Reading At Night: Good Or Bad For Sleep? And Other Questions

Today’s almonds have been activated by:

⏰ IN A RUSH?

Today’s 30-Second Summary

If you don’t have time to read the whole email today, here are some key takeaways:

• Reading in bed, even if from an electronic device, even if it doesn’t have a blue light filter, has been found to not harm sleep onset, duration, or quality—and may even improve such!

• Pineapples contain a unique enzyme, bromelain, that has many powerful healthful properties.

• How was your hydration this week? Today’s sponsor, Hint, are offering 10almonds subscribers 45% off and free shipping, on their already very reasonably-priced flavored waters and vitamin waters

  • They are, by the way, free from sugar and artificial sweeteners, so these are different from ones you’ve probably tried before!

Read on to learn about these things and more…

👀 WATCH AND LEARN

Hacking Your Happy Hormones: A Guide to Boosting Well-being (6:39)

Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!

Prefer text? This channel doesn’t have text-based resources, but you might like our previous main feature:

Lacking Motivation? How To Hack Your Dopamine Levels

❓ MAIN FEATURE

It’s Q&A Day at 10almonds!

Have a question or a request? You can always hit “reply” to any of our emails, or use the feedback widget at the bottom!

In cases where we’ve already covered something, we might link to what we wrote before, but will always be happy to revisit any of our topics again in the future too—there’s always more to say!

As ever: if the question/request can be answered briefly, we’ll do it here in our Q&A Thursday edition. If not, we’ll make a main feature of it shortly afterwards!

So, no question/request too big or small 😎

❝Would be interested in your views about "reading yourself to sleep". I find that current affairs magazines and even modern novels do exactly the opposite. But Dickens - ones like David Copperfield and Great Expectations - I find wonderfully effective. It's like entering a parallel universe where none of your own concerns matter. Any thoughts on the science that may explain this?!❞

Anecdotally: this writer is (like most writers) a prolific reader, and finds reading some fiction last thing at night is a good way to create a buffer between the affairs of the day and the dreams of night—but I could never fall asleep that way, unless I were truly sleep-deprived. The only danger is if I “one more chapter” my way deep into the night! For what it’s worth, bedtime reading for me means a Kindle self-backlit with low, soft lighting.

Scientifically: this hasn’t been a hugely researched area, but there are studies to work from. But there are two questions at hand (at least) here:

1. one is about reading, and

2. the other is about reading from electronic devices with or without blue light filters.

Here’s a study that didn’t ask the medium of the book, and concluded that reading a book in bed before going to sleep improved sleep quality, compared to not reading a book in bed:

Does reading a book in bed make a difference to sleep in comparison to not reading a book in bed? The People's Trial-an online, pragmatic, randomised trial

Here’s a study that concluded that reading on an iPad (with no blue light filter) that found no difference in any metrics except EEG (so, there was no difference on time spent in different sleep states or sleep onset latency), but advised against it anyway because of the EEG readings (which showed slow wave activity being delayed by approximately 30 minutes, which is consistent with melatonin production mechanics):

Reading from an iPad or from a book in bed: the impact on human sleep. A randomized controlled crossover trial

Here’s another study that didn’t take EEG readings, and/but otherwise confirmed no differences being found:

Two hours of evening reading on a self-luminous tablet vs. reading a physical book does not alter sleep after daytime bright light exposure

We’re aware this goes against general “sleep hygiene” advice in two different ways:

• General advice is to avoid electronic devices before bedtime

• General advice is to not do activities besides sleep (and sex) in bed

…but, we’re committed to reporting the science as we find it!

❝Loved the information on prostate cancer. Do recommend your readers get a PSA or equivalent test annually for over 50 yr old men.❞

(This is about: Prostate Health: What You Should Know)

Yep, or best yet, the much more accurate PSE test! But if PSA test is what’s available, it’s a lot better than nothing. And, much as it’s rarely the highlight of anyone’s day, a prostate exam by a suitably qualified professional is also a good idea.

❝Would very much like your views of the benefits of different tropical fruits. I do find papaya is excellent for settling the digestion - but keen to know if others have remarkable qualities.❞

Definitely one for a main feature sometime soon! As a bonus while you wait, pineapple has some unique and powerful properties:

Source: Bromelain, the enzyme complex of pineapple (Ananas comosus) and its clinical application. An update

Enjoy!

📊 POLL

We turn the tables and ask you a question…

We’ll then talk about this tomorrow:

❤️ OUR SPONSORS MAKE THIS PUBLICATION POSSIBLE

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Please do visit our sponsors—they help keep 10almonds free

🌎 AROUND THE WEB

What’s happening in the health world…

• People may now experience "long colds" after acute respiratory infections, study finds

• Sarcopenia (age-related loss of muscle mass) doubles risk of cardiovascular death in people with diabetes

• Is HPV infection a hidden risk factor for prostate cancer?

• Parental leave reduces alcohol-related hospitalizations in fathers, study finds

• Diverse diets for stronger bones: study reveals how alternative eating habits prevent osteoporosis

• Grape consumption improves key markers of eye health in older adults

• Next-gen intranasal vaccine takes on measles, mumps, and multiple COVID-19 variants in one shot

More to come tomorrow!

📖 ONE-MINUTE BOOK REVIEW

Life Is in the Transitions: Mastering Change at Any Age – by Bruce Feiler

Change happens. Sometimes, because we choose it. More often, we don't get a choice.

Our bodies change; with time, with illness, with accident or incident, or even, sometimes, with effort. People in our lives change; they come, they go, they get sick, they die. Our working lives change; we get a job, we lose a job, we change jobs, our jobs change, we retire.

Whether we're undergoing cancer treatment or a religious conversion, whether our families are growing or down to the last few standing, change is inescapable.

Our author makes the case that on average, we each undergo at least 5 major "lifequakes"; changes that shake our lives to the core. Sometimes one will come along when we've barely got back on our feet from the previous—if we have at all.

What, then, to do about this? We can't stop change from occurring, and some changes aren't easy to "roll with". Feiler isn't prescriptive about this, but rather, descriptive:

By looking at the stories of hundreds of people he interviewed for this book, he looks at how people pivoted on the spot (or picked up the pieces!) and made the best of their situation—or didn't.

Bottom line: zooming out like this, looking at many people's lives, can remind us that while we don't get to choose what winds we get swept by, we at least get to choose how we set the sails. The examples of others, as this book gives, can help us make better decisions.

Click here to check out Life Is In The Transitions, and get conscious about how you handle yours!

Wishing you a happy healthy day,

The 10almonds Team