Light and sleep

[Franz]

Hi, I'm new here and I'm trying to incorperate some of ray peats ideas into my life.
For one I have problems sleeping, I don't sleep deep, I wake alot and I don't get enough sleep. It's been so long since I've had a good, restorative nights rest. Made some progress with my metabolism though, I feel more energetic and I no longer have super cold hands all the time.

One of the things I've been wondering about though is light. I read that artificial lightening isn't good in the evening. But now it's getting dark really early and I read from ray peat that darkness is stressing. So in that light , is it better to keep the lights on and only turn them off shortly before going to bed?

 

[Franz]

Oh and I recently changes all my light to incandescent bulbs.

 

[cliff]

What do you eat before bed? Something like ice cream with gelatin is very good. Also eating when you wake up in the middle of the night can help.

 

[Franz]

After dinner I useally have a snack about two hours before bed time. A drink with some cookies usually. \

I ordered gelatin from the US (live in europe) and I'm still waiting for that. When I have it I'll make marshmellows to snack in in the evening, maybe with some warm milk :).

When I wake up in the middle of the night I usually take a spoon of sugar/salt mixture to dissolve under my tongue.

I could try ice cream, but I'm not a big fan of it. Don't really like the taste and don't like cold foods that much. Perhaps warm milk with added sugar and coconut oil will do too? That with some cookies (and later marshmellows) sound like a good evening snack :)

 

[charlie]

Hi, I'm new here and I'm trying to incorperate some of ray peats ideas into my life.
For one I have problems sleeping, I don't sleep deep, I wake alot and I don't get enough sleep. It's been so long since I've had a good, restorative nights rest. Made some progress with my metabolism though, I feel more energetic and I no longer have super cold hands all the time.

One of the things I've been wondering about though is light. I read that artificial lightening isn't good in the evening. But now it's getting dark really early and I read from ray peat that darkness is stressing. So in that light , is it better to keep the lights on and only turn them off shortly before going to bed?

I keep the lights on all the way till I turn into bed for the night. Darkness=stress just like you said. So more light the better whenever possible.

Oh and I recently changes all my light to incandescent bulbs.

Good move!

After dinner I useally have a snack about two hours before bed time. A drink with some cookies usually. \

I ordered gelatin from the US (live in europe) and I'm still waiting for that. When I have it I'll make marshmellows to snack in in the evening, maybe with some warm milk :).

When I wake up in the middle of the night I usually take a spoon of sugar/salt mixture to dissolve under my tongue.

I could try ice cream, but I'm not a big fan of it. Don't really like the taste and don't like cold foods that much. Perhaps warm milk with added sugar and coconut oil will do too? That with some cookies (and later marshmellows) sound like a good evening snack :)

Try to get your snack as close to your sleep time as possible. Yes the warm milk with sugar and coconut oil would be great. I also make sure to get in at least 1/4 tsp of salt before bed, sometimes 1/2 tsp depending on how stressed I feel. As for cookies, I dunno about that!

 

[Franz]

thanks Charlie :) Will keep all the light on shining brightly and have my snack right before bedtime with some extra salt.
getting really excited about diving into the RP stuff. Started about a week ago with the specific stuff, before that I just had a general pro metabolism approach (180degreehealth).
Kinda feels like I'm hacking the matrix, so much goes directly against standard advice. Heck, I'm even drinking coca cola with meals now and I love it. The commercials are so right, that stuff is definately from a happiness factory

 

[charlie]

You are welcome.

Mexican coke?

 

[Franz]

European coke, made with sucrose :)

 

[Franz]

But wait, if darkness is stressing, and you want to be relaxed when you sleep. Why not sleep with a light on? Intuitively this seems wrong though.

And now some other issues also comes to mind:
I read that from RP that brain temperature is important during sleep. When it's too low you dont sleep well. And that having a warm bath before bed time is a good idea. So I guess it's important to have it cozy and warm during the night, does this also include sleeping in a warm room? In the winter I usually turn of the heat in my bedroom and have the window slightly open, that makes it pretty cold. But I read that sleeping in a cold room is good for sleep. "After all, in nature it cools down in the night." This is kinda similar to the dark vs light when sleeping. It gets dark during the night, so people say you should sleep in a dark room.

And then a last point I was wondering about, plants give off CO2 during the night. Would it be benificial to have a few plants in the bedroom?

 

[charlie]

But wait, if darkness is stressing, and you want to be relaxed when you sleep. Why not sleep with a light on? Intuitively this seems wrong though.

I think some people do sleep with the light on, I havent tried it yet though.

And now some other issues also comes to mind:
I read that from RP that brain temperature is important during sleep. When it's too low you dont sleep well. And that having a warm bath before bed time is a good idea. So I guess it's important to have it cozy and warm during the night, does this also include sleeping in a warm room? In the winter I usually turn of the eat in my bedroom and have the window slightly open, that makes it pretty cold. But I read that sleeping in a cold room is good for sleep. "After all, in nature it cools down in the night." This is kinda similar to the dark vs light when sleeping. It gets dark during the night, so people say you should sleep in a dark room.

From what I gather, cold would equal stress. So better to keep warm. Also, its really important to keep your feet warm. I make sure to have heavy socks on all the time now. I use to sleep with a really cold room, now, I keep it comfortable.

 

[chris]

I think some people do sleep with the light on, I havent tried it yet though.

Interesting. Anyone do this?

 

[kiran]

I've tried sleeping with a red light on, but I wake up in ketosis. I guess my liver doesn't actually store enough glycogen or something. Or perhaps i need MOAR sugar.

 

[chris]

How do you know when you are in ketosis?

Will experiment sleeping with a light on.

 

[kiran]

I know from my low-carb days that being in ketosis makes my palm smell of liver. And the smell doesn't wash off.

 

[charlie]

If you try with the lights on, you could always wear one of those masks that you see women wear at night. It will block out the light.

 

[chris]

Would you still get benefit from the light if you can't see it?

 

[charlie]

It would soak through your skin if you were not covered up with blankets and such.

 

[Franz]

just an update. For me sleeping in a dark room and dimming the lights an hour before I go to bed still works best!

 

[Rolan]

What about amber lighting?

I know that I don't like sleeping in total darkness, so I have my bed set up where I leave the window wide open and blind is up, and I get the natural night-time light from the moon coming through. I don't know if this is complete bo**ocks or not, but anecdotal experience suggests I prefer it this way and sleep better. I also get the nice ambient sounds of nature, like birds chirping and a gentle stream :)

However, I am living in the countryside at the moment and for the next two months so I don't think this will be a pleasurable thing to do in the city with drunken, wailing skanks roaming the streets at 2 AM.