Sleep is Vital to your good health

I know I really like the 7-8 hours of sleep I get every night,  and now I am even more thankful that I get them.  As a busy Sacramento Chiropractor, I need and want to always have plenty of health and energy.    

I recently reviewed a book called, "Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew Walker, 2017.

Some highlights of the book include, "Sleep is the single most effective thing we can do to reset our brain and body heatlh everyday."

The adverse consequences of too little sleep include:  

Demolishing your immune system. 

Doubling your risk of cancer

Increasing Alzheimer's disease. 

Disrupting blood sugar creating pre-diabetes. 

Damages arteries, increasing blood pressure and increasing risk of heart attack and stroke.

Contributes to all major psychiatric conditions including depression, anxiety and suicide.

Make you hungry resulting in overeating. 

Impairs your ability to learn, memorize, make logical decisions and choices. 

Harms your ability to modify (inhibit) painful memories (PTSD).

Inhibits creativity.

Shortens telomores, the "tails" on the ends of your DNA strands, and therefore shortens the quality and quantity of your life!

Much of my practice is devoted to taking care of people who have been injured in motor vehicle accidents. Here's anohter thing I have learned:

Too little sleep causes hundreds of thousands of traffic accidents yearly, exceeding alcohol and drug caused accidents combined.

There are deadly consequences of “getting behind the wheel of a motor vehicle without having sufficient sleep.”

So, if those tid-bits of information don't wake you up, we need to talk!   Your life literally depends on getting enough sleep. Some tips for getting a good night's sleep:

Wind down your evening, even lowering the lighting for a good hour before bedtime. 

RELAX for 20 minutes in a hot bath with Epsom salts.

Get away from ALL screens for an hour before bedtime. Read a book, converse, cuddle...

Get adjusted regularly. This helps reduce stress on your nervous system, and reduces pain that can make it hard to get

comfortable in bed. 

Only do the "S" things in bed.  Sleep, Sex, Snore... Your brain will associate bed with sleep versus TV, talking on your phone, perusing Facebook, working on your computer, etc. 

Well, all for now, any more words here, and I might put you to sleep...

Good night! 

Gregg C. Anderson, D.C.