Sleep is Not a Luxury (Sleep Part 1)
The big deal, your chronotype, and sleep trackers
I launched the Insight into Health podcast this month in an effort to increase access to accurate, applicable, and approachable health & nutrition information.
Each month I’ll explore one health topic through four conversations with colleagues, family, & friends to provide different perspectives and expertise.
My inaugural topic?
Sleep!
You may be surprised that, as a Registered Dietitian, I chose to cover sleep before nutrition.
It was a very deliberate choice.
As I talked about on Episode #1 with Dr. Larry and on Episode #2 with Dr. Mary, I have grown to deeply respect the impact sleep has on health.
In fact, there are several situations when I will encourage a patient to work on their sleep before we tackle nutrition.
It’s that important.
What’s the Big Deal?
Sleep is at the core of my Insight into Health framework. Ongoing poor sleep increases the risk of chronic disease, cognitive decline, and decreases in emotional health and quality of life.
Next week I’ll dive into why sleep is connected to nearly every factor of health. For now, let’s get some definitions out of the way.
What does “good” sleep even mean?
I define good sleep in terms of quantity (how much) and quality (how well).
Quantity: Most adults regularly need 7-9 hours of sleep per night, ideally continuously.1
To figure out how much sleep you need, go to bed (and to sleep) at the same time every night for a week and let yourself wake up naturally — no alarms, pets, or partners. You may sleep more than 9 hours the first night or two if you are in sleep debt. The amount of sleep you get on the 6th and 7th night is a good indicator of your natural sleep needs.
Quality: How easily can you fall asleep? Do you typically stay asleep? If you wake up, how easy is it for you to fall back asleep? Do you feel refreshed in the hours after waking?
Sleep quality is subjective and difficult to evaluate outside of a sleep lab. Yet, it is probably the most important metric for an individual. Poor sleep quality (or the perception of it) affects how we think, how we feel, and how we show up for ourselves and others for the rest of the day.
What’s Your Chronotype?
I know this sounds like a Seventeen Magazine quiz, but stick with me here.
Chronotype2 refers to your preferred sleep timing, which is largely genetically determined. Think early bird (me) and night owl (my husband).
Note that chronotype is preferred, which is not necessarily consistent with the timing of your life responsibilities (work, school, etc.). This mismatch is a big driver of poor sleep quantity and quality.
Society has placed judgments on each end of the chronotype spectrum. As an early bird, I get teased for going to bed early, and many night owls are deemed “lazy” when they sleep in. Yet, there is no one best chronotype.
You likely already have an idea about your chronotype, but here is a quiz if you are curious (and no, not from Seventeen magazine).
To Track or Not to Track
I have learned to refine how I ask a patient about their sleep.
Instead of asking “How are you sleeping?”, which often gets the reflexive “good” response, I now ask “How do you describe your sleep?” The most common answers I get are “horrible” and “terrible” — words that speak volumes on their own.
Though more commonly, I am also hearing, “My phone says…”
While sleep trackers can certainly increase awareness about sleep duration and quality, there are some important factors to keep in mind to determine if they are right for you.
First, while sleep duration accuracy on common sleep-tracking devices continues to improve, they often have trouble evaluating the nuances of sleep stages (more on that next week).
Second, for some people, the use of sleep trackers may sabotage sleep because of the anxiety and obsession that come with data overwhelm. There is even a term for it: orthosomnia3, which is the pursuit of perfect sleep data at the expense of actual sleep.
Third, the more we outsource how we feel to technology, the greater the risk we have of losing touch with… how we feel. And our bodies have a lot to tell us; it’s usually a matter of whether we listen.
That said, if using a sleep tracker helps you feel informed and empowered, keep using it.
If it leaves you lying awake wondering why your deep sleep percentage was low, it may be time to take a break.
As I mentioned above, in Part 2, I’ll dive into why sleep is connected to nearly every factor of health. Subscribe below to get it straight into your inbox:
Interested in getting new Insight into Health podcast episodes? I publish a new episode every Wednesday on Substack or wherever you listen to podcasts (here are the links to Apple and Spotify).
Thanks for being here and supporting my work,
~Allison
Remember that this information is meant to educate and inspire, but is not medical advice. Please consult your healthcare team to determine what is most appropriate for you.