Tagged: Your Guide to Better Sleep

Winter and sleep seem made for each other. Cold temperatures, and long, dark nights, all seem tailor-made for a great season of sleep. The truth about winter sleep is a quite a bit more complicated. Cold weather and short days pose some very specific challenges for sleep. 

For example, I heard from a reader in Ohio just the other day, wondering why her insomnia is so much worse in the winter than in the warmer months. 

I thought I’d answer her question here, along with a few other winter-sleep questions that come up a lot among my patients. Let’s dive into a little winter-sleep Q&A!  

Q: Why is my insomnia worse in winter? 

A: In her note to me, the reader pointed to several possible reasons for her escalated winter insomnia: “I feel like the cold temperatures and dry air is to blame. (Also, the lack of sun).” 

She’s absolutely right, on all counts. Cold outside temperatures can create problems for indoor sleep environments. Running the heat constantly leads to dry air that can irritate the nose and throat, making

If you’ve used any kind of botanical therapy for sleep or other health issues—taken an herbal supplement, used aromatherapy or essential oils—you’ve almost certainly benefitted from terpenes. These tiny molecules are found in many plants, fruits and flowers, including lavender, citrus, and hops. They’re also found in abundance in cannabis.

The cannabis plant has been used for centuries as a sleep aid. Terpenes are one of the primary reasons why cannabis can be so effective at helping ease sleep problems, including insomnia. Cannabis has been shown to lengthen sleep time, increase time spent in deep sleep and shorten the time it takes to fall asleep.

What are terpenes?

Tiny and powerful, terpenes are highly active, aromatic molecules that are responsible for both taste and aroma in plants and fruits. Botanicals used in aromatherapy (including the aromatherapy and essential oils that elevate sleep) are potent in terpenes. When you inhale lavender and feel tension slip away from your body and mind, that’s terpenes at work. As scientific study has shown, terpenes have a pretty broad range of medicinal effects:

Always consult your doctor before undertaking a new diet or fasting routine. This is not medical advice, but it is information you can use as a conversation-starter with your physician or nutritionist.

I’m currently conducting a sleep course online and there’s one thing people are asking me about A LOT: intermittent fasting. I’m not surprised. Fasting has become extremely popular as a tool for weight loss, anti-aging and longevity, and for its benefits to mental and physical health.

I’ve talked about intermittent fasting and its relationship to sleep before. Since then, there’s been some new information introduced about the ways fasting may benefit sleep. I’m guessing you might be as intrigued by this form of time-restricted eating as my students.

We’re heading right into the holidays, when healthful dietary choices can be tough, with  all of those constant temptations. Eating routines—the timing of our meals throughout the day and night—also can get turned upside down, with parties, long, festive meals that stretch late into the evening, and the constant supply of snacks and treats that accompany the holiday season.

When you hear about night sweats, you probably think: menopause. It’s true that the menopausal transition is often accompanied by night sweats that significantly affect sleep.

But hyperhidrosis—that’s the medical term for excessive sweating—can happen to anyone, adults and children, and for a variety of reasons. And hyperhidrosis that occurs at night often spells trouble for sleep.

Estimates vary, but research indicates that as much as 12% or more of the general population may experience night sweats. And the prevalence of night sweats increases with age. Among older adults, research shows nighttime sweating is more frequent. One study found that more than 40% of adults over age 64 had at least one episode of night sweats within the past month. I’ve seen patients of all ages and genders contend with nighttime sweating that creates restless, interrupted sleep.

Maybe it’s because of embarrassment, or maybe it seems like not a big deal, but hyperhidrosis is a condition that often gets overlooked. Research indicates that fewer than 4 in 10 people speak with their physicians about excessive sweating. Although most

This is not medical advice. It is information you can use as a conversation starter with your physician or nutritionist.

With plant-based diets exploding in popularity, this seems like a good time to talk about how vegan and vegetarian diets interact with sleep. These diets hold potential benefits for sleep—and they also may create complications for sleep, depending on the specific make up of one’s individual diet.

Vegetarianism and veganism, with their focus on vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and healthy fats like olive oil and coconut oil, have a lot going for them, in terms of being sleep friendly and sleep promoting. But like any diet, it can be tricky to find the right balance of a spectrum of nutrients that come together to support sleep. First, I’ll talk about some specific issues vegans and vegetarians may encounter in how their diets relate to sleep. Then, I’ll highlight a few of the natural strengths these plant-based diets have for sleep.

4 sleep-specific nutrient issues for vegans and vegetarians:  

Being short on the all-purpose sleep vitamin, Vitamin D 

I’ve talked before