We’ve all been there. At least, all of us above the age of 35 have been there. Your sleep hygiene is on point. You’re dimming lights in the evening. You descend every night into a nice, natural snooze. But every night, you wake up 3 hours later with a bloated bladder.
You’ve seen the colorful “sleep drink” bottles lined up on the shelves of your local box store. Or maybe they’ve ambushed you on Amazon. They look like Red Bull, but in soothing colors. And they offer an interesting proposition, don’t they?
Vitamin D is all the rage now because of COVID-19. Yet, as Dr. Rhonda Patrick and others have promoted the ability of Vitamin D to protect against virus-initiated lung injury, they’ve failed to mention how a strong dose of the “sunlight nutrient” also protects against sleep disorders.
Is bad sleep wrecking your sex life? Well, if you’re getting less than 7 hours a night, then the short answer is: almost certainly. Much like obesity and heart disease, sexual dysfunction is a common end result of sleep deprivation. But what do we mean by “sexual dysfunction?”
In this day of quarantines and coronaviruses, it’s more important than ever to understand how to maximize your natural immunity. Zinc is known as the “gatekeeper of immune function,” and for very good reason. But before we dive in to the science behind zinc's role in the immune system, let’s first determine what this vague term “immunity” actually means.
As the fourth most abundant mineral in the body, and an element that’s essential to every single cell in your body, maintaining proper magnesium levels is essential for optimized human health. Thus, it’s worrying that up to 50% of the US population is magnesium deficient.
Ice-cold showers - it seems like they’ve been all the rage since Wim Hof burst onto the scene a few years ago. But do they really work? Why are people so enamored with this ancient recovery and sleep technique? Is it just an issue of everything old becoming new again?
Imagine a workout so ridiculously easy that you never strain or break a sweat, yet still hit a lifetime bench press PR after only four weeks. Imagine laughing through a gentle exercise, no strain, no fuss, as your joints give a great big sigh and unlock and you immediately feel like a yoga master.
The National Sleep Foundation describes sleep hygiene as: "a variety of different practices and habits that are necessary to have good nighttime sleep quality and full daytime alertness."
You know what the best thing was about conquering insomnia and learning how to sleep 9-10 hours a night? It turned me into a superhuman. Really. I’m not alone, however. The incredible performance enhancing benefits of "extended sleep" have been well documented in the last few years.
It’s tricky stuff, melatonin. Most think it’s just a basic sleeping pill. Yet nobody really likes it, do they? Have you ever met anyone who says “Wow, melatonin helps me sleep so well!” No, you haven’t, despite it being a nearly billion-dollar industry.
You’d think athletes wouldn't need sleep cures. They’re lean and aggressive. They lift weights, stretch and pound the pavement. They’re used to waking up early in the morning, and they’re usually dog tired in the evening. You’d really think they’d have this sleep stuff figured out.