5 steps to a good night’s sleep
Sync up with nature and finally get some shut-eye
How long has it been since you had a good night’s sleep?
New attention to a very old concept – as in, a concept that’s been around since the world began – is helping people reclaim their health and reclaim their sleep, which is of course essential for health.
I’ve talked about the critical, foundational importance of understanding and applying principles of circadian biology – how some doctors now think that syncing your physical body to nature’s schedule is the starting point for beating back the chronic illnesses that plague Americans. Not the only answer, but the starting point.
And I’ve talked about how to maximize good light exposure and minimize bad light exposure, as well as our need to stop demonizing sunlight.
If you happened to read those three articles, you already have some ideas about how to improve your sleep. But let’s get a big picture of what’s really required for a GNS – good night’s sleep.
Back to the beginning
God created the world, and God created you. He created your body to benefit from the things He created in nature. But more to the point here, He created you to be IN nature. Yes, a basic human requirement is shelter, because the world can be harsh. But nature is one of God’s greatest gifts to us. We were never meant to shelter all the time. Especially staring at screens.
What does this have to do with sleep? I’m glad you asked. We’re going to go way back to answer that question.
God, of course, was present in eternity past (told you we were going way back!). And He will be present eternally in the future too. But when He created the world, He actually started the concept of time. God created us to be in the world He created for us, and He put everything on a clock. Everything. Way more than you might think is tied to a clock.
Science affirmed (a long time ago) that each time the earth rotates on its axis, humans experience a day and a night. That each time the earth revolves around the sun, humans experience a year, with four seasons.
But what science failed to affirm, for a very long time, was that our bodies also run on clocks, and those body clocks are synced to nature’s clocks.
That’s actually a pretty good definition of circadian biology – our bodies were designed to sync with nature.
So. If we are living our lives divorced from nature – if we avoid going outside in favor of climate-controlled interior spaces walled in with glass that prevents any actual sunlight from reaching us – it makes sense that our bodies might start to rebel. Which leads us to our first principle for getting a GNS:
The more time you spend outdoors, the better your sleep
If you’ve ever spent a day at the beach, or a day outside doing yardwork, or a day outside hiking in a forest, you have likely already experienced this. There’s something about spending the better part of a day outside that lends itself to a better night of sleep.
I used to think this was largely psychological, that being out in a natural environment all day, fresh air, just made us more relaxed and thus paved the way for better sleep. But there’s so much more to it than that, and it all comes down to light.
Natural sunlight contains a literal rainbow of light, some of it visible to us through our eyes, and some of it “visible” to us only through our skin (UV light, for example, or infrared). Interestingly, the visible light colors are just a tiny sliver of the overall light spectrum God created, which includes gamma rays, x-rays, and other electromagnetic radiation like microwave, radar, radio waves and cellphone signals (this will come into play for our sleep discussion later).
So when you spend a day outdoors, your body literally consumes the whole rainbow of light, starting with red light early morning, running through the spectrum to blue light at midday, and then back to red light again in the evening. And amazingly, each color of light provides specific benefits to the human body. But rather than aiming for specific light colors, it’s better just to get out in the full spectrum light as much as possible.
Pro tip: Exercise outside if at all possible, rather than spending time in a fluorescent-lit gym. Sunlight + nature is a winning combination for your workout.
Pro pro tip: Try to eat your meals outside. Research shows your blood sugar responds favorably to sunlight on your skin while you’re eating!
Morning light starts your clock
Yes, go outside as much as possible. But if you could only get outside one time of the day, morning is it.
Start with sunrise.
The mostly red light of sunrise is a powerful healer (which is why you can buy artificial red light devices for health). But sunrise is also a powerful cue for your master circadian clock, known to science as the suprachiasmatic nucleus, or SCN.
When sunlight (within the first hour after sunrise) hits your retina (technically, it hits the melanopsin cells in the retina), it signals the SCN, resetting your circadian clock. Once the SCN is synced, it coordinates clocks in the skin, gut, liver, and adrenals, to name a few.
This supports melanin production, DNA repair, antioxidant defense, and skin barrier function, among other things. This morning light helps regulate alertness, metabolism, mood, and — most important for us here — your sleep quality later that night, because this light starts the countdown for your nightly melatonin production.
Try to get outside for a few minutes during or within an hour of sunrise. Bonus points for a morning walk! Consistency is important. Don’t wear sunglasses, or even glasses or contacts, if you can. You don’t want anything to get between those morning rays and your retinal receptors.
It’s not what, it’s when (or, all about zeitgebers)
Zeitgeber. That’s fun to say. What is it?
Encyclopedia Brittanica defines it as “a rhythmically occurring cue given by the environment, such as a change in light or temperature, to reset the internal body clock.” I might edit that to say internal body clocks, plural, because every organ is on a clock, and you definitely want them synced up.
So sunrise is probably the most important zeitgeber, but it’s not the only one. Meal timing plays a starring role as well, because your digestive organ clock plays a big role in overall health. As quantum biologist Sarah Kleiner notes:
“Your digestion… is highly impacted by light. That same internal clock that tells you when to wake up and go to sleep? It’s also telling your gut when to secrete stomach acid, release enzymes, absorb nutrients, and shift your microbiome.”
What does this mean in regard to meal timing? The most important takeaways here in regard to getting a GNS are:
Eat breakfast – and coffee or caffeinated tea, if you like – within an hour of sunrise. This reinforces the body clock message that sunrise already sent, and it tells your stomach, intestines and liver that another day has begun.
Halt caffeine by 1-2pm.
Finish dinner before sunset, ideally, but at least 3-4 hours before bed. Your digestive abilities drastically drop off after that, as Kleiner’s chart above illustrates. If your body is having to work on digesting food, that may well cause sleep interference – simply put, we were not designed to eat and then immediately sleep. Again this is not just a natural health viewpoint.
After an appropriately-timed dinner, consider the kitchen – and your digestive system – closed for the night.
Sunset tells your body it’s time to wind down
Speaking of sunset, it is also a zeitgeber. Being outside at or around sunset also sends a specific light to your eyes which helps reinforce the other circadian messages your body received earlier in the day.
Ideally, after sunset you eliminate “bad” light (explained below) and start dimming your overall environment. The ideal lights to use after sunset are red-tinted, like firelight and candlelight, which until the advent of electricity was precisely how our forefathers “unwound” at night.
So what is bad light? Well, it’s not really bad. It’s light at the wrong time, which just like meals at the wrong time, can wreak havoc on your sleep. Simply put, we don’t want bright light after sunset. We want (increasingly) dimmer light the later it gets. Multiple studies confirm real and serious health risks for continued exposure to this artificial light at night – here’s a global study linking it to cancer.
Compounding the problem is that almost all our interior lighting is blue-light-saturated LED or fluorescent lighting. That nice bright white-looking light mimics natural blue light which is only present outdoors at midday.
Even worse, your TV/laptop/tablet/cellphone emits bright blue light as well. And what do we often spend the evening doing? And what do we often do once we fall into bed?
When your eyes absorb light at 6pm or 8pm or 10pm that our bodies are only designed to “consume” at midday, what does that do to your internal clock? Basically, it tells your organs it’s noon. It impairs melatonin production. (And unless you’re watching pastoral scenes with calming music, most “entertainment” is also winding you up, not winding you down.)
This is a cultural problem, meaning that our culture likes to eat dinner and then look at screens (heck, we’re probably looking at screens during dinner, but that’s a different bad habit to break). But make no mistake, this is surely one of the biggest factors in modern-day sleep woes.
What to do, what to do
You can implement the hardcore solution to this, or the gentler approaches.
HARDCORE
Make a radical break from cultural expectations by mindfully minimizing screen time overall. Limit screens to daytime hours (for a lot of people that might mean weekends only). Transition to evenings spent playing games with the family or reading books under nice warm incandescent bulbs. Or listen to music or podcasts (but remember – we don’t want to wind up, we want to wind down).
Charge phones anywhere except the bedroom, so that we are not tempted to pick it up and scroll before, during, or after sleep. (Our bodies aren’t ready for that midday light first thing in the morning, either.)
GENTLER
The alternative solution is to mitigate the blue light on your screens. There are devices and apps that will help you with this, or you can purchase good quality blue-blocker glasses that you wear after sundown. (This page has suggestions under the dropdown “Blocking Artificial Light and Junk Light Mitigation”.) Note that blue blocker glasses make everything look red-tinted, so they take some getting used to.
You should still get your phones out of your bedroom, and that has to do with some of the invisible light from our colorful chart above. As noted, things like x-rays and radio waves are also a form of light – and therefore, should not be a part of our nights, as our bodies do react to the entire light spectrum. So even if you’re not looking at your phone, it’s interfering with your sleep unless you have it turned off completely.
Whatever approach you want to take, a good start is simply to turn off all screens one hour before your planned bedtime. Take a hot shower or bath, do some stretching, or any other activity that helps you unwind instead of screentime.
In the bedroom
Light in the bedroom is the enemy of good sleep – invisible light like wifi signals, as well as the neighbor’s annoying floodlight, and the glowing face of your alarm clock. Good blackout shades or curtains are key, and remove any other sources of light. Take inventory of other devices that might have a glowing light at night (examples: smoke alarms, dimmer switches, charging stations, etc.). You can cover the light buttons with tape if the device has to be in the bedroom.
If the weather allows and it’s safe to do so, sleep with the windows open. You can also consider a room air filter to ensure fresh clean air while you’re asleep. As for temperature, consistent research shows we sleep better when it’s cool, so keep the temperature between 65-69 degrees.
Finally, your bedroom should be clean and free of clutter, so it feels like a safe haven.
GNS checklist
Let’s sum up the five tools in your “good night’s sleep” toolbox:
Plenty of time outdoors
See the sunrise
Eat breakfast shortly after sunrise and dinner before sunset
Change your evening routine: YES to sunset and dim lighting, NO to bright blue light and screens
Make sure your bedroom is sleep-friendly
And let me add a sixth tool:
Be consistent in #1-5
Perfection isn’t required, but consistency is. To the extent that you can make #1-5 habits, you will see positive results.
Since our health is related to all our bodily systems, anything that is not good for you is not good for your sleep, obviously. Processed foods, smoking, drugs or alcohol can create sleep problems as well, and of course are best avoided.
Blue light at night, as mentioned, is linked to a host of health problems. I’m going to let Dr. Abud Bakri have the last word on that, since he’s that rare MD who fully supports circadian health. In a discussion about obesity, Dr. Bakri notes:
The absolute shock on people’s face when I point to the light (bulb) above them and tell them that’s their problem, not the food on their plate. Jaws drop every time. There are two periods to compare in your day: The first 90 minutes vs the last 90 minutes. If the last 90 are brighter than than the first 90… good luck to you! Bad sleep, aging faster, metabolic disease, poor energy and focus, low T. Imagine how confusing it is for your body to go to bed after the brightest part of your day. Absolute chaos.
Brightness is healthy - in the morning, in the daytime, but not after the sun sets. Let’s work toward habits that support a restorative night of sleep!
Learn more with these circadian science resources
I posted this list of circadian science learning resources in one of my earlier articles. I think I will add it to the end of any further posts on this topic – and I will also add to it, as more good sources of circadian science come to light (pun intended)!
There’s an app for that. The Circadian app, or MyCircadian, both help you identify what the sun is doing in your precise location so you can optimize when you go outside. Dminder helps you target safe UVB exposure.
A lot of voices in this space are advocating for more sunlight, and most of them will tell you our bodies evolved to sync with the sun. But we know better, and so does Chelsea Blackbird, the Christian Nutritionist, whose podcast covers these topics often.
Circadian health is also often linked to “quantum biology” so a lot of the experts in these areas identify with that. A few worth following are:
Dr. Martin Moore-Ede - “The Light Doctor” is a former professor at Harvard Medical School and he’s a leading expert on circadian medicine.
Dr. Jack Kruse – a neurosurgeon and health educator. Follow him on Facebook, X, or Instagram. (He recently posted some interesting information on how circadian principles apply to fertility.
Sarah Kleiner – creator of the MyCircadian app recommended above. Lots of information on her website, and she also has a regular podcast with Carrie Bennett, another good source for quantum/circadian information.
Nikko Kennedy writes about circadian principles as they apply to pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum in Brighter Days, Darker Nights.
Zaid Dahhaj is author of The Circadian Classroom, a newsletter with a tremendous amount of scientific information that he makes easier to understand.
Ryan Brown offers a lot of interesting research-based information, like this article on light’s impact on diabetes. Ryan healed his own autoimmune condition using circadian principles (as did quite a few of the people now sharing this information).
And if you like getting your information from easy-to-absorb, beautiful graphics on Instagram, Danielle Hamilton is a great follow.
Dr. Alexis Cowan is a “light biologist.”