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April 8, 2021 By Srini Leave a Comment

Sleep Series: The Chemistry of Sleep

Difficult to believe? Yes it is true. The perfect sleep is the result of a complex reaction from 2 main chemicals. Adenosine is a neurochemical which accumulates during “wake” and drains during “sleep”. Imagine a specially made hourglass, but one which builds up for approx. 16 hours of our wake cycle and drains within 8 hours of our sleep cycle. The receptors of Adenosine inform the brain that “stock levels are up” and it is time to relax and sleep. As sleep kicks in, stock levels of Adenosine goes down and receptors send a “wake up” signal to the brain.

Adenosine is the primary inducer of sleep-wake cycle. It reduces neural activity and sets you to start sleep. Interestingly, Caffeine blocks the Adenosine receptors and creates the opposite effect. There we go – as to why we feel a bit fresh and brisk after a cup of coffee – it is an illusion we create by confusing the brain! The body’s excretion system works hard to flush Caffeine. It takes 5-6 hours to flush out just 50% of this possessive chemical.

I’ve mentioned Adenosine over Melatonin as the primary sleep chemical because I wanted to impress upon the impact of Caffeine. We take Caffeine in many forms – Coffee, Cola, energy drinks, etc. Caffeine also impacts the Dopamine and Serotonin chemical reaction, thereby causing a significant disruption of the normal neural activity.

Do let Adenosine do its job naturally, you will sleep on time and naturally! Caffeine interferes with several hormonal/neurochemical reactions related to sleep. Do not consume Caffeine beyond lunchtime and in any case, beyond 4pm.

The Magical Darkness Hormone – Melatonin

Melatonin is the second chemical responsible for enabling “onset” of sleep. It detoxifies the body of free radicals and other toxins. It starts secretion as soon as darkness sets in and it peaks by midnight. The synthesis of melatonin occurs through a multistep complex chemical process:

It all starts with food – food contains an amino acid called tryptophan. Foods like Milk, oats, nuts contain more tryptophan.
Tryptophan is absorbed from the bloodstream to the pineal gland in the brain.
First, tryptophan is converted to another amino acid and then to a brain chemical called Serotonin. 2 Enzymes are involved here!
Serotonin’s conversion to melatonin involves two more enzymes.
All chemicals discussed here follow complex routines and they are part of a chain which is amazingly responsible for the onset of sleep. On top of it all, there is a closely coordinated play of the “Brain-Gut complex” to get this right!

How Can You Aid This Natural Process For Good Sleep?

DON’T intervene in the natural process! Supplements can’t get you anywhere near the good quality sleep offered by this natural process.

Beware of Caffeine! – Stop post lunch consumption
Consume foods high in tryptophan – consult your GOQii coach
Gut (Serotonin storage) has its role in sleep, so keep it clean and healthy
Get used to darkness after dinner to catalyze natural Melatonin

Adenosine has other functions such as certain cardiac functions as well. This article does not deal with them. An enzyme is a biological catalyst that speeds up the rate of a chemical reaction and an amino acid is an organic acid used to make proteins usually obtained from food. OTC Melatonin – a small dose is usually fine to get over jet lag.

We hope this article on the Chemistry of Sleep helps you! Stay tuned for more from the Sleep Series by Srini! To read more about sleep and sleeping techniques, check out Healthy Reads or tune in to LIVE sessions by experts on GOQii Play.

#BeTheForce

March 18, 2021 By Srini Leave a Comment

Sleep Series: A Primer On Circadian Rhythm

Circa – Circular – meaning the one going round and round – repeating itself
“Di”an – Pertaining to Day – or Daily
Rhythm – A regular & repeated pattern of movements (ups & downs) occurring naturally

Circadian Rhythm (CR) is driven by consumption of light – (light again!) – however, research has proven that light is not necessary and it was observed that the rhythm works more or less correctly even if someone is locked in a very dark place for a long time. But it is also proven that light can drive/influence the rhythm.

Trivia: CR is not exactly 24 hours – it is approximately 24 hours + some 15 minutes!

The Third Eye/Body clock – known technically as “Suprachiasmatic Nuclei” (why not a simple name?) – of just 10,000 neurons ( brain has 100 billion) situated in the hypothalamus area of brain, exactly above the place where the optic nerves from the left and right eye do the “X over” to the other side of the brain, is the main controller of the Circadian Rhythm. It is impacted by the “light” signals coming from the eyes.

Be very clear , the Third eye controls the “sleep-wake” cycle and it is sensitive to “light”!

Not all people have SAME CR!! They fall into either of the 3 types:

The Early Birds (25 %)
The Night Owls (25%)
The Commoners (50%)

There is approximately 1-2 hours of difference in the rhythm between the Early Birds and the Night Owls and the Commoners fall in between. To check your type, google it – web has several free tests. One of them is: https://www.realsimple.com/work-life/life-strategies/time-management/early-bird-night-owl

One’s energy levels, alertness, body temperature, heart rate all have clear correlation to the CR. It is proven that core body temperature falls by up to 2 degree Celsius and heart rate by up to 20 beats per minute. Modern day work environment requires one to have an average to above average energy level and alertness throughout the day. But it is a natural fact that it is NOT. So, we resort to coffee or tea (impact of caffeine in a separate note later).

If we can closely observe and keep our key meetings in alignment with the CR, we may actually get more productive. In my personal experience I have observed peak productivity between 11-1 in pre-lunch and 4-6 in post lunch sessions. HR processes in companies could use such simple tests to identify rhythm types and create groups of people that complement each other to boost productivity. As I have often seen in boardrooms, there’s always one person presenting with lots of energy and some are following and some are behind! It could simply be the difference in their CR type.

Jet lag is primarily a result due to change in CR. Time clock of the geography and your CR are not aligned, hence the lag. It is said that the lag adjusts @ 1 hour per day.

Circadian Rhythm & Sleep – How To Make It Work For You

Observe your CR and understand your CR type, hours of peak productivity – they remain the same throughout your life. Use the natural surge in alertness to your advantage.
One tip to get sleep is to start on time and send clear signals to the CR system in the morning by standing in clear sunlight for at least 10 minutes (you might get Vitamin D in the bargain) – When CR registers that signal, it will promptly align the clock to trigger sleep in the night – I tried this as many days as possible
World over, people keep an alarm to wake up – Reverse the process – If only you can keep an alarm to start sleep at same time of the night, then you WOULD NOT need an alarm to wake up – that too grumpily – Stick to SAME time (or in a range of 30 minutes) to go to bed, even if you do not get sleep in the beginning.
One should reduce exposure to light post 7:30PM – send clear signals that it is night time – Candlelight dinners are a brilliant way to signal Melatonin secretion.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article so far. Stay tuned for more from the Sleep Series! To read more about sleep and sleeping techniques, check out Healthy Reads or tune in to LIVE sessions by experts on GOQii Play.

#BeTheForce

March 17, 2021 By Srini 2 Comments

Sleep Series: In Praise Of Darkness!

In the beginning there was only darkness and then, light came out of darkness! Light and darkness are not two different and opposing things. Society has made a villain out of darkness. Darkness is used as a synonym of all things sinister. We are trained from childhood to look at darkness with fear.

In Hindu religion, darkness is deified – we have “Maha Kaal” and “Maha Kaali” – in religion this could either mean “darkness” or “time” – there is close relationship between them, but that is for another day.

There is darkness everywhere – interstellar, intergalactic is just darkness.

Modern living has opted for lights of high luminescence. The poor old incandescent light of 60 watt (tungsten filament bulb) has a luminosity of 400-800 lumens whereas the modern day LED lamps can produce the same lumens at just 5 Watts. Where we had one incandescent light, now we have at least 4 LED! Which means we are consuming 5 times more light!

Light has to be light ( Pun intended)

Since we fear darkness, we have created a social necessity (business necessity?) for bright light, whereas the number 1 villain for good sleep is LIGHT! Many of us know of the bad impact of blue light emitted from phones, laptops and tablets. Evenings are intended to be a journey to acclimatize to emerging darkness and night time is intended to be pitch-dark by nature.

So, for a good night’s sleep, the gradual reducing of lighting and luminosity is a must. Which means after 7:30pm, you should:

Slowly switch off lights and send a signal of reducing light to the eyes
Make the bedroom pitch-dark for sleeping
Immediately activate “night mode” in Laptops and Phones

This could easily be the first step towards good sleep! Remember that you are meant to sleep in darkness. The sleep hormone Melatonin (more about this later) is highly impacted by luminosity. Darkness is key to sleep. Light is an inhibitor of sleep. Embrace the darkness, start falling in love with it! Darkness is the source of all light, time and space and is a good first step to a good sleep.

#BeTheForce

January 12, 2022 By Mohammed Tufail Qureshi 1 Comment

Manage Stress By Managing Your Cortisol Levels!

How often do we hear people say, “I am so stressed”? Given the current pandemic scenario, the lockdown and the threat of new variants, we’re sure you might have heard a lot of people say this. While the stress is reasonable, do you know what causes it? Is it the pressure of working from home thwarting your work-life balance, is it the news or could it be the excessive release of stress hormones? If you weren’t aware, just as there are hormones that make you feel good, there’s a stress hormone called Cortisol but it’s not all bad.

The cortisol stress hormone management system is released by the adrenal cortex glands in order to regulate blood sugar, blood pressure and the immune system. While it does regulate blood sugar, blood pressure and the immune system, if it is released at a wrong time, it can be harmful. What triggers the rise of this crucial hormone is mental and physical stress, insulin spikes, too many stimulants, overindulgence of processed food and toxicity build up.

Sources Of Chronic Stress Include:

Lack of sleep and insomnia
Negative thoughts and emotions
Sugar cravings and low serotonin levels
Caffeine and stimulant abuse (more than 2 coffees per day)
Acidity and Toxicity
Lethargy and lack of energy

Burning stubborn belly fat has to be one of the most popular stresses that people have and most have a problem dealing with this issue. What we fail to identify is that losing body fat, especially on the lower abdomen, is a hormonal issue.

It’s NOT overeating!

It’s NOT sugar or carbohydrates!

It’s NOT lack of exercise!

The one culprit that can quash your fat burning efforts and leave you with stubborn belly fat is your cortisol and adrenaline hormones. Stress leads to adrenals burning out, and excess cortisol and adrenalin lead to a number of health problems. If prolonged, it can lead to:

Excess abdomen fat
A serious drop in testosterone, and rise in estrogen
Hypertension and anxiety
Bone, mineral and muscle loss (cortisol is a catabolic hormone and is often elevated)
High blood sugar and insulin resistance

How Can You Bring Cortisol Levels Under Control?

Given how high stress levels have been lately due to the pandemic, it is important to manage stress by managing spiking cortisol levels. Dealing with Cortisol can be tricky. If dealt with proper techniques and supplements, one can get the Cortisol levels under control. Here are a few tips to help you out:

Reduce physical and mental stress by becoming more calm and relaxed. Meditation and pranayama are your allies.
Exclude sugar and processed foods from your regular diet and replace them with whole organic foods that will help improve digestion and in turn, reward you with a healthier GUT!
Lower toxicity and acidity which adds stress to the body internally by making the simple shifts in the food choices, thoughts and emotions.
To take control of Cortisol levels, one needs to learn how to unwind and relax every single day for at least 20 – 30 minutes and learn to take deep breaths and clear the mind. You can also indulge in a hobby you like!
Meditation and yoga are some excellent ways to relax and bring down cortisol levels effectively.
Exercise is a true savior and has been shown to reduce cortisol effectively. But a word of caution – don’t overdo it and do it correctly or else it could have the opposite effect.
Cortisol is at its lowest during sleep. So, make sure you get adequate and good quality sleep. This Sleep Series could help you understand your sleep better.

Additionally, it’s best to steer clear of news and social media updates that stress you out. You can check it once a day to just get an update but there’s no point in indulging in every news article that comes your way, especially if it paints a grim picture. So zone out, take care of your health, keep calm and be stress-free!

We hope this article helps you during these precarious times. For more on stress management, check out Healthy Reads. To learn how to manage stress effectively, ask a GOQii Coach by subscribing for personalized health coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

Stay home, keep calm and #BeTheForce!