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

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

By Ritamarie Loscalzo

Worker, asleep on a laptop in the office

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

Share this:
Magic Questions eBook Cover

Are you feeling stuck?

Do you feel as if something is missing from your practice that's keeping you from delivering breakthrough outcomes for your clients?.

I am a Health Professional, Coach or Nutritionist (or I am in training or planning to become one)

Recent Posts

Our Programs

Nutritional Endocrinology Practitioner Training (NEPT)

The Mastery and Certification tier is our flagship program and provides everything you need to feel confident as a practitioner who knows how to get results that lead to healthy and happy clients.

Functional Assessment Mastery

Explore the relationships between the most important hormones and their relationship with nutrition.

Functional Nutrition Mastery

Learn how to support your clients to eat and supplement in a way that reduces and eliminates chronic symptoms.

Medical Disclaimer: The information on this website is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not intended as medical advice. It is intended as a sharing of knowledge and information from the research and experience of Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo, drritamarie.com, and the experts who have contributed. We encourage you to make your own health care decisions based upon your research and in partnership with a qualified health care professional.

Disclosure: Sometimes (but not always), when I share resources in my programs, newsletter, and on my website, I'm using an affiliate link, which means I do make money if you buy. My credibility is extremely important to me; therefore, I only endorse the products, services, and people I believe in. DrRitamarie.com is independently owned and the opinions expressed here are my own.

Click here to see our Privacy Policy.

5 Comments

  1. mary on March 9, 2010 at 9:45 pm

    I seem to do so much better during the day with my commitments then night time is a problem. Yesterday I chewed my food all day and then last night I was just bingeing- shoveling in food and overeating. UGH! That just doesn’t feel good but I feel so out of control- compelled like I’m filling a void with nuts, tahini and avacados.

    So today I am commiting to not overeating. That’s it just going to concentrate on this and take a deep breathe.

  2. mary on March 10, 2010 at 9:46 am

    Success Today I didn’t overeat! I feel good about this! Tomorrow I have the same goal- I’m commited to not overeating.

  3. Joz on June 2, 2011 at 7:23 pm

    Dr. Ritamarie: would you add this to the Sleep post….Thank You…. Joz

    ——————————————————————————–

    I was doing research on sleep for two years now: I had to find out why we need to sleep 2 hrs before midnight as that it was the most essential time for sleep! Got this from Neil Nedley Depression Seminar: Now I know why; I found out! So I’m sharing; Joz

    Sleep: Danger of lack of sleep ***I typed this from Andreas Moritz’s book. Simple Steps to Total Health;

  4. Joz on June 2, 2011 at 7:33 pm

    ***You blog: ”””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:
    3- bed by 11:30 (how daring of me!) maybe even earlier””’

    I share my experience with everyone….that sleep is so important..and tell friends… to .””say good night”’ and ”’Lights Out”’ — this is a book by T S Wiley worth reading….I’m reading it for the 4th time….

    and by sleeping 2 hrs before midnight….we can do the things we would at 11-12 p.m. early in the morning and not miss out on ”health benefits” from those 2 hrs before midnigh….TO HEALTH: Joz

  5. Joz on June 4, 2011 at 10:49 am

    hehehe: so? are you in bed by 9:30 p.m. to be totally asleep @10 to midnight? This is for important ‘brain’ health… It was easier to do in late fall and winter…as now sunset is later and even at 9 p.m. it’s still light out….I cover my windows so it’s totally ”’dark”’ in the bedroom….

    to health… Joz

Leave a Comment





Related Posts