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The 6 Dimensions Of Sleep (And Why They Matter)
Plus: breathing exercises may reduce Alzheimer's risk
The 10almonds Team
May 02, 2023
Loading Screen Tip: Happiness consists more of small conveniences or pleasures that occur every day, than in great pieces of good fortune that happen rarely.
⏰ 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:
Chronic insomnia occurs when you spend three months or more without regular sleep
When it comes to sleep, it’s not just about quantity. The six science-based things you should be keeping track of are:
regularity
satisfaction with sleep
alertness during waking hours
timing of sleep
sleep efficiency
sleep duration
We recommend some good apps for this (see our main feature)
Taking naps for more than 30 minutes may raise your metabolic disease risk!
Breathing exercises may reduce your Alzheimer's risk (see below for details)
Read on to learn about these things and more…
👀 WATCH AND LEARN
An Antidote to Dissatisfaction
Everybody is familiar with the feeling that things are not as they should be. That you are not successful enough, your relationships could be better. That you don’t have the life you crave.
In this video, Kurtzgesagt’s Steve Taylor talks about one of the strongest predictors of how happy people are, and how we can leverage that for a better life ourselves:
Want to know more about the science of this?
💤 MAIN FEATURE
How Good Is Your Sleep, Really?
This is Dr. Marie-Pierre St-Onge, Director of Columbia University’s Center of Excellence for Sleep and Circadian Research.
The focus of Dr. St-Onge’s research is the study of the impact of lifestyle, especially sleep and diet, on cardio-metabolic risk factors.
She conducts clinical research combining her expertise on sleep, nutrition, and energy regulation.
What kind of things do her studies look at?
Her work focuses on questions about...
The role of circadian rhythms (including sleep duration and timing)
Meal timing and eating patterns
...and their impact on cardio-metabolic risk.
What does she want us to know?
First things first, when not to worry:
❝Getting a bad night's sleep once in a while isn’t anything to worry about. That’s what we would describe as transient insomnia. Chronic insomnia occurs when you spend three months or more without regular sleep, and that is when I would start to be concerned.❞
But… as prevention is (as ever) better than cure, she also advises that we do pay attention to our sleep! And, as for how to do that…
The Six Dimensions of Sleep
One useful definition of overall sleep health is the RU-Sated framework, which assesses six key dimensions of sleep that have been consistently associated with better health outcomes. These are:
regularity
satisfaction with sleep
alertness during waking hours
timing of sleep
efficiency of sleep
duration of sleep
You’ll notice that some of these things you can only really know if you use a sleep-monitoring app. She does recommend the use of those, and so do we!
We reviewed and compared some of the most popular sleep-monitoring apps! You can check them out here: Time For Some Pillow Talk
You also might like…
We’re not all the same with regard to when is the best time for us to sleep, so:
🌎 AROUND THE WEB
What’s happening in the health world…
More to come tomorrow!
📖 ONE-MINUTE BOOK REVIEW
52 Small Changes: One Year to a Happier, Healthier You - by Brett Blumenthal
We see a lot of books that exhort us to get a six-pack in a month, change our life in 7 days, learn Japanese in 24 hours. The reality is, things take time!
Brett Blumenthal is more realistic while being just as motivational:
The idea is simple... Make one small change per week for 52 weeks, and at the end of the year, you'll be healthier and happier.
At 10almonds, we're big fans of small changes that add up (or rather: compound!) to make big differences, so this one's absolutely our style!
Best of all, she offers us not just "do this" advice, but also "and here's the information and resources you'll need to make this change work the best it can for you"
The advices range in topic from nutrition to exercise to sleep to mental wellness to interpersonal stuff and more. The biggest focus is on personal health, though, with small changes to exercise and nutrition making up the lion's share of the changes.
Bottom line: this is a book you'll want to grab once a week. Consider setting a reminder on your phone to check in with it each Sunday, for example!
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Wishing you a wonderful day and a restful night,
The 10almonds Team