The Power Sleep Program

The Power Sleep Program

Double Your Energy Triple Your Productivity

Eliminate Tiredness Wake Up with Ease

And Get by on 6 Hours of Sleep or Less

Published by: Jeff Munroe

http://www.sleepwarrior.com

Copyright © 2010 Jeff Munroe. All Rights Reserved. No part of this report may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

Note: This e-book is optimized for viewing on a computer screen, but it is organized so you can also print it out and assemble it as a book. Since the text is optimized for screen viewing, the type is larger than that in usual printed books.

This book provides health advice concerning sleep practices. It is not a

substitute for medical diagnosis or treatment. This advice should not replace that of your physician.

The author of this book is not a licensed practitioner of medicine. The information, advice, and techniques in this book are for informational purposes only. The reader is advised to verify all of the information in this book with a qualified physician before making any decisions based on the advice within.

The author shall not be held liable for any decisions resulting from the purchase of this book. Before making changes in prescribed health-care regimes, consult a licensed practitioner.

Hello. I‘m Jeff Munroe.

Although my current profession is in neurobiology research, I‘ve developed a passion and obsession with personal health and fitness over the years.

Through my own research and personal experience, I‘ve been amazed at the lack of attention sleep receives as a component of overall health, well-being, mind-power, and productivity.

Furthermore, I‘ve been amazed at the overwhelming amount of rehashed and sometimes completely ineffective sleep advice that‘s out there. I firmly believe that powerful sleep is one of the keys to an optimal life. I‘ve made it my mission to spread this knowledge as far and wide as possible, so that others who share my passion for personal growth can benefit from the outstanding powers of high quality sleep.

I run a sleep advice website (http://www.sleepwarrior.com), which has reached sizable popularity.

What you‘re reading now is, what I consider, the complete bible to getting the most out of life through powerful sleep.

Part 1: Core Concepts 1. Introduction

2. How to Use This Guide 3. History of Sleep

4. What is High Quality Sleep Anyway?

5. The Hormones & Neurotransmitter of Sleep 6. Serotonin & Dopamine

7. Core Concepts Summary Part 2: Lifestyle

8. Diet

9. ExerciseTwo

10. Common Energy Robbers 11. Circadian Rhythm

12. Light Exposure

13. Caffeine, Alcohol, & Sleep 14. Relaxation Techniques 15. Sleep Environment 16. Conclusion

Part I

The Power Sleep Program has the potential to change lives. How much depends on your current situation and how much of the advice you put into practice.

Sleep is often the missing link to the happy, energetic, productive lifestyles we want for ourselves. Whether you're looking to overcome insomnia and get more sleep, or learn how to greatly boost your sleep quality and

efficiency so that you can spend less time in bed, the right sleep practices discussed in this guide will help you achieve your goal.

If you take a close look at your deepest dreams and desires it's unlikely sleep has anything to do with them. You may want more money, better relationships, better health, more energy... whatever it is that fills your daily fantasies, you probably don't think too much about their relationship to sleep.

Despite the fact that I run a popular sleep advice website, I don't personally think about sleep too much either.

I, like you, focus my time and energy on my hobbies, interests, friends, and goals—and, really, just the joy of being alive.

Yet I never lose sight of the importance that sleep plays in our lives. Without proper sleep, I can pretty much forget about my goals. My energy,

motivation, and even my social skills, have a direct dependence on the quality of sleep I got the night before.

quality sleep can double our energy, double our motivation, and triple our productivity... then sleep becomes much more interesting.

Learning how to increase your sleep quality should be, I think, required information for everyone. Why go through life being in the dark about how your body works?

This guide will probably only take you one day to read, but this advice may serve you for the many years ahead.

Even if you only improve your sleep quality by 10%, that's a 10% increase every night for the rest of your life.

If that 10% increase in sleep quality yields a 10% increase in energy and a 10% increase in productivity...

Then, assuming that you work 8 hours per day, that's an extra 30 minutes of focused productivity per day. Which is almost an extra 200 hours per year. Think of all the extra projects you can accomplish in 200 hours...

And if this guide reduces your required sleep need by 1 hour per day, that's effectively an extra 15 days per year, or an extra month every other year. What could you do with an extra month every other year for the rest of your life?

I hope you can start to see how making incremental improvements in your sleep can make big changes in your life for many years to come.

The guide takes a lateral approach to improving sleep. Sleep should never be treated in isolation; it should be treated in regards to its relationship to other lifestyle factors, such as diet, exercise, psychology, and mental health:

Although you should read it from start to finish, when it comes to applying the advice in your own life, you'll have to pick and choose. Make

improvements one step at a time depending on what improvements you feel are most critical to you at that time.

 Ignore these references the first time you read this guide.  Or bookmark the references for further reading.

That way you don't come down with a information overload the first time you read this.

I like to start my discussions of sleep with a bit of history. This will help you understand the ―big picture‖ of sleep.

To our knowledge, nearly every sleep disorder is of modern origin. The opening sentence of Eluned Summers-Bremner‘s book, Insomnia: A Culture History states:

―Insomnia as we know it today was not to be found in the ancient world.‖

Insomnia is estimated to affect at least 10% of the entire industrialized

population, although some national surveys have shown that at least 50% of the populations experience some sort of difficulty with sleep.

It makes you wonder, then, why are sleep problems so prevalent today? And why didn‘t they exist in the ancient world?

I hope this guide will help shed some light, but let‘s get the basics out of the way first.

The answer comes down to something any Biology 101 student should understand: Gene Expression.

Most people think ―genes‖ refer to some hard-coded blueprint that describes the fate of your health. You either have the ―cancer gene‖ or you don‘t. Maybe you have the ―fat gene‖ which is making you fat. Maybe you have the ―god gene‖ which explains your faith, or the ―alcohol gene‖ that turns you

The truth is that your genes are programmable. Certain genes turn on or off based on the environment they are exposed to. Right this very second, thousands of genes are turning on and off inside your body.

That ―Alzheimer‘s gene‖ won‘t turn on if you feed your brain the right food as well as get adequate exercise. The ―fat gene‖ won‘t turn on if you don‘t overload on sugary sodas every day.

Likewise, the ―insomnia gene‖ can turn off if you take the right steps to do so. Same with the ―fatigue gene‖, the ―tired-all-the-time gene‖, and the ―I-sleep-10-hours-a-day-but-still-feel-like-crap gene.‖

Anyway, back to history.

Human history dates back 2.5 million years. For that extensive length of time we lived roughly the same type of lifestyle. We ate from the same food groups, got the same amount of exercise each day, slept the same amount, and were exposed to the same amount of stress. We exposed our genes to roughly the same environment for those 2.5 million years.

Our genes evolved to handle this lifestyle. The process of gene expression became optimized for this environment.

But in recent evolutionary history a few major environmental changes have occurred—here are 4 big ones:

 10,000 years ago: humans started consuming grains, legumes, and dairy products (the agricultural revolution). Since grains are energy-dense (but nutrient poor) this allowed us to change from

for human health, but a good move for civilization and cultural

advancement. (Most people can‘t fathom the idea of a grain-free diet, but the truth is that humans went 99.5% of their history grain-free.)  140 years ago: the invention of the light bulb. We no longer lived by

the sun and moon, but by day lengths of our choosing, screwing up our melatonin cycles and the genes that code for it.

 Past 100 years: huge increase in the amount of environmental toxins from industrialization (pollution, pesticides, mercury in waters,

aluminum compounds in skin products, etc.)

 Past few decades: huge increase in the amount of processed ―food‖ consumed. Huge increase in the amount of artificial stress

(overworked, 24-hour society, etc).

2.5 million years of the hunter-gatherer lifestyle is a long time. For the most part, our genes are identical to those of our ancestors about 30,000 years ago. Evolution has yet to truly catch up to the radical change in diet brought by the agricultural revolution (which was just 500 generations ago). And evolution certainly hasn‘t had a chance to re-optimize our genes to deal with the changes of the past 100 years.

There are about 85 or so hunter-gatherer tribes still in existence today (that is, 85 remaining ―caveman‖ tribes). Many scientists have compared their health with the health of us industrialized people. Hunter-gatherers, such as the Pygmies of Africa, the Pila Nguru of Australia, or the Sentinelese of the Andaman Islands – all these societies are essentially devoid of most modern diseases.

In Captain Cook‘s voyage to New Zealand and Australia (the first European contact of the continent, around 1770) he made the following comment about the hunter-gatherer Maori tribe of New Zealand:

― ... strange that these people enjoy perfect and uninterrupted health...we never saw a single person who appeared to have any bodily complaint...the great number of old men that we saw. . . . appeared to be very ancient , yet none of them were decrepit; and though not equal to the young in muscular strength, were not a whit behind them in cheerfulness and vivacity..."

This was, of course, because the Maori were ―programming‖ their genes using a diet and lifestyle through which the human genome was optimized. (By mimicking their lifestyle, you too can program your genes to experience ―perfect and uninterrupted health‖, but we‘ll get to that later)

Now, a note on sleep and energy (since that is what The Power Sleep Program is about).

As I mentioned, there is little evidence of ―sleep problems‖ in the hunter-gatherer realm. Even the agricultural era preceding the invention of the light bulb had little evidence of sleep disorders. The light bulb brought a

sudden change to our genes’ external environment. When this

happened, our sleep patterns changed and our melatonin cycles became flat. More on this later.

Second is the topic of energy. I experienced a rather drastic case of

hunter-gatherer (a.k.a. Paleolithic) lifestyle I ran across a fact that startled me: Our hunter-gatherer ancestors walked, on average, about 12 miles per day. There was no way could I fathom walking 5 miles per day, let alone 12. It‘s not just about being physically fit either, but also about mental stamina. Either way, something about my lifestyle was not programming my genes to express themselves in the true energetic, enthusiastic, animated ways of my ―inner hunter-gatherer‖.

You have a hunter-gatherer in you capable of explosive energy and disturbance-free sleep. It‘s just a matter of reprogramming your genes.

Question: But didn’t our ancestors live only to be 35?

This is the first question that pops into everyone‘s mind at the mention of the Paleolithic lifestyle.

First, the average age was 35, meaning for every child that died at birth there was someone who lived to 70. For every mother who died during childbirth at the age of 20 there was someone who lived to 50.

Second, people died from many causes that our modern lifestyle circumvents. To eat dinner, we just have to go to the grocery store and pick up some food; we don‘t have to hunt and kill another animal.

Third, modern medicine has drastically improved the average lifespan through fighting rare infections and reducing the risk associated with child birth.

Regardless, when you compare similarly-aged individuals from industrialized societies and hunter-gatherer societies, the hunter-gatherers are simply healthier; in the words of Dr. Cordain:

While chronic degenerative diseases generally produce mortality in later life, they begin much earlier, often in childhood. This allows comparison between age-matched younger members of industrial and technologically primitive societies. Biomarkers of developing abnormality such as obesity, rising blood pressure, non-obstructive coronary atherosclerosis, and insulin resistance are common among the former, but rare in the latter.

Measurements of muscular strength and aerobic power reveal similar discrepancies, again favoring individuals whose lives more closely resemble the ancestral pattern. About 20% of hunter-gatherers reach age 60 or beyond, but even in this age bracket, individuals from foraging and other technologically primitive cultures appear almost completely free from

manifestations of most chronic degenerative diseases (osteoarthritis is an exception).

In terms of overall health and wellness I love the hunter-gatherer context. But the hunter-gatherer context also provides some interesting information about the ―natural‖ human sleep pattern.

Before the invention of the light bulb, people experienced much longer nights—up to 14 hours of complete darkness, depending on the season and latitude.

Studies of pre-industrial societies show that people normally fell asleep just an hour or two after sundown. This could be as early as 6 or 7pm.

After about four hours of sleep, they woke up naturally—right in the middle of the night—and spent a few hours socializing, doing chores, making love, or simply meditating over the dreams they had.

They then retired for a second 4-hour session of sleep and woke up around sunrise.

Afternoon naps were also much more common.

One recent study put subjects into an environment free of artificial light. The subjects slept just like our ancestors. The graph on the next page shows the sleep pattern of one woman from the experiment.

As you can see, for the first few nights the person slept excessively to catch up on sleep debt, but after a while the sleep stabilized to the same way our

ancestors slept—approximately in two 3- to 5-hour sessions, but still totaling around 8 hours per night.

Other studies have also found that, before the invention of the light bulb, people:

 Often took about an hour to fully fall asleep. The time before sleep was considered a nice time to meditate and relax, and the transition into sleep was more gradual.

 Woke up gradually, not instantaneously.

This picture of natural human sleep is very different from what we see today.

The reason I mention these things is to loosen up your assumptions about ―sleep patterns‖. When it comes to developing your own power sleep routine, you do not need to necessarily conform to some of the modern sleep rules:

 That 8 hours of sleep is absolutely essential.

 That taking 1 hour to fall asleep is necessarily bad.

 That waking up once or twice during the night (and being unable to fall back asleep) is necessarily bad.

 That the wake-up process is instantaneous, and should be facilitated by an alarm clock.

Because artificial light forces us to live in ―perpetual summers‖, it‘s

impractical to sleep in two sessions per night like our ancestors did during winter months. But if your body tends to a more ―flexible‖ sleep pattern, realize this might not be a disorder in itself, but perhaps your body‘s way of reverting to its old ways.

Now, enough about the evolutionary backdrop of sleep. Let‘s get into the science of sleep.

I don‘t want to spend too much time on the science of sleep, or all the fascinating processes the brain goes through during sleep. You can get that information from most popular sleep books.

However, a little bit of science is necessary to understand just what Power Sleep entails.

As you may know, your brain enters different sleep stages throughout the night. Each sleep stage is defined by different brainwave frequencies, with the slowest frequencies corresponding to the deepest stages of sleep (see the resources if you don‘t understand what brainwaves are).

The 5 sleep stages are:

Stage 1: A drowsy, semi-conscious state.

Stage 2: Slower brain activity. About half of all your sleep each night is spent in stage 2 – more for inefficient sleepers and less for efficient sleepers. Stage 3: Even slower brain activity.

Stage 4: Slowest, deepest stage of sleep. Heartbeat slows. This stage triggers your body to release several hormones that are essential in healing the body.

REM stage: REM is a special stage of sleep. This is where the most vivid dreams occur. The body paralyzes itself to ensure that it doesn't act out the dreams.

Note: When I say that stage 3 and 4 are characterized by ―slow‖ brain activity, I‘m referring to the rate at which your brain cells are firing. But don‘t think that your brain is less active overall. In fact, stage 4 sleep is very active.

Think of it this way:

―Fast‖ brain activity is when your brain is taking short, shallow ―breaths‖ at a rapid pace.

―Slow‖ brain activity (i.e. stage 4 sleep) is when your brain is taking deep, heavy ―breaths‖.

This is important to know because we want to do everything we can to ensure the brain has enough energy throughout the night to maintain this high-level of activity.

Stages 3 and 4 are collectively known as “deep sleep” or “slow-wave sleep”. For the rest of this guide I'll use ―deep sleep‖ to refer to these stages.

Now that‘s the basics of sleep stages… Onto the basics of sleep cycles. All throughout the day, your brain goes through what are known as ―basic rest and activity cycles‖ (BRAC)—it cycles through highs and lows of alertness and relaxation. Each period of alertness corresponds to ―fast brainwaves‖. Each period of relaxation corresponds to ―slow brainwaves‖. You have about 12-16 BRAC cycles per day.

If you pay close attention, you may notice that every 90 – 120 minutes during the day, your mind will start to daydream and dip into a state of relaxation. That just means you‘re at the end of a BRAC cycle. Give your brain about 20 minutes and the cycle will restart, where you‘ll feel energized

This BRAC continues on through the night. (It‘s active during sleeping and waking.) During night, the BRAC produces what are called sleep cycles:

I‘m sure you‘ve seen one of these images before.

At night each time you hit the REM stage that means you‘re at the end of the cycle. Notice how these cycles tend to last 90 to 120 minutes. Also notice that deep sleep occurs primarily in the first half of the night, while REM sleep occurs primarily in the second half of the night. Question: What stages of sleep are most important?

Common wisdom says that deep sleep and REM are considered the “need” stages, but why they're needed is not perfectly understood.

Keep in mind that since sleep is mostly a function of the brain, there's still a lot about it that we don't understand about it (since there's a lot about the brain we don't understand).

surface. There's just so much that neuroscience has yet to reveal—for now, this is just a fact we have to deal with.

Keep this in mind so you don't fall into the trap of thinking that sleep stages are the end-all description of the sleep process.

With that said, various studies do suggest that deep sleep and REM appear most critical, and contribute most to that feeling of refreshed vitality during the day. Both deep sleep and REM appear to play complimentary roles—the two reinforce each other, so we probably don‘t want to go on a mission to maximize one but not the other.

Maximizing sleep quality can thus be thought of as maximizing time spent in deep sleep and REM. As we will find out, most studies show that good sleep habits increase the time spent in both of these stages.

Example: As we age our sleep becomes less refreshing, as

perhaps many elderly people could tell you. By monitoring brain activity during sleep, we see that the older we are the less time we spend in these ―need‖ stages and more time we spend in the light sleep stages—that is, stages 1 and 2.

Likewise, most sleep disorders are at least characterized by excessive amounts of light sleep and minimal amounts of deep sleep and REM.

If you wake up feeling fantastic, you can safely assume that you got a nice dose of deep sleep and REM.

If you wake up feeling tired, you can safely assume that you spent most of the night in light sleep.

Take a close look at both of these graphs…

The top graph shows the type of sleep you probably had during childhood.  Lots of deep sleep (stage 3 and 4).

 Lots of REM

stages in a shorter amount of time). The bottom graph may be the type of sleep you experience now.

Hopefully, after reading this guide you can get a sense of how to change your sleep quality to resemble the top graph.

Resources

Brain Waves & Brainwave Entrainment – Read this article for a good understanding of what ―brainwaves‖ exactly are. This will help you

appreciate what is actually meant by the different stages of sleep. http://www.sleepwarrior.com/brain-waves-brainwave-entrainment/

The process of sleep is complicated, and, as I already mentioned, not terribly well understood.

Many hormones and neurotransmitters affect the process of sleep. Note: A hormone is simply a chemical your body uses to send ―signals‖ between cells. For example, if you see a lion out in the wild, your brain will tell the adrenal glands to release the

hormone adrenaline, which will tell the muscles to take in more energy (the ―fight or flight‖ response).

A neurotransmitter can be thought of as a chemical that tells certain regions of the brain to be ―on‖ or ―off‖.

Some chemicals, such as serotonin, are both hormones and neurotransmitters.

Your body uses hundreds of different hormones, and dozens of neurotransmitters.

There are four main hormones/neurotransmitters that play a very big role in sleep quality, wakefulness, and energy levels. Those four are:

 Melatonin  Cortisol  Serotonin  Dopamine

Melatonin is considered the “nighttime hormone”. Its main function is to tell the brain to release a neurotransmitter called GABA, which is essentially your brain‘s main ―tranquilizer‖, or sleep-inducer.

Melatonin is also your body's most powerful antioxidant, with 60 times the antioxidant power of Vitamin C. It has powerful cancerous and anti-aging properties. So its two main functions are to heal the body and promote the natural sleep process in the brain.

High nighttime melatonin levels increase both deep sleep and REM amount. Learning to maximize this hormone through lifestyle habits will be a common theme in obtaining powerful sleep.

Melatonin follows a ―rhythm‖ each 24-hour period. During the day, your body turns off melatonin production (and switches to ―serotonin/dopamine mode‖). During the night, your body ramps up melatonin production to improve sleep quality.

Learning to maximize melatonin levels at night, and minimize levels during the day is one of the core concepts of the Power Sleep

Program.

Think of melatonin levels as a wave – we want that wave to be as big as possible, with high highs and low lows. The lifestyle section of this guide will show you how to do this.

Next we have cortisol. Cortisol has been called the ―stress hormone‖, because its levels increase in times of stress. But in reality, cortisol has numerous functions, such as:

 To help wake you up in the morning with a jolt of energy

 To stimulate the brain and increase alertness in the early morning hours

 To increase alertness during times of stress (fight or flight)  To heal the body from physical stress (an injury).

 To increase blood sugar when levels are too low (we‘ll discuss this one later)

And that's just a few of its functions...

Because cortisol stimulates the brain, it is one of the greatest inhibitors of deep sleep. You want cortisol to be as low as possible as you fall asleep at night.

 Low cortisol at the start of night  lots of deep sleep.

However, cortisol is necessary to stimulate the brain in the morning hours.  A healthy spike of cortisol in the morning  a jolt of energy to wake

you up.

Many cases of insomnia may be simply due to heightened cortisol levels at night. But even if you don't have insomnia, high cortisol levels will decrease your sleep efficiency, causing you to wake up less refreshed.

You have probably heard that stress is harmful to sleep. This is due to the fact that during times of stress the body release excess cortisol, which has the ―side effect‖ of keeping your mind in ―racing thoughts mode‖.

So although cortisol has numerous functions, one of our core goals is to decrease stress so that cortisol is allowed to follow its natural rhythm. Now with that said, take a closer look at that graph. Our goal here is not to ―decrease‖ or ―increase‖ cortisol. Our goal is to let our body use cortisol in its natural way – that is, we want our bodies to release a healthy spike of cortisol in the morning, and we want to facilitate a gradual decline

throughout the day so that at nighttime cortisol levels are nearly 0. Some people have over-stimulated adrenal glands, and produce around twice as much cortisol than they should. Others, however, have the opposite problem and barely produce any cortisol. The former problem sometimes goes hand-in-hand with stressful lifestyle and anxiety-related insomnia. The latter problem sometimes goes hand-in-hand with low energy and

The Power Sleep Program will aim to fix both problems.

Note: If you look at the above graph you will notice that cortisol levels start to increase about half-way through sleep. This is normal. This is partly due to the fact that you haven‘t eaten for a while, and cortisol levels increase to keep blood sugar levels normal (we‘ll discuss this later), and is partly your brain‘s way to switch to include more REM sleep. The key is to have cortisol levels as low as possible during the first half of the night so that deep sleep is maximized.

Out of the 50-ish neurotransmitters in your brain, serotonin and dopamine are among the most important in controlling your mood and overall ―state of mind‖.

Both are important in regulating sleep and energy levels. Many cases of insomnia, excess tiredness, lack of motivation, aggression, and even schizophrenia can be explained by a serotonin/dopamine imbalance. You may have heard serotonin referred to as ―the happy chemical‖ and dopamine as the ―reward/addiction chemical‖.

Unfortunately, both neurotransmitters are much more complicated and have many (sometimes contradictory) functions.

For example, in the 1950s, studies were done proving that serotonin is a ―sleep hormone‖, that it induces drowsiness. A couple decades later, other scientists proved that serotonin is actually an ―alertness hormone‖.

Hmm…

What we now know is that serotonin supports high quality sleep (lots of deep sleep and REM) and alertness and mental energy during the day. How

serotonin functions depends on several factors, such as the type of

―receptors‖ used, the region of the brain in which serotonin is acting, and the availability of other hormones such as insulin.

Dopamine is equally complicated. However, we‘ll try to keep things as simple as possible. So let‘s take a generalized look at how both of these brain

chemicals apply to The Power Sleep Program.

Dopamine increases energy, alertness, libido, motivation, happiness, and impulsiveness. A healthy dopamine high is what you experience when you feel naturally ―high on life‖. It also promotes learning and is critical for memory consolidation.

Serotonin increases energy and alertness as well. It lifts the mood, produces a calm happiness and an overall sense of well-being. Unlike dopamine, serotonin suppresses impulsiveness.

High serotonin levels might induce a calm euphoria, whereas high dopamine levels might induce a buzzed euphoria.

Serotonin is also important for sleep. As we mentioned, it increases deep sleep and REM. Part of the reason is because serotonin is the precursor to melatonin.

In other words, your body converts serotonin into melatonin. Generally speaking, your brain is in either ―serotonin mode‖ or ―melatonin mode‖. Which mode depends on how much light your eyes are exposed to. Nighttime is melatonin mode, daylight is serotonin mode.

So serotonin levels are used up throughout the night (in darkness) as your brain is in ―melatonin mode‖, because most of the serotonin is converted into melatonin. Once daylight arrives your brain switches to ―serotonin mode‖ and halts the production of melatonin.

Now back to dopamine: an interesting effect of a ―dopamine high‖ is the apparent ability to get by on less sleep.

Have you ever noticed that during your ―high on life‖ moments you wake up easier and never feel tired? That‘s the dopamine acting.

Dopamine is also your primary ―love chemical‖. Levels of dopamine surge during the honeymoon stage of a relationship, but eventually subside after a few weeks or months. This explains why studies show high school lovebirds report sleeping 1 hour less than their loveless peers.

So what is life like when your serotonin or dopamine tanks are on empty?

One fascinating study (Am J Psychiatry, 2005) administered a dopamine-blocking drug to a 21-year old (―Mr. A.‖) and observed the effects. According to the study, here‘s what happens when you literally have zero dopamine— it‘s quite fascinating:

Mr. A was a healthy, extraverted, very well functioning 21-year-old medical student without even minor psychological difficulties or psychiatric disorders in his family… We will describe the

spontaneous reported subjective experiences after he started the first dose of 750 mg AMPT [a dopamine-blocking drug]…

After 7 hours, Mr. A felt more distance between himself and his environment. Stimuli had less impact; visual and audible stimuli were less sharp. He experienced a loss of motivation and

tiredness. After 18 hours, he had difficulty waking up and increasing tiredness; environmental stimuli seemed dull. He had less fluency of speech. After 20 hours, he felt confused. He felt tense before his appointment and had an urge to check his watch in an obsessive way.

After 24 hours, Mr. A had inner restlessness, flight of ideas; his ideas seemed inflicted, and he could not remember them. He felt a loss of control over his ideas. After 28 hours, he felt ashamed, frightened, anxious, and depressed. He was afraid that the situation would continue. At that time, blepharospasm, mask face, and tremor were noted. After 30 hours, he was tired and slept 11 hours. After 42 hours, he had poor concentration. In the next hours, he returned to normal.

Fortunately, you‘ll never experience completely diminished dopamine levels, but you can gather some themes from what life is like on low dopamine:

 excessive tiredness

 unable to control your thoughts  anxiety

 difficulty waking up  loss of motivation… What about low serotonin?

According to Mary Ann Copson, a brain chemistry profile clinician, 10 signs of low serotonin are:

1. You become reclusive and avoid situations that make you anxious.

2. You feel driven to avoid all conflict and challenge and are fearful of starting new ventures or taking calculated risks. 3. You feel overwhelmed, resentful, and victimized by your circumstances.

4. You have a tendency toward compulsive behaviors,

perfectionism, and withdrawal. You worry a lot and see most things in a negative way. You may be extremely vigilant and overly controlling.

5. You are impulsive, have a short attention span, feel blocked and scattered, and easily fly off the handle.

6. You crave sweets and carbohydrates and tend to

overeat (especially comfort foods). You tend to eat more in the afternoon and evening.

7. You are compelled to clean and organize things around you. Once you start cleaning you may get "sucked" into the activity and find it hard to stop.

8. You are prone to heat intolerance, panic, phobias, fibromyalgia, and TMJ.

9. You are a night owl, experience insomnia, and have trouble getting to sleep.

10. You feel depressed, hopeless and that you lack personal power. You may feel sad and cry a lot.

I highlighted points 6 and 9—point 6 will become clear in the diet section of this guide.

Since serotonin levels are so important for sleep, a poor serotonin system will make it not only difficult to fall asleep, but rob you of true Power Sleep. Your body needs the serotonin to convert to melatonin at nighttime.

So both serotonin and dopamine, so far, sound like ―good chemicals‖. Serotonin‘s good for sleep and inducing calmness at night, as well as promoting mental energy and happiness during the day. It‘s good for alleviating depression and suppressing compulsive behavior.

Dopamine is good for daily energy, motivation, libido, and goal-oriented behavior (and a healthy level of impulsiveness to combat the problem of repetitive day-to-day routines).

But as you might guess, they have a slight dark side.

Excessive dopamine can lead to addictive behavior, unhealthy risk-taking and compulsiveness, aggression, anxiety, and schizophrenia. This is

particularly true when dopamine levels are high but serotonin levels are low, since serotonin can help calm the mind and lighten some of dopamine‘s negative effects.

Low serotonin is not always bad. When you fall in love for the first time, serotonin drops drastically, while dopamine levels explode. The result: you feel buzzed, excited, and high on life, and your focus turns towards sex. In true evolutionary fashion, the dopamine eventually subsides to serotonin and you can focus on non-sexual aspects of survival (hunting, etc).

If any of this sounds confusing, just focus on the following key points:  Both serotonin and dopamine are generally considered ―good

chemicals‖. We want them.

 Both serotonin and dopamine improve energy levels. Serotonin is more associated with feelings of happiness and tranquility—we also need it for high quality sleep. Dopamine keeps you excited, always motivated, and high on life.

These are the basics. We mentioned how problems can arise when either chemical is too high or too low, or when they are out of balance (one high, the other low).

But here‘s the good news: we don‘t have to ―micromanage‖ our

serotonin/dopamine balance. We can reprogram our genes to handle the balancing for us.

With certain lifestyle tricks, we will find ways to keep serotonin and

dopamine in their natural, healthy ranges (not too high, not too low). We will have enough serotonin at night to be converted into melatonin. Our bodies will produce enough serotonin during the day, without overpowering the effects of dopamine. And we will find ways to stimulate dopamine

production to keep us naturally energized and motivated, without going overboard into the realm of unwise risk-taking and aggression.

Once you expose your body to the right environmental cues (the ones your genes have accustomed themselves to over the past 2.5 million years), the balancing act will take care of itself. You‘ll feel energized. And you‘ll sleep like a baby. And, in those rare cases you fall in love or find novel excitement in life, you‘ll switch into high dopamine gear and feel on top of the world (and will probably require less sleep because of it).

 High quality sleep is defined by the amount of Deep Sleep and REM obtained. We can improve sleep quality by getting more Deep Sleep and REM, and getting less Light Sleep.

 Melatonin is a hormone that makes us tired and increases Deep Sleep and REM

 Melatonin is good at night, but bad when we‘re awake.

 Cortisol is a ―good hormone‖ in the morning because it wakes us up and keeps us alert.

 Cortisol is a ―bad hormone‖ at night because it interferes with deep sleep.

 Healthy serotonin levels are important for sleep quality at night because serotonin is converted into melatonin

 Healthy serotonin levels are important for energy levels during the day, because serotonin can also act as a mood-enhancing stimulant.  Healthy dopamine levels are important for that high on life feeling.

Dopamine is responsible for our mental energy, motivation, and libido.  Both serotonin and dopamine can go out of whack—either too high or

too low or out of balance with each other.

 We will follow the example of our hunter-gatherer ancestors, reprogram our genes, and let our bodies balance all of these hormones/neurotransmitters for us!

Part II

Lifestyle

Now that you understand the ―core concepts‖ of Power Sleep, let‘s get into the lifestyle recommendations that make it happen.

We‘ll start with diet.

When I solved my energy problems I did it with diet. I think diet was about 70% of the solution; the remaining 30% came later—they were exercise, light therapy, and some other aspects we‘ll talk about.

But since diet is, in my opinion, the most important factor in sleep quality and energy levels, we‘ll start with that.

I want to explain the diet-sleep connection in a bit of a roundabout way. I want to ―sell‖ you on a particular dietary philosophy, and then follow up with explanations of why this diet gives the results that it does.

In particular, I want to focus on what some have labeled the ―Paleolithic diet‖.

I won‘t flat-out recommend following its every rule (though you can if you want). Instead, let‘s just explore it for a moment, and see what sort of results people report when they follow it.

The Paleolithic diet (or simply, Paleo diet) is based on a very simple concept: eat what our ancestors ate.

Here are the rules for the Paleo diet: Can eat:  Meat  Fish  Eggs  Vegetables  Fruit  Nuts  Seeds Can‘t eat:  Grains  Beans  Refined sugar

 Starchy vegetables (potatoes)  Dairy

 Chemical additives

This is precisely the diet that was on our ancestor‘s plate 20,000+ years ago. And it‘s the diet that our genes are predominately accustomed to. We didn‘t start eating grains until 10,000 years ago. All grains, beans, starchy vegetables, and dairy products must go through a refining process before becoming edible. Grains require milling and cooking. Grains and legumes are slightly poisonous and mostly inedible in their raw states.

Again, on our 2.5 million year history, these changes are very recent.

There‘s a bit of confusion over some Paleo diet details, so keep these points in mind as well:

 Eggs are animal products, not dairy products, and were eaten by hunter-gatherer tribes, but they probably didn‘t eat them often.  Peanuts and cashews are legumes (beans), thus are not part of

the Paleo diet.

 Hunter-gatherers ate the organs of animals, including the heart, liver, and even bone marrow.

 Hunter-gatherers ate more raw food. First evidence of cooking and fire usage dates back ~300,000 years ago, but most cooking was slow and low-temperature.

 Corn is a grain, not a vegetable. It‘s not a Paleo food.

Most people have a hard time imagining life without grains – no bread, pasta, rice, etc.

Despite this, the Paleolithic diet is fairly popular. There‘s definitely a ―Paleo movement‖, even if it doesn‘t get much limelight. (Much of this movement is due to Dr Cordain‘s book, The Paleo Diet)

I first tried this diet several years ago. The first 2-3 weeks were a bit dreadful, but I slowly started to gain more and more energy. Lots of other strange things happened too: my skin started to ―glow‖, my hair got thicker, my eyes became whiter, my senses improved, my occasional and mild panic attacks disappeared, and more.

Based on common wisdom, grains, beans, and dairy are ―required‖ for optimal health. So instead of justifying why removing them (or mostly removing them) is a good idea, let‘s instead take a look at what happens if you do so.

I have gathered numerous anecdotal claims that the Paleo diet improves energy levels. It only takes a quick Google search to find them…

Again, I want to try to ―sell‖ you on the diet before explaining why it works. This testimonial section will be a little wordy, but read it carefully.

The next few pages are nothing but testimonials from people who follow the Paleo diet. They weren‘t written to me; I found them all online.

For example, take this discussion thread on the CrossFit forums. Here, various Paleo dieters answer some basic Q&A about their lifestyle:

Erin Davidson

Q: What types of foods did you eat before you started the Paleo diet?

A: Oh anything - but lots of processed stuff that I thought wasn't processed because it said "whole grains" on the front or some such thing. Very little veg, low quality meats if that at all. Q: Prior to the Paleo diet were there physical limitations you experienced (i.e. fatigue/low energy, sore muscles, digestive issues, irregular bowel movements, skin

Q: What was it like for you to transition to the Paleo diet? A: At first I think mentally it was hard for me to feel "deprived" of things. Eventually though I came to see the good foods I was eating as being what I was ACTUALLY deprived of before. I felt better when I ate what was good for me - not when I ate

whatever the hell I wanted. I don't think my insulin levels were used to not having a huge sugar spike every hour and so had a little trouble at first feeling kind of sleepy and hungry all the time. [Note: we‘ll talk about insulin soon] I used to have to eat LOTS of fruit every day to manage the lower insulin levels I think. Eventually levelled out though through the use of zone. Q: What physical improvements have you experienced since you began the Paleo diet (i.e. increased energy, weight loss, etc)?

A: Much better energy levels leading to better

productivity, clearer skin, less stress, less moodiness, better

body composition in general, almost complete loss of any kind of cramps during menstrual cycle, sound sleep.

We‘ll see that ―much better energy levels‖ is a fairly unanimous result of going Paleo. Here‘s another testimonial:

David Khutzen

Q: What types of foods did you eat before you started the Paleo diet?

A: I ate more or less anything I could get my hands on. I typically leaned towards whole grains and similar type foods, mostly because I prefered the taste over the white stuff. But I was very carb heavy, didn't pay too much attention to fat, and ate a fair amount of meat.

Q: What physical improvements have you experienced since you began the Paleo diet

A: I am a CF [CrossFit] beast, I look really sexy, and once I'm awake, I'm never drowsy. Eating paleo gives me a much

better outlook on life, as I get very moody and [sour] when

I've got too much processed carbs in me. I'll be eating this way for the rest of my life, as long as I'm in control of my diet

Another common theme is that many Paleo dieters previously ate ―healthy whole grains‖, such as whole grain bread or cereals, etc.

Samantha Aurelio

Q: What types of foods did you eat before you started the Paleo diet?

A: I ate strictly "low-calorie"/"heart-healthy grains" before hand. Lots of wheat pasta, low-fat/fat-free yogurts, LUNA BARS!,

significantly less veggies than now, protein shakes, etc. Q: What physical improvements have you experienced since you began the Paleo

A: All around energy. My awareness has increased, my skin cleared, I had dropped like.. 5 lbs once I started eating Paleo, my stomach has settled (used to get stomach aches/bloating after meals), I stress less (significantly... hah), and have seen

Brian Doll

Q: What types of foods did you eat before you started the Paleo diet?

A: Looking back, I ate a ton of bad carbs that I thought were healthy. Wheaties every morning. Lots of whole wheat bread. Whole weat pasta. My diet was dominated by cheap carbs, with meat pulling in second and fruit and veggies were way at the bottom. Tons of dairy as well in milk, cheese, yogurt, etc. Q: Prior to the Paleo diet were there physical limitations you experienced?

A: Constant hunger, energy highs and lows, weight gain.

Q: What was it like for you to transition to the Paleo diet? A: For some reason it was much easier than I expected. I

transitioned from Wheaties every morning to eggs every morning and never looked back. The rest of my food followed suit. I've been able to find a wide variety of paleo foods I really like, so that's made it very easy.

Q: What physical improvements have you experienced since you began the Paleo diet (i.e. increased energy, weight loss, etc)?

A: I lost 50 pounds in 5 months. My energy is much more consistent throughout the day. I eat and feel full. I've also lost that "fog" that I can only now experience if I eat a really bad cheat meal. It's amazing how you get used to that sluggish foggy feeling when you eat bad food. Eating clean leads to high performance in everything and mental clarity is surely one of them.

Dough Blankenship

Q: Prior to the Paleo diet were there physical limitations you experienced.

A: I was hospitalized three times with stomach problems, had some anxiety attacks, super high cholesterol, I had bad

headaches. I started the Paleo diet, no more stomach problems, no more anxiety attacks, cholesterol is 111 currently, no more headaches and I no longer weigh 329 pounds, I’m at 191 as of today. Only took 1 year and 5 months. CF [CrossFit] and the Paleo Diet works.

Q: What physical improvements have you experienced since you began the Paleo?

A: I lost 139 pounds in a year and five months … I can out perform 99.9% of people I run into at physical competition, doesn’t matter what it is, running, cycling, picking up concrete bags, pushing there vehicle, doesn’t matter what it is, I can work harder and longer than the people who lift three times a week and do two hours of cardio a day and then after I get done out doing them I still have room in the tank for a [workout of the day].

Oh yeah and I don't have the Carb Fog anymore and my energy levels are higher than those that drink redbull and smoke crack all day.

Before going Paleo I don‘t think I would have believed that making a change to your diet could give you “energy levels higher than those that drink

Joe Bernard

Q: What physical improvements have you experienced since you began the Paleo diet?

A: I got ripped like no tomorrow, seriously. I stayed the same weight for a year, but during that time I got a six-pack, and became defined all over. Even though I am skinny, which helps with definition, but still. Paleo also helped me have much

more constant energy levels, as well as more energy because I was off of the all the processed crap I used to eat. As a result, performance increased significantly, and I just

feel better and lighter whenever I eat Paleo. Even when I get

no sleep (college), I still feel pretty good.

Read those testimonials carefully. Notice that the most common

improvement is more energy. Some people noted better sleep as well. Others have noted that a Paleo diet removed their depression, anxiety, and panic attacks. Could this be due to an improved serotonin system and more stable serotonin levels? Yes, and I‘ll explain this one later.

Clearer skin is also a common result of the Paleo diet. There‘s a lot of research by Dr. Cordain that covers this—one of his studies analyzed around 3,000 people from hunter-gatherer societies and not a single pimple was found.

When it comes down to it, the biggest difference between the Paleo diet and the ―standard healthy diet‖ is the removal of grains. Even though you

probably heard that ―whole grains‖ are healthy because they contain ―complex carbohydrates‖ (which is just another term for starches)—it is certainly interesting that as humans we went 2.5 million years, or 99.5% of our history, without them…

Alternatively, let‘s take a look at a study that followed several ―raw foodists‖. While I don‘t particularly recommend eating only raw food for the sake of eating raw food, the ―raw food diet‖ does share some similarities with the paleo diet – it‘s free of every thing artificial.

This 2006 study followed the results of over 500 raw foodists. (source) Here are the summarized results of the study:

 Long-term raw foodists reported sleeping 1 to 2 hours less compared to when they were on their previous diet.

 31% reported having ―good‖ or ―excellent‖ energy levels prior to the raw food diet. After switching to a raw food diet, that portion raised to 88%.

 Those reporting having a ―lot‖ of stress in their lives dropped from 56% to 20%. (hence less cortisol at nighttime and better sleep)  Subjects reported a noticeable increase in their mental energy and

focus.

 Subjects even reported more frequent feelings of ―ecstatic bliss‖ (could this be due to improved serotonin and dopamine systems?)

How does this raw food diet fit in to our Paleolithic framework? Nutritionist and Author Nancey Lee Bentley writes:

While there is a growing consensus today that eating raw food is healthier, the fact is, throughout history all cultures have

modified, "cooked" or altered the energy field of their foods in some way. This is one of the 11 fundamental Characteristics of

did have fire, which they started with wooden sticks and used to roast wild yams and other foods.

But let‘s keep things in perspective: the raw food diet, like the Paleo diet, promotes the complete removal of grains, refined sugar, and other

processed foods. The raw food diet is essentially the Paleo diet without the meat. That, in my opinion, puts it very close to a diet that optimizes gene expression by mimicking the pre-agricultural environment of 10,000 years ago.

Again, I don‘t recommend dogmatically following a paleo diet just for the sake of doing so. I only started out by mentioning testimonials to give a sample of what typical results might look like.

In order to optimize our sleep and energy, we need to next focus on why ancestral diets give the results they do. We‘ll look at the biochemistry behind it, so that we can adopt specific rules without having to only resort to the nebulous ―big picture‖ approach.

Given the astronomical scope of your body‘s biochemical reactions, there‘s really no way to carefully analyze each and every aspect of diet and how it relates to sleep. However, there are two concepts that play a very big role, and we‘ll look at them in detail.

Those concepts are:

1. Blood sugar, insulin, and ketones. 2. Insulin and serotonin.

Generally speaking, your body has two main sources of energy:  Glucose

 Fats

Glucose is a simple sugar and can be easily derived from most

carbohydrates. Certain fatty acids (or, just ―fats) can also be used as fuel. Glucose can be considered a ―high octane‖ fuel. Due to its efficiency as a fuel source, your body evolved in such a way to preserve glucose for

mostly the brain and muscles.

Your brain, by the way, consumes about 20% of your body‘s energy despite weighing just 2% of your body‘s mass. It‘s a true powerhouse and requires precise care when it comes to feeding it with fuel. Unfortunately, the modern diet is anything but precise and ends up flooding the brain in too much fuel, which can lead to all sorts of problems. Let me explain.

Most people are unaware of how the body uses food as fuel. There are three macronutrients found in foods:

 Carbohydrates  Fats

 Protein

Your body has impressive ways to convert all three of these nutrients into either glucose or fatty acids to be used as fuel.

 Simple sugars (glucose, sucrose, fructose)  Starches

Starches are simply chains of glucose molecules. You have probably heard the term ―complex carbohydrates‖. A complex carbohydrate is simply another name for starch – both are simply chains of glucose.

When you eat carbohydrates, your body converts it fairly quickly into just a bunch of glucose molecules. If you eat a piece of bread, which is mostly carbohydrate, it‘s only a matter of minutes until all those starches become glucose molecules.

Your body also converts all the simple sugars into glucose (and if you

consume glucose itself, there‘s no need for conversion). So when you drink soda, which might contain glucose, fructose, or sucrose, it all ends up as glucose pretty quickly.

So far, so good. Your body loves glucose. Your brain cells love it even more.

Here‘s where it gets messy:

Your body has very precise mechanisms in place to ensure that the amount of glucose in your blood is constant. Not too much and not too little. The mechanism includes two hormones: insulin and cortisol.

 When glucose levels are too high, insulin is released to lower glucose levels.

 When levels are too low, cortisol is released to raise it (by helping the body turn available protein into glucose).

Note: Just to reiterate, although cortisol is referred to as ―the stress hormone‖ it actually has a multitude of functions, such as increasing glucose levels in the blood when they're too low. Either way, the side effect of having too much cortisol floating around in your system (that is, at bedtime, not in the morning) is decreased sleep quality due to the stimulating effects of cortisol.

By using insulin and cortisol, your body keeps glucose levels just right. This finely tuned balance ensures that your brain always has the fuel available to survive and thrive. Given that the brain is just as active in sleep as in wakefulness, a steady stream of brain fuel is critical for high quality sleep.

Certain diet and lifestyle habits, however, can throw off this finely tuned balance.

What happens when you consume too many carbohydrates at once? (Say, you just ate 3 pieces of cheesecake).

Your body goes into ―panic mode‖. Glucose, because it is a ―high octane fuel‖, is actually toxic at very high levels.

So what does your body do? It secretes massive amounts of insulin to lower blood glucose levels as quickly as possible. Your body tends to overshoot the insulin response and blood glucose drops far below normal levels, after

Sound confusing? Here‘s a sample timeline:

 Consume a large amount of carbohydrate (3 pieces of cheesecake)  All those carbs are converted straight into glucose -- too much glucose

is released in the blood

 Your body panics and secretes insulin to lower glucose

 About 1-2 hours after the meal, glucose levels are now below normal levels.

 From 2 to 5 hours after the meal, your body secretes cortisol to slowly raise glucose back to normal.

This is called the blood sugar roller coaster.

Many people go day to day on this roller coaster. Here are some symptoms that you might be on it as well:

 You become irritable if you skip a meal.  You have energy ―highs and lows‖

 You gain weight easily, particularly around the abdominal region  You have excessive cravings for food

Note: I sometimes use ―glucose‖ and ―blood sugar‖ interchangeably. They‘re the same thing

The blood sugar roller coaster sounds bad, and it is. To restate one of the points I made a couple pages ago:

Given that the brain is just as active in sleep as in wakefulness, a steady stream of brain fuel is critical for high quality sleep.

A steady stream of glucose can keep your brain sharp and focused. A roller coaster will flood your brain with high octane fuel one hour, then deprive it the next. The term ―brain fog‖ often refers to a lack of brain fuel, which is

So that‘s one problem with the roller coaster, but there are two others. In the core concepts section we talked about how cortisol decreases deep sleep amount. Eating foods that induce the blood sugar roller coaster will cause an increase in cortisol 2-5 hours after the meal. You want cortisol to decline gradually throughout the day, so ―roller coaster meals‖ should be avoided.

The last, and perhaps most detrimental, problem of the ―roller coaster‖ is something called insulin resistance. Although you probably heard of insulin resistance as something only people with diabetes experience, the truth is that nearly everyone in an industrialized society has some level of insulin resistance.

Here‘s what it is:

Insulin resistance is when your cells become tolerant to insulin. This is when insulin becomes less effective at what it does (which is lower glucose levels in the blood).

Think of it this way. When you drink lots of caffeine day after day, the drug starts to lose its effect, so that you need more and more caffeine to get the same boost in energy. This is because your brain cells become ―tolerant‖ to the caffeine molecule, thus caffeine itself becomes less effective.

The same thing can happen with insulin. Your insulin levels can reach high levels day after day and insulin itself becomes less effective. This is where it

Insulin is required to move glucose out of the blood and into cells to be used as energy. When your cells become resistant to insulin, your cells become less able to utilize glucose.

But your brain cells need glucose for fuel. When your brain cells become less able to use glucose, your brain overall becomes less able to think

clearly and even less able to conduct powerful sleep.

All of this might seem a bit confusing, but let‘s put it in perspective. Back to the hunter-gatherer example. Their diet consisted of meat, nuts, seeds, vegetables, and fruit.

No grains, no sodas, no cookies, no cakes.

Hunter-gatherers got nearly all of their carbohydrates from fruits and vegetables.

Generally speaking, that‘s not a lot. It might have amounted to at most 150 grams of carbohydrates per day.

However, like I said, the body evolved to use glucose primarily for the brain and muscles. 150 grams per day was plenty for the brain and physical

activity.

An interesting component of the carbohydrates found in vegetables and fruit is that they don‘t spike blood sugar much at all. Because they don‘t spike

blood sugar, they don‘t cause an insulin spike. That‘s good – that provides a steady stream of glucose for the brain. No sugar crashes.

Now when you take a look at modern day foods such as grains and junk food, they are known to spike blood sugar quite aggressively.

Even though you have probably heard that ―whole grains‖ are healthy because their starches are more ―complex‖, the truth is that even many whole grains spike blood sugar considerably more than vegetables or fruit.

If you want a more in-depth look at how specific foods spike blood sugar, take a look at their glycemic load. A quick look at a food‘s glycemic load (charts can be found online) reveals that most hunter-gatherer foods have low glycemic loads, while most grain-based or modern foods have high glycemic loads.

So if ~150 grams or less of plant-derived carbohydrates were used for the brain and muscles, what was used for the other organs in the body?

The answer is fats. One specific fat-fuel, called ketones, are actually

preferred over glucose by many organs in the body. Your heart, for example, runs more efficiently on ketones than it does on glucose (See the work by Dr. Eades)

The problem arises when you consume excessive carbohydrates per day. If you eat 400 grams per day (which is about average in the modern diet), then most cells in your body will be in ―glucose mode‖—ketone production will go down because so much glucose is available. Generally speaking, it‘s smarter to leave just enough glucose (carbs) for your brain and muscles so that other organs in your body can run on ketones (or technically a mix of

With this in mind, it makes sense to focus on a diet that your body was designed for: meats, nuts, seeds, vegetables, and fruit.

In summary, a Paleo or raw food diet will do several things to promote powerful sleep and high energy levels:

1. It will keep blood sugar levels in check so there will be a steady stream of glucose available for the brain. No sugar crashes after meals (more energy during the day), and no sugar crashes while asleep (more energy for the brain to conduct powerful, efficient sleep).

2. It will allow cortisol to decline naturally throughout the day. Remember that cortisol is a brain stimulant. The ―blood sugar roller coaster‖ will cause cortisol to be released in unnecessary amounts at unnecessary times, leading to poor sleep and occasionally the ―racing mind‖ that prevents sleep onset.

3. It will help repair insulin resistance, meaning more energy overall – not only for the cells in your body, but also your brain cells. Clearer thinking, more mental energy, and of course better sleep. At the beginning of this section I mentioned that there were two concepts to understand about diet and sleep:

1. Blood sugar, insulin, and ketones (which we just discussed) 2. Insulin and serotonin (which we will now discuss.)

In this section we will really start to connect some pieces of the puzzle. Serotonin, which was discussed in the core concepts section of this guide, is absolutely important in sleep and energy levels.

Most cases of insomnia, anxiety, depression, and/or panic attacks have some relation to a poor serotonin system in the brain.

With regards to diet, let‘s take a look at one last ―Paleo testimonial‖. I pulled this from a Paleo diet website called MarksDailyApple.com. It serves as a very good example of how diet can turn your life around:

Keenan - ―High Fat, Less Cardio‖ Transformation

I have two pictures of me and two stories. The first was taken in 2005 at age 20 after I finished a big bulking session. I had spent the previous 4 years working out like a bodybuilder. I ate little to no sugar, only ―complex‖ carbs (brown rice, baked/sweet

potatoes, wheat bread, etc) and followed typical bodybuilding low-fat high-carb diet. I worked out 4-5 times/week, did steady state cardio (swimming, usually), etc. …

Around this time, I started developing severe anxiety and panic attacks, both of which are disorders of serotonin regulation. Serotonin is largely affected by insulin and messed up serotonin often goes hand in hand with insulin resistance. You can barely tell from the picture that I had substantial

musculature, because it is so covered by fat. I weighed about 175lbs and I could bench 240 and squat 300. Not bad, but not great either. A week after this picture was taken, I had

appendicitis and then an appendectomy, followed by the mother of all panic attacks. For over a month, I was completely

incapacitated and could only sleep for 1-2 hours each night. After months of trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with me, I stumbled upon the Paleo diet on Art DeVany‘s website.

I dropped the ―complex carbs‖, upped my fat consumption, worked out less, and did less cardio.

After only 2 years of this, here‘s a second picture taken a few months ago at age 22 …

I weighed about 160 in the 2nd picture, and my lifts are the same as when I was 175, except that I have more power and control of them now. Panic attacks are non-existent because my insulin levels are low and regular, keeping my serotonin levels low and regular. There is much, much more to the Paleo lifestyle and diet then ―getting big‖; it‘s about physical and mental

health, sustainability, and quality of life.

Source

His story isn‘t unique either. There‘s a strong connection between ―messed up insulin‖ and ―messed up serotonin‖. Those ―complex carbs‖ from whole grains simply aren‘t as useful as they‘re made out to be.

You may have heard somewhere that carbohydrates increase serotonin. This is true, though it‘s more accurate to say that insulin signals the

production of serotonin. This is why a high-sugar food makes you feel so good—the insulin spike causes a spike in serotonin. This is also why many

Since insulin and serotonin levels are closely associated, when you eat a diet that puts you on the ―insulin roller coaster‖ (or the ―blood sugar roller

coaster‖), you‘re also taking a ride on the serotonin roller coaster.

There‘s nothing wrong with the serotonin-insulin connection, but our bodies can have too much of a good thing—when you induce an artificial serotonin high, your brain‘s serotonin receptors can burn out. Day after day of carb-overload will put enough pressure on your serotonin receptors that you can become serotonin resistant. This is like insulin resistance discussed

earlier.

Although high-carb foods make you feel good in the short term, over time they can do damage to your serotonin system – which means poorer energy, poorer sleep, or perhaps insomnia and panic attacks like in Kenneth‘s

example above.

Eating a Paleo or raw food diet will likely improve your serotonin function. It will keep serotonin in its healthy range (not too high). It will keep serotonin receptors from burning out, which will allow your body to run on a steady stream of serotonin instead of requiring frequent carb-induced boosts every 3-5 hours.

So, yes, something like cheesecake will increase serotonin for the next hour or so. But it‘s an artificial increase. You‘re better off letting your body