Forget crossword puzzles, Sudoku, word searches, and reciting the alphabet backwards, one of the most powerful ways to protect yourself from dementia as you get older is to get a good night’s sleep.
We’ve long known that during deep sleep, fluids are released into the brain that help the body begin necessary repairs and flush out toxins associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
A new study last year found that deep sleep is so important that even small decreases in sleep can lead to a significant increase in dementia risk. What makes this even more concerning is the fact that sleep quality tends to naturally decline as we age.
The amount of time we spend each night in deep sleep is reduced from two hours of rejuvenating luxury to nearly 30 minutes. That’s why it’s so important to do everything you can to protect and enhance your sleep quality as you move through life. .
I have suffered from insomnia for many years and have been researching sleep for many years. Recently, I participated in a large clinical study at a leading sleep research center examining the best ways to deal with insomnia.
Dr Michael Mosley (pictured) is involved in extensive clinical research at a leading sleep research center investigating the best ways to combat insomnia.
It made a huge difference for me, so I distilled everything I learned into a simple 4-week plan based on science.
Today, in the final installment of a series of excerpts from my new book, 4 Weeks to Better Sleep, I’ll outline the last important step in the plan and show you how good sleep can help with dementia. What is the best protection against
Every night at bedtime, you should begin to experience deep sleep within an hour of nodding off.
This stage is when you are most relaxed and it is difficult to wake up.
It’s also the point in your sleep cycle where your brain organizes your memories and decides which ones to keep and which to delete.
Even compared to a computer, the brain can store a whopping amount of data, about 1,000 terabytes.
A computer with this capacity can store 2 billion books or 500,000 movies.
But we are constantly bombarded with stimuli and something has to give. So during deep sleep, important memories are moved from the hippocampus (the brain’s short-term memory area) to the safe prefrontal cortex (long-term memory area). Terminology Storage Space (Think of it as a hard drive).
Short-term stored memories are gradually erased.
Scientists now know that deep sleep is also the stage when the brain is working hard to flush out toxic proteins such as beta-amyloid and tau, which are thought to cause Alzheimer’s disease. Without enough deep sleep, memories fade and the risk of dementia increases dramatically. But the good news is that if you can turn things around and increase your deep sleep, you can reduce your risk of dementia.
Deep sleep is said to be a “life raft” that helps keep memories floating while toxins try to drag them into the depths of Alzheimer’s disease.
There is also evidence that getting enough sleep can help people who are already at high risk of developing dementia and slow the progression of the disease.
If you’ve been reading about my four-week sleep plan in the Mail and Mail on Sunday over the weekend, you’ll be familiar with my simple tips for improving your sleep, and you may have already started implementing them. not. .
Research shows that staying mentally and physically active during the day, creating a cool, dark sleep environment, and minimizing screen time before bed can improve the quality of your sleep. I am.
Some research also shows that taking a warm shower an hour before bedtime gives your body time to cool down and may improve the quality of your deep slow-wave sleep.
Eating the right foods during the day, especially a high-fiber, high-protein Mediterranean diet, also promotes deep sleep, as does avoiding late-night snacking. One of my rules is to avoid consuming anything with calories within three hours of bedtime.
![Mr Mosley's wife Claire Bailey](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/29/07/80566291-13016811-Mr_Mosley_s_wife_Clare_Bailey-a-33_1706513294961.jpg)
![Mr Mosley's wife Claire Bailey](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/01/29/07/80566291-13016811-Mr_Mosley_s_wife_Clare_Bailey-a-33_1706513294961.jpg)
Mr Mosley’s wife Claire Bailey
It’s natural for people to worry about getting enough sleep, but achieving optimal health and longevity isn’t just about the time you spend in bed, it’s also the quality of your sleep.
What are the most important changes you can make to maximize your chances of getting deeper sleep?
It’s about establishing a regular sleep schedule and sticking to it. This means going to bed and waking up at the same time every day.
This is an incredibly simple yet powerful tool for seeking better sleep.
A study of more than 88,000 people published last month in the journal Neurology found that people with irregular sleep patterns were 53 percent more likely to develop dementia than those who slept regularly. There was found.
That’s a rule I follow religiously now. If it means preserving my mental strength for a few more years, I’ll happily press pause on the box set and prioritize a good night’s sleep.
What to do in week 4
In my book, I explain how in the first three weeks of your sleep plan, you build a series of healthy habits that will ensure you get a good night’s sleep.
As part of your plan, you may want to try bedtime restriction therapy, which reduces the amount of time you spend in bed over a period of several weeks.
This is a proven method to treat insomnia and increase sleep efficiency (the percentage of time spent asleep in bed without tossing and turning).
Say goodbye to weekend sleepovers
Just like eating a big chocolate bar, lying down for a long time on the weekend may feel good at the time, but it won’t do your body or brain any good in the long run.
Lying down disrupts your body’s natural rhythm (circadian rhythm) and reduces your desire to sleep, which can make it difficult to fall asleep come Sunday night.
The urge to sleep is caused, at least in part, by a chemical in the brain called adenosine. It binds to receptors in the brain and causes the familiar drowsiness. The longer you stay awake, the more adenosine levels rise and the more sleepy you are likely to feel. The longer you lie down, the less time it takes for adenosine to rise, making you less likely to feel tired when you go to bed.
This may not be a problem if you’re young or lucky enough to have a good night’s sleep, but if you’re prone to insomnia, this deficiency can lead to some bad nights.
That’s why, unless you’re on bedtime restriction therapy, we recommend sticking to a normal sleep window, going to bed and waking up at the same time seven days a week, including weekends.
Also, aim to exercise regularly and practice mindfulness and breathing techniques as much as possible to keep your stress levels in check.
Strengthen the microbiome
Over the past few years, scientists have been fascinated by the activity of the microbiome. The microbiome is the trillions of microscopic bacteria, fungi, and viruses that live in our intestines.
New research is coming out all the time, and we’re so excited to discover that some microbes actually produce 95 percent of the body’s serotonin and dopamine. They are natural chemicals that make us happy, calm, and help us sleep restfully.
Nowadays, a poor diet of highly processed foods has depleted the numbers of these microorganisms, and fiber-rich Mediterranean foods, including fatty fish (salmon, mackerel, anchovies, sardines, herring, etc.) and nuts, are now depleted of these microorganisms. It is known that food causes microorganisms to grow. , olive oil, and a variety of fruits, vegetables, and legumes.
If you’re following my plan closely, you’ll already be increasing the vegetables and fiber in your diet.
In week four, it’s time to call in reinforcements. Once you’ve built up a good army of fiber-eating microbes, you can start replenishing your “good bacteria” by eating fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, and kombucha.
These foods introduce a fresh population of beneficial bacteria into your gut, increasing the number of bacteria already present.
However, there is a word of warning. If you’ve never tried fermented foods before, start slow. These foods are great for increasing the number of good bacteria in your gut, but they can lead to acquired taste changes and gas.
Make the most of natural light
If you’re an owl and someone who has trouble falling asleep before midnight, we recommend exposing yourself to early morning light each day to reset your body clock and increase your chances of getting a good night’s sleep that night. To do.
During the long, dark winter months, it can be difficult to get enough light, but spending 30 minutes in front of a lightbox each morning can help.
Light levels in your home or office are likely to be a dismal 25 to 50 lux (a measure of light intensity), but a good light box can match the rays of the sun on a bright spring morning. It can produce 10,000 lux.
Extreme larks, on the other hand, wake up very early and have trouble staying awake at night, so strong light in the evening may be enough to wake them up.
The same goes for people who work night shifts.
Let’s put the cell phone to sleep first
You’ve probably heard this before, but it’s tempting to pick up your phone and start scrolling at night, so it’s best to keep it out of reach.
According to Google Trends, the most common time of day for people to search for the word “insomnia” is 3 a.m. (presumably when people are doom scrolling on their phones). .
We recommend placing your phone or tablet on the other side of the bedroom or in a completely separate room.
Sleep to boost immunity
Good sleep is essential to prevent infections. This is because while you sleep, your body produces many of the components needed by your immune system.
Research shows that people who sleep less than six hours a day are four times more likely to catch a cold than those who sleep seven hours or more.
Similarly, if your sleep efficiency (the percentage of time you spend asleep in bed) is less than 90%, you are almost six times more likely to develop a cold.
let’s not worry
One of the main things that keeps people up at night is worrying about the dire consequences of not being able to sleep.
Irrational thoughts such as, “I won’t be able to sleep, and if I don’t sleep, I might be exhausted from work tomorrow and lose my job” go around in circles.
However, it is important to realize that these thoughts are not reality.
At night, your filters drop and you become more vulnerable to your inner demons, so any thoughts you might have during the day are inevitably less grounded in reality.
If you find yourself lying in bed at night ruminating, try imagining what a sympathetic friend would say if you shared your concerns, or responding to your negative thoughts with words like “Donald.” Try giving it a silly name.
And as soon as you notice those irrational worries starting to set in, you can tell yourself, “It’s just Donald being loud again.” It may sound crazy, but give it a try. This process helps you look at your thoughts calmly and allows you to forget about stressful associations.
Should I take melatonin?
As we age, our brains tend to produce less of an important hormone called melatonin. Melatonin is released in the evening to help regulate parts of the brain that lead to sleep. Part of why sleep gets worse with age may be explained by decreased melatonin levels.
In the United States, controlled-release melatonin is the recommended first-line treatment for older adults with insomnia and is available in tablet form at pharmacies. It seems to be safe with few side effects.
However, in the UK, Australia, and most parts of Europe, melatonin is only available by prescription. Although it is completely legal to buy online, there is no guarantee of quality, so be careful.
Research shows that it is safe for people over 55 to take 2 mg about 1 to 2 hours before bedtime.