blood sugar in the middle of the night. This triggers an adrenaline reaction that wakes you up feeling rushed or scared.  Blood sugar issues are very common.  I have to deal with them every week in the office by correcting the underlying pancreas - liver communication problem. I usually end up putting the patient on a strict sugar control diet for three weeks while the liver heals.

To obtain the growth hormone release we need, it's best to sleep in complete darkness. Any light at all will stimulate the pineal gland in your brain to not release the growth hormone.  Among other things, the pineal gland is involved with the secretion of the hormone melatonin and it causes the feeling of sleepiness. There is speculation that the deep red color emitted by the embers of a campfire or darkroom light will not trigger the pineal into reacting to light - sort of an adaptation to human's history of sleeping around a campfire to keep predators away.  In other words, do not attempt to fall asleep with the TV on.  Even the light from a clock by the bed can be enough to cause a problem.  Some people are sensitive to the electromagnetic fields from electric devices, so keep these out of the bedroom, or at least turned completely off at night.

What else? We sleep better when the room temperature is cool - below 70 degrees.  For most folks, 60 to 68 degrees seems to be optimal for sleeping.  Strangely though keeping our feet warm by wearing socks has been found to help with sleep.  

Our bodies are creatures of habit. We have chemical and hormonal rhythms that do not change easily, so keep a consistent schedule for your sleeping.  Staying up late some nights to read a good book or to watch a movie really does not work well for your body.  That said, it is a good idea to wind down for an hour before going to bed by reading a good book, meditating, or relaxing and cuddling with your loved one.  It is hard to go from 60 mph to a dead stop and fall asleep.

If you have a hot tub or sauna, they are a great way to relax your body just before going to bed.  A hot bath with Epsom salts will give your body magnesium through the skin which helps you to sleep. For some people, a hot shower before bed will do the trick. Even better is if you have a kind and dear soul willing to give you a massage just before you go to sleep.  I like massages.

A word about bladders - empty them before going to bed to reduce the need to get up in the middle of the night to pee.  The very action of having to get up disrupts sleep, which in turn makes you more likely to need to get up to pee.  Usually the suggestion is to not drink anything 2 hours before going to bed.

Sometimes patients ask me about using melatonin pills or sleeping pills.  I don't like the idea of taking external hormones - melatonin included.  Doing this has long term consequences of disrupting other hormones in the body.  A once in a while occasional use might be ok, but I would be very cautious.  Sleeping pills are very dangerous - even though they might be sold over the counter.  The active ingredient in them is a known neuro-toxin that fries brain cells.  Using sleeping pills greatly increases your chances of developing memory problems down the road.

It seems that every disorder I come across has the same remedy - eat right, exercise right, keep a clear and relaxed mind, and a loving heart.  That is not such a bad prescription.

Take care,

David     

Tuesdays and Fridays

Sleep critical to health

Three recent studies showed that poor sleep due to sleep apnea raised all-cause mortality by 2.5 times and risk of cardiovascular death by 4 times.  Interestingly these numbers were for sleeping both not enough - less than 6.5 hours a night, and sleeping too much - more than 9 hours a night.

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Belly fat linked to memory loss

People with high amounts of abdominal fat in their middle age are 3.6 times as likely to develop memory loss and dementia later in their life.  A chemical called PPARalpha controls fat metabolism in the liver and when it is low you get increased belly fat.  Well the same chemical is responsible for stimulating the production of memory proteins in the brain.  Low levels in the liver also mean low levels in the brain, so the high belly fat is a red flag for low memory protein production.

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40 years of federal nutrition research fatally flawed

Bad Data 

 "Living is a disease from which sleep gives us relief eight hours a day."

~ Chamfort 

 

Our address is  9725 Fair Oaks Blvd.

Finding the new location is very easy.  Coming from highway 50 up Sunrise Blvd, you turn left and go up a block.  We are on the right hand side - the building just past the Subway Sandwich shop.  If you are coming down Sunrise from the Mall area then just turn right on Fair Oaks Blvd and up a block on the right.

 

If you are coming from the Roseville area you could come down Sunrise Blvd, but that is a long trek.  It is probably shorter time wise to come down Auburn Blvd - San Juan Ave like you have been for the Sunset office, but instead of turning left at Sunset, keep going straight 3 more lights to Fair Oaks Blvd and turn left.  Go down 2 lights to New York Ave, go through the intersection, and immediately turn into the turn lane once the center divider ends.  We are on the left.

 

About Dr. DeLapp

Dr. DeLapp has been a philosopher, non-force Chiropractor, medical intuitive, and health innovator for over 30 years.  He began experimenting with  medical intuition in 1972 while studying physics at UC Davis.  In addition to physics he designed and completed an individual major in the philosophy and psychology of education.  Shortly after he choose to pursue a career in the only truly health oriented profession available at that time, Chiropractic.  He graduated with honors in 1981 with his doctorate and opened a private practice. 
Since that time he has continued his research into the effects of consciousness and learning on health. 
He developed the Biomagnetic Retraining system for correcting movement abnormalities. 
Since 1991 he has focused on developing a powerful system for uncovering and assisting the mind-body connection in health and personal growth.  The in-depth coaching, guided by the subconscious direction from the body, is called Heartflow and the simpler mind-body retraining for health and unfoldment he has named Gracework.  Both are available at Fair Oaks Health.

Dr David DeLapp DC
Chiropractor

Ellen Flowers FGM
Spiritual Life Coach

 

 

 

Catherine Cummings

 

 

Jin Shin Jitsu

 

 

Lorena Morales

 

 

Massage Practitioner

 

 

 

 

 Is there a sweet that is not poisonous?  Yes!


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