MBB#6: How to get your Beauty Sleep with Jamie Scott

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What does a good night’s sleep really look like?

On this episode of Mind Body Beauty, we talk about the importance of getting your beauty sleep with Jamie Scott from Synergy Health and the Ancestral Health Society of New Zealand.

Jamie is a nutritionist, sport and exercise scientist and a proud kiwi.
He is the president of the Ancestral Health Society of NZ and the researcher and content developer for Synergy Health. Jamie also loves mountain biking, a good espresso and a good debate!

I’ve invited Jamie on today, because I think sleep is one of the most under appreciated and best things we can do for our general health and happiness and also for our skin health.

When we don’t get enough sleep, it’s apparent in the dark circles under our eyes, our skin looks dull and fine lines seem deeper and more pronounced. But it’s not just about vanity, there’s so much more going on under the skin than just the appearances.

If we’re not getting a good night’s sleep it can affect EVERYTHING!!

I chat with Jamie about:

• What happens when we sleep?
• Sleep is probably one of the most active states for our brain and our repair and restorative processes over the 24-hour circadian cycle
• Brain wave patterns during sleep
• Hormones that are released when we sleep, like growth hormone
• Our immune activity steps up during sleep to repair tissues that breakdown over the day (reversing the ‘ageing’ process)
• Our immune system becomes suppressed when we’re sleep deprived and we become more susceptible to colds and flu’s
• The inflammatory aspect of skin issues like acne and scaling skin
• Collagen in skin breaks down during the day and is repaired during sleep
• Collagen repair declines if we don’t sleep enough leading to sagging skin and wrinkles
• Chronic stress contributes to increased cortisol levels and thinning of the skin
• Environmental exposures and inflammatory foods like vegetable oils and sugar can overstimulate the immune system
• Making sure our sleep is well timed with our circadian rhythm and eating whole foods to help balance our
• How much sleep should we be getting?
• The data points towards 7-9 hours sleep, allowing for daylight hours and seasonal adjustments
• US data shows people are typically getting around 6-7 hours sleep – under the lower threshold for what we should be getting
• Light dark cycles and varying our wake-up time with the seasons, we wake up more easily in the summer months
• Repaying sleep debt from summer over the winter months
• It can cause stress on the body when we wake up early in the winter months
• What lifestyle factors can impact our sleep cycles?
• The effect of caffeine on sleep
• The effect of blue light from electronic screen devices (computer screens, smart phones, tablets) on our circadian rhythm, suppressing melatonin
• Melatonin is our main sleep hormone and always loses the arm wrestle to cortisol

• Feeling tired but wired and restless
• The effect of stress and food allergies or intolerances on our sleep
• The importance of going through the different sleep phases, including deep sleep
• Is there any truth in that old saying that “1 hour sleep before midnight is worth 2 hours after?”
• The first period of sleep is about physical repair, the second period is about psychological repair
• Winding down early enough in the evening to get some deep restorative sleep early or in the middle of the night, “midnight”
• Sleep preparation starts when you first wake-up in the morning
• Getting bright light exposure early in the morning to reset our circadian rhythm and ensuring you have a good protein breakfast
• Reducing caffeine after lunch and continuing blue light exposure through the say, managing stress levels and reducing screen time at night
• Jamie thoughts on wake-up lights, blackout blinds, alarm clocks and electronic devices in the bedroom
• The upcoming Ancestral Health Society Symposium in Queenstown NZ

Links:

• Why Sleep is so Important for Healthy Skin
• The Ancestral Health Society of NZ Symposium 
• Jamie’s Blog: Re-Evolutionary

Want to put some of this great info into practice?