Make your sleep a critical component of preventing Alzheimer’s disease, as insufficient sleep prevents the brain’s glymphatic system from washing away toxic beta-amyloid proteins, thereby escalating your risk.
Give yourself a non-negotiable eight-hour sleep opportunity each night, because the shorter your sleep, the shorter your life, and it is a remarkable health insurance policy.
Do not adopt a ‘sleep when you’re dead’ attitude or boast about insufficient sleep, as historical figures who did so, like Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan, both later developed Alzheimer’s disease.
Never drive when drowsy, as micro-sleeps caused by insufficient sleep lead to accidents that are often more fatal than drunk driving because there is no driver reaction.
Focus on the regularity, continuity, quantity, and quality of your sleep, as these four features are essential for optimal brain function and overall health.
Prioritize deep non-REM sleep, especially in the first half of the night, because it’s crucial for memory consolidation after learning and serves as an excellent natural blood pressure medication.
Ensure you get sufficient REM sleep, particularly in the second half of the night, as it provides ’emotional first aid’ by recalibrating emotional networks in the brain, reducing risks of depression and anxiety.
To maximize deep non-REM sleep, shift your eight-hour sleep window earlier in the evening (e.g., 9 PM), as the brain has a preferential appetite for deep sleep during these hours.
Ensure adequate Stage 2 non-REM sleep before learning, as the sleep spindles generated during this stage are essential for refreshing your brain’s ability to encode new memories.
Avoid labeling sufficient sleep as laziness, recognizing it as an evolutionarily vital and non-negotiable biological drive that wonderfully enhances every physiological system and brain operation.
To mitigate jet lag, gradually shift your sleep schedule by waking up 10 minutes earlier for about five days before a long-distance flight.
When taking transatlantic flights, sleep during the first half of the flight (when people at your destination are typically asleep) and wake up by the middle of the flight to build sufficient sleepiness pressure for bedtime upon arrival.
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