Committing to Your Health: Day 8 of the 30 Day Fun and Sleep Challenge

Wow.  This commitment thing is really working for me. Even though I haven’t been 100%, I’ve been close and making commitments keeps the sleep issue in my awareness.  I made a conscious decision to stay up late to finish my work for a call on Saturday.  I could have chosen to go to bed at midnight and gotten up early in the AM to finish, but I know myself too well to even begin to think I’d be ready for that.  I think better late at night than early in the AM.  Maybe next month I’ll be ready to sleep from 10 til 4, but not yet.

One of my readers, Joz,  sent me this very interesting article on sleep, that I thought I’d share.

TWO HOURS OF GOOD SLEEP BEFORE TWELVE O’CLOCK IS WORTH MORE THAN FOUR HOURS AFTER TWELVE O’CLOCK , excerpted from Timeless Secrets of Health and Rejuvenation by Andreas Moritz

10 PM to 2 AM .  This is a crucial period of time during which most of the body’s energy is used for CLEANSING, REBUILDING AND REJUVENATING the body. The liver receives most of the energy and conducts an astonishing range of activities. These include the supply of vital nutrients to all parts of the body, breaking down of noxious substances and keeping the blood clean. In addition, the liver cells produce bile at this time, which is needed to digest food, particularly fats, during the following day. Another important function of the liver during this time is to synthesize proteins, which serve as the main building blocks of cells, hormones and blood constituents.

The liver requires all the energy it can get to fulfill these and many other responsibilities. This can only happen sufficiently if you  SLEEP between the hours of 10 and 2.  If you use up the nighttime energy for eating or for mental and physical activities, the liver is left with too little energy to do its extremely vital work. The kidneys also need energy during this time period to filter the blood plasma, and keep the body fluids balanced and blood pressure normal.

Although the brain makes up merely 2 % of our body mass, it normally contains more than 25 % of the body’s entire BLOOD SUPPLY.

However, during this phase, 10PM to 2AM, much of the blood moves from the back of the brain to the liver, to give it what it needs for purification tasks. If you are mentally or physically active at this time, the liver doesn’t receive enough blood to work with, so it can’t cleanse the blood sufficiently.

This results in the accumulation of toxic material in the blood stream. If toxins keep circulating in the blood, they will settle in the interstitial fuild (connective tissues) of organs and systems, thereby rasising acidity and damaging them, including the liver itself. High blood toxicity can and does lead to secretions of stress hormones, brain fog, and injured capillaries, arteries and heart muscles. Most heart disease is the result of a poorly performing liver that is unable to remove all toxic, noxious substances from the blood on a daily basis. If we do not give the liver the energy it needs to conduct the most basic physiological activities, we sow the seeds of illness throught the body.

For adults, the most important process of cleansing and renewal occur during the 2 hours of sleep before midnight.  During this period, you enter a dreamless state of sleep where oxygen consumption decreases considerably, which results in profound rest and relaxation. The benefit to your body of this single hour of deep sleep is approximately equivalent to that derived during the three or four hours after midnight, when the oxygen consumption rises again.

Doctors at the University of California at San Diego have found that losing a few hours of sleep not only makes you feel tired, but also can affect the immune system, possibly impairing the body’s ability to fight infections.

Thanks Joz!

SO My report card for the weekend:

Saturday and Sunday fulfilled my FUN quota.  I ran around the lake, visited for hours with a friend, played games with my 11 year old, had a date with my husband, spent time in the hot-tub with my husband, watched my teenage son’s learn hockey skate lesson and ate delicious raw food.

As for sleep,I made it really close to midnight on Saturday and Sunday. I was a little late Sunday because I felt driven to lie in the far infra red sauna for a half hour.

My commitments for today:

1- Green Smoothie – 2 quarts

2- weight training exercise

3- bed by 11:30  (how daring of me!) maybe even earlier

4- write a chapter in my new book

5- quality time with the kids

How about you?  How was your weekend?  What are you committed to today?

Let us know.  Post your comments below.

Love, Health and Joy to you,

Dr. Ritamarie