123: The Genesis Prescription for Sleep
We may think of night as the time our body shuts down but, in fact, it is the time when our body comes alive to do some of its most important work. While we’re sleeping our bodies detoxify, repair and reset but if we don’t get a minimum of seven hours at night - we miss out on these critical processes. Over time, this causes health problems and weight gain. You can eat the cleanest food and exercise every day, but you’ll keep spinning your wheels if you don’t honor your body’s sleep requirement.
In this week’s podcast we’re talking about how God designed our body with the need for sleep and alignment with circadian rhythm.
EPISODE 123: The Genesis Prescription for Sleep
SHOW NOTES
(0:00) Intro
Hello my friend! Welcome back to the club. How are you today?
We are in Week 7 of The Genesis Prescription!
This week’s goal is to go to bed and get 7-9 hours of sleep of each night.
We need at least 7 consecutive hours to move through the multiple sleep cycles our bodies require and when we miss one or more of those REM cycles, it throws our body out of balance the next day.
(4:03) God made our bodies to require sleep.
He made the day and He made the night. We are called to rest.
Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. Genesis 2:3
Our first takeaway here is that God rested. This is huge. The Almighty Creator of the universe wants you to know that He took time for rest. .
This verse in particular is the one that establishes Sabbath - which is the weekly day of rest and reverence God calls us to and is different than the nightly rest we require.
The word Sabbath originally derives from the Hebrew word shavat which is commonly translated as rest but more accurately means to cease or to stop.
God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning... Genesis 1:5
The cycles of light and dark are the major influence on our circadian rhythm which are the biological processes of our body related to time.
The organs in our body have their own clocks and optimal times to do their tasks.
We may think of night as the time our body shuts down but, in fact, it is the time when our body comes alive to do some of its most important work.
(8:38) Nighttime is when our bodies detoxify, repair and reset:
If we do not get adequate sleep, over time our health degrades because our bodies don’t get the opportunity to clean and repair.
All of these nighttime processes rely on the release of melatonin (our sleep hormone).
Melatonin is not only a sleep hormone but also one of our body’s most potent antioxidants - which means that it helps get rid of the damaging free radicals in the body that can lead to illness and disease and make us age faster.
Research shows that it is 10X more powerful than vitamin E, has 13X the antioxidant capacity of vitamin C, and is 70X more effective than vitamin C and E at suppressing DNA damage.
In order to make melatonin, your body needs darkness.
Light signals the body to make cortisol and dark signals the body to make melatonin.
(10:36) There’s a detrimental cascade of hormonal imbalance when we don’t get to sleep.
Our hunger hormones get out of whack so we don’t get the right signals that tell us we’re hungry or full.
Ghrelin is the one that tells us it’s time to eat, it’s the pick up the fork sister - hormone.
Leptin is one that tells us we’re full - it’s the put down the fork sister - hormone.
These hormones are meant to work according to circadian rhythm.
When we’re tired our body craves quick energy.
Studies show that when people get more sleep, they are less hungry during the day and crave less sweets and salty snack foods. Sleep helps regulate all of those hunger and metabolic hormones.
(12:33) Growth Hormone:
This is critical for children’s proper growth and development, which is why THEY need enough sleep - and more than adults do.
Growth hormone is important for adults too and our metabolism.
It affects the way our body collects fat (especially around the abdominal area), the way we process cholesterol, the way we grow muscle and the way our brain functions.
(14:50) Brain detox:
The glymphatic system cleans out the metabolic and cellular waste in our brains.
Without this process toxic buildup can lead to neurodegenerative disease, not to mention just your everyday brain fog and poor focus.
(15:42) Mouthbreathing:
Mouthbreathing. It prevents you from getting into a deep sleep and sufficiently oxygenating all of your organs to do their work optimally.
Practice breathing through your nose and look into mouthtaping.
(16:07) Light:
Do everything you can to minimize excessive light exposure at night.
Turn off lights in the house you don’t need.
Red light bulbs or wear amber-tinted glasses in the evening to simulate that warmer tones of evening sunlight to help better signal the body.
Minimize screen exposure at night or at least wear blueblocker glasses.
(17:12) Eating at night:
Another thing that impedes sleep is eating too late.
In order to fall asleep our core body temperature must cool down by almost 1 degree but eating causes our core temperature to rise because our blood rushes to our gut, our core, to digest and absorb food.
Eating late delays your body’s cooling down process.
Detoxification takes a back seat until digestion is done.
It’s best to have eating wrapped up by the time it’s dark and definitely 2-3 hours before bedtime.
It also helps you fall asleep and stay asleep better if your room is cool - like 70 degrees or below.
You can also take a warm epsom salt bath before bed which is not only relaxing and detoxifying but the warm water also helps redirect the blood flow to the skin and away from the core.
(18:27) Busy brain:
We may get into bed at a decent time, but then lie awake for hours with our mind spinning about all the work we need to do and all of the things we’re worried about.
Busy brain is a sign of trying to do too much in our own strength. And Jesus says,
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28
Physical rest starts with spiritual rest and spiritual rest starts with Jesus.
Handing off that heavy load through prayer, through praise, through counting our blessings instead of our concerns and trusting that God’s plans are always better than our own is the best sleep remedy for an overactive mind.
I hope you’ve learned the importance and value of winding down your body, preparing it for good sleep, honoring and allowing that sacred time that you need for sleep and protecting it as a way that care for your Holy Temple.
So, get ridiculously excited about going to bed, my friend. Get 7-9 hours each night this week. Your Father says you need it.
(20:38) Outro & Disclaimer
Thanks for listening! Have a healthy and blessed week!