I can't believe the negativity in the comments posted here - classic proof that most people will stumble over the truth, curse, dust themselves off and carry on as ignorant as ever! This is essential information - for free! Thank you Dr Parsley.
Thank you all for your kind words. I'm hoping that over the next few years we can get the same kind of traction on sleep, that nutrition currently carries. It's way less controversial science, and the intervention is free and enjoyable. Furthermore, we don't actually need any new research. The data has been around for decades. Shift work is labled as a carcinogen by multiple health research organizations.
This. Something I can't get older folks (parents/"Baby Boomers" and beyond) to realize. This in combination with 4-6-hour work shifts across the board would make things SO much better. Sleep more, work less, get more done, have more time. Not to mention the fact that this would open up at least twice as many jobs as are currently available. And if worried about the financial situation? Think of how much money everyone would be saving by not buying energy drinks to keep them up, sleeping pills to put them to sleep, and all the other money they'd save on a cleaner bill of health. It only makes sense, but... good luck getting people stuck in the "work your fingers to the bone" mentality to believe it.
Sleep is a weapon. Doc Parsley's book Sleep to Win is also a informative read. As a team and leadership performance coach one of my key ingredients for a micro adjustment for macro impact is to get better and more sleep. I have not coached anyone yet that has said they get 8 hours a night. Most are in the 5 - 6 zone. Thanks Doc for the data points. I will carry them forward.
He's so right. Most people don't know what is going on in their bodies and mind in the first place. So saying you are fine is only fooling yourself. The body can take much, but as we are not robots we are forced to have regular sleep over a regular time period to function optimal. We are constantly underestimating our body and we would like to think that we are invincible. Lack of sleep and too much pride to admit it, has killed too many in the traffic just to take an example. Not to mention alcohol intake and then getting into the car. Sleep is important for the body to rebuilt muscle and gain strength, not to mention that we look prettier after a good night sleep! ;)
Outstanding talk Dr. Parsley. I've been trying my best to control my sleep, however as you know, it's very hard as a medical student. Can't wait for your sleep product.
Medical school sucks like the Nicks. But, make sure you don't keep following that rabbit hole once your out. There are other (healthy, more fun) options.
I haven't had a solid night's sleep in a few years. I'm assuming my problems have to do with my age but I know that I NEED to figure this out so I can start sleeping better. Thanks for a great talk on the subject.
Me neither man, I sat in bed for the whole weekend, from friday night to monday morning and id be surprised if u go a total of 8 hours. I tried some benadryl but nothing. I used to take Trazadone but its really habit forming and I didnt like having my sleep held hostage by a pill. I guess at this point its being held hostage by something anyways.
Is there such a thing as people who oversleep? What about people who over sleep because of depression? There are people who overeat and there are people who are bulimic and anorexic. Thank you for your encouragement because in many ways you make more sense then most. I like to fast until evening then just before I go to sleep I eat and Digest while I am sleeping. That way my body can use the calories and vitamins and minerals and herbs to repair itself while I am sleeping. Hopefully I have the proper balance of both sleep and nourishment and exercise when I'm awake. You are so right. Sleep is very important. Thank you for your talk.
In India there is an expression; “The rich says - I have money. The poor responds - I sleep well!!” So so very lucky that at age of 32, I still get 8 hrs of sleep and 9 hrs on weekends.
I just used this video for my Psychology class, and god is Dr. Parsley right on culture to blame! that this is the only country in the world that give a name to a city # New York, the City that doesn't Sleep. There you have it, when is America going to pay attention?
+kirk parsley Great lecture! What is your recommendation on chunking my sleep time into, lets say 2 hours in the middle of the day, and 7 hours at night? I workout a lot and I view my mid-day nap as a "muscle-builder", and i wonder if it is effective enough compared to 8-9 straight hours of sleep at night? Thanks
I would LOVE to get 7.5 plus hours of sleep a night! But even if I am in bed for 10 hours, I'm lucky to get 4- 6 hours of actual sleep. I have been plagued with insomnia for many years, and I think it is finally starting to be a detriment to my health. Believe me, I am tired and WANT to sleep, but my mind won't let me most of the time. I've tried sleep aids, both natural and pharmaceutical. The natural (melatonin) didn't help much, and Ambien/Xanax definitely put me to sleep, but then I continue to feel drugged and am in a major brain fog for most of the next day. So what's a girl supposed to do who CAN'T sleep??
Hi Coleen, You are in good company. There are many interventions that you can try. But, you'd need to work with a good doc or psychologist. Basically, reducing the amount of light exposure before bed, relaxation techniques, setting up your sleeping environment, and journalling, are the foundations. So different supplements may help, but that would be my last recommendation.
kirk parsley Thank you for the advice! I will do some research on your suggestions and see if I can implement some of them, as I would prefer to avoid any drugs. I appreciate you taking the time to offer advice for my dilemma! God Bless!
kirk parsley What are your recommendations for sleep? How many hours? All at once or in chunks? What kind of environment? Do you recommend some sort of sleep tracking? How should be prepare for bed?
The average is about 7.5 hours, once you have payed back your sleep debt. This will vary by about .5 hours depending on how taxing your day was. Completely dark room (invest in blackout curtains), Cool room (around 70 F), decrease blue light going into your eyes before bed (f.lux, gaming glasses, dim lighting etc.). Sleep tracking can help, but only if you like to geek out on that stuff, otherwise a sleep diary will work just as well (log bed time, wake time, how your feel, diet changes etc.) Of course NO ELECTRONICS in the bedroom! Same bed time, and wake time every day!
Niral Ramesh I agree completely. I'll be releasing an adolescent lecture on my site within the next month. It's from an 8 hour lecture I did on that very topic.
Niral Ramesh There is some good info. on my site. www.docparsley.com The site is new, and sparse, but I'll be adding sleep hygiene and shift work recs. very soon. I also respond to messages on the site.
kirk parsley Do you think that there's any evidence that oversleeping is even possible? All studies I've encountered so far show only correlation. But correlation is not causation. E.g, visiting hospitals doesn't lead to bad health, but if you would look at stats, there would be a correlation. In the same manner as an ill person will visit hospitals more often, an ill person might sleep more. Furthermore, I've read about studies showing that oversleeping might be impossible. In the Dr. William Dement's book, "The promise of Sleep", there was one study mentioned that was done over long ago at the United Naval Hospital in Bethesda Maryland. People were put alone inside silent, dark cubicles. "The cubicles were insulated against sound and maintained at a constant temperature and humidity. The subjects wore thick gloves to minimize their sense of touch, and they took liquid nutrients through a straw. They were not able to move about; they could only lie awake and fall asleep" Their brainwaves were monitored. The first day many people slept 16 hours or so (some people slept even 20). In the final day the subjects were only able to sleep on average of 8 hours." There's was nothing else to do, but to sleep. But they were not able to sleep more than they "needed" and they felt great. I see a lot of people claiming that sleeping more than N hours a day is bad for your health. But I don't see any strong empirical evidence behind those claims. Am I not getting something? Because usually people say some average number and not "sleep as much as you can, because without any sleep debt you won't be able to sleep more than you need anyway". Any thoughts about it? Thank you.
Jon Wise Hi Jon, I just had this discussion with Jimmy Moore today--on his podcast. You are spot on. Usually, sleeping in excess of 8 hours is a result of sleep deprivation. After the sleep debt has been paid back, the vast majority of people settle into a sleep pattern of about 7.5 hours =/- about 30 minutes. However, you are also correct about the correlation with comorbidities. Depressed people often sleep more, so do people with metabolic diseases, storage diseases, people on multiple medications, patients with cancer, or severe cardiovascular or pulmonary disease. So, if you add all of these people in with the general public, you can easily see how one could say sleeping less is correlated with higher mortality. But the fact remains, that humans are the ONLY animal on the planet that selectively, and purposefully sleep deprive ourselves. House pets get obese, and don't get enough exercise, but they don't sleep deprive themselves. This is our worst behavior as humans.
Ok doc i need your help. Im 16 female with slight obesity. I am unable to sleep and if i do I dont think im reaching REM because i havent had not 1 dream in 2 years. School starts at 6 so i have to get up at 5. I try to go to bed at 8:10 but most of the time i fall asleep at 10 wake at 12 goo back to sleep at 1 and wake at 5:10 am. I get off at 3pm and my parents yell at me for taking naps instead of doing my homework and studying. My parents also dont want me to take sleep meds like zznightquil less i become addicted to it and they wont take me to the sleep doctor because they think im fine. PLEASE HELP YOU ARE MY ONLY HOPE! I need a detailed response.
if lack of sleep can make u drunk then everyone would do it. and stuides are very specific on what they study the average man blah blah blah. i have gone with little to no sleep for months, and ive gone with 10-12hrs of sleep for months the only thing that matters is how much u can handle. some ppl need their sleep others dont need it.
I heard about this on the Livin La Vida Lo Carb Show with Jimmy Moore podcast, episode 1325. You all need to go listen to it too... even more information there.
'if we could have evolved to sleep less, we would have' isn't very true. There are people (supersleepers, 1-3% of the population) that function perfectly fine on just 5 hours or less of sleep every day, if it really was that useful we would all have those genes. It's more likely IMHO that there was never a selective pressure for short sleepers because when it's dark you can't hunt & gather anyway and you're best off conserving energy by sleeping.
The paper your referring to never showed that ANYBODY was optimal at 5 hours of sleep per night. What it showed is that some people suffer less (in selected markers) from short sleep. Those people still perform better with more sleep. However, performance is only one issue of many. For example--insulin sensitivity changing with short sleep, is a much bigger problem than your reaction time to computer games. As far as the evolution/ hunting & gathering argument--I think your making my point for me.
I can't believe the negativity in the comments posted here - classic proof that most people will stumble over the truth, curse, dust themselves off and carry on as ignorant as ever! This is essential information - for free! Thank you Dr Parsley.
i want to be negative, because i'm mad that my career (M.D.--yea ironic) won't let me sleep
Hi sir
Thank you all for your kind words. I'm hoping that over the next few years we can get the same kind of traction on sleep, that nutrition currently carries. It's way less controversial science, and the intervention is free and enjoyable. Furthermore, we don't actually need any new research. The data has been around for decades. Shift work is labled as a carcinogen by multiple health research organizations.
kirk parsley Thanks for this talk, doctor. It is excellent!!
So what do we do to get better and more sleep. I go to bed early and still have major problems sleeping.
@@LifelongLearningwithScott g m8
Thank you, Dr Kirk Parsley.
Great Talk. I discuss sleep with all of my weight loss patients in this order 1) sleep 2) diet 3) exercise. Thanks for this. WIll be sharing...
Your talk helped me to take a hard look at myself and my life. Thanks
Dr. Parsley, thank you so much for bringing this to our attention.
This. Something I can't get older folks (parents/"Baby Boomers" and beyond) to realize.
This in combination with 4-6-hour work shifts across the board would make things SO much better. Sleep more, work less, get more done, have more time. Not to mention the fact that this would open up at least twice as many jobs as are currently available.
And if worried about the financial situation? Think of how much money everyone would be saving by not buying energy drinks to keep them up, sleeping pills to put them to sleep, and all the other money they'd save on a cleaner bill of health.
It only makes sense, but... good luck getting people stuck in the "work your fingers to the bone" mentality to believe it.
Excellent. Thank you.
Sleep is a weapon. Doc Parsley's book Sleep to Win is also a informative read. As a team and leadership performance coach one of my key ingredients for a micro adjustment for macro impact is to get better and more sleep. I have not coached anyone yet that has said they get 8 hours a night. Most are in the 5 - 6 zone. Thanks Doc for the data points. I will carry them forward.
He's so right. Most people don't know what is going on in their bodies and mind in the first place. So saying you are fine is only fooling yourself. The body can take much, but as we are not robots we are forced to have regular sleep over a regular time period to function optimal. We are constantly underestimating our body and we would like to think that we are invincible. Lack of sleep and too much pride to admit it, has killed too many in the traffic just to take an example. Not to mention alcohol intake and then getting into the car. Sleep is important for the body to rebuilt muscle and gain strength, not to mention that we look prettier after a good night sleep! ;)
Well done, Sir!
*Watches this when supposed to be asleep*
Besides the fact that it is a good TED Talk, what a hulk of a doctor!
Powerful Dr.Parsley!
Thank you Andrea.
Outstanding talk Dr. Parsley. I've been trying my best to control my sleep, however as you know, it's very hard as a medical student. Can't wait for your sleep product.
Medical school sucks like the Nicks. But, make sure you don't keep following that rabbit hole once your out. There are other (healthy, more fun) options.
I haven't had a solid night's sleep in a few years. I'm assuming my problems have to do with my age but I know that I NEED to figure this out so I can start sleeping better. Thanks for a great talk on the subject.
Me neither man, I sat in bed for the whole weekend, from friday night to monday morning and id be surprised if u go a total of 8 hours. I tried some benadryl but nothing. I used to take Trazadone but its really habit forming and I didnt like having my sleep held hostage by a pill. I guess at this point its being held hostage by something anyways.
Is there such a thing as people who oversleep? What about people who over sleep because of depression? There are people who overeat and there are people who are bulimic and anorexic. Thank you for your encouragement because in many ways you make more sense then most. I like to fast until evening then just before I go to sleep I eat and Digest while I am sleeping. That way my body can use the calories and vitamins and minerals and herbs to repair itself while I am sleeping. Hopefully I have the proper balance of both sleep and nourishment and exercise when I'm awake. You are so right. Sleep is very important. Thank you for your talk.
In India there is an expression;
“The rich says - I have money.
The poor responds - I sleep well!!”
So so very lucky that at age of 32, I still get 8 hrs of sleep and 9 hrs on weekends.
I just used this video for my Psychology class, and god is Dr. Parsley right on culture to blame! that this is the only country in the world that give a name to a city # New York, the City that doesn't Sleep. There you have it, when is America going to pay attention?
+kirk parsley Great lecture!
What is your recommendation on chunking my sleep time into, lets say 2 hours in the middle of the day, and 7 hours at night?
I workout a lot and I view my mid-day nap as a "muscle-builder", and i wonder if it is effective enough compared to 8-9 straight hours of sleep at night?
Thanks
watching this at 01.30
Oh the irony!
God bless this man
I need a nap!
I would LOVE to get 7.5 plus hours of sleep a night! But even if I am in bed for 10 hours, I'm lucky to get 4- 6 hours of actual sleep. I have been plagued with insomnia for many years, and I think it is finally starting to be a detriment to my health. Believe me, I am tired and WANT to sleep, but my mind won't let me most of the time. I've tried sleep aids, both natural and pharmaceutical. The natural (melatonin) didn't help much, and Ambien/Xanax definitely put me to sleep, but then I continue to feel drugged and am in a major brain fog for most of the next day. So what's a girl supposed to do who CAN'T sleep??
Hi Coleen,
You are in good company. There are many interventions that you can try. But, you'd need to work with a good doc or psychologist. Basically, reducing the amount of light exposure before bed, relaxation techniques, setting up your sleeping environment, and journalling, are the foundations. So different supplements may help, but that would be my last recommendation.
kirk parsley Thank you for the advice! I will do some research on your suggestions and see if I can implement some of them, as I would prefer to avoid any drugs. I appreciate you taking the time to offer advice for my dilemma! God Bless!
You definitely don't have a drug deficiency! So, I don't think drugs are the way to go either.
critical importance of sleep on your overall health
kirk parsley What are your recommendations for sleep? How many hours? All at once or in chunks? What kind of environment? Do you recommend some sort of sleep tracking? How should be prepare for bed?
The average is about 7.5 hours, once you have payed back your sleep debt. This will vary by about .5 hours depending on how taxing your day was. Completely dark room (invest in blackout curtains), Cool room (around 70 F), decrease blue light going into your eyes before bed (f.lux, gaming glasses, dim lighting etc.). Sleep tracking can help, but only if you like to geek out on that stuff, otherwise a sleep diary will work just as well (log bed time, wake time, how your feel, diet changes etc.) Of course NO ELECTRONICS in the bedroom! Same bed time, and wake time every day!
Niral Ramesh I agree completely. I'll be releasing an adolescent lecture on my site within the next month. It's from an 8 hour lecture I did on that very topic.
Niral Ramesh There is some good info. on my site. www.docparsley.com
The site is new, and sparse, but I'll be adding sleep hygiene and shift work recs. very soon.
I also respond to messages on the site.
kirk parsley
Do you think that there's any evidence that oversleeping is even possible? All studies I've encountered so far show only correlation. But correlation is not causation. E.g, visiting hospitals doesn't lead to bad health, but if you would look at stats, there would be a correlation. In the same manner as an ill person will visit hospitals more often, an ill person might sleep more. Furthermore, I've read about studies showing that oversleeping might be impossible. In the Dr. William Dement's book, "The promise of Sleep", there was one study mentioned that was done over long ago at the United Naval Hospital in Bethesda Maryland. People were put alone inside silent, dark cubicles. "The cubicles were insulated against sound and maintained at a constant temperature and humidity. The subjects wore thick gloves to minimize their sense of touch, and they took liquid nutrients through a straw. They were not able to move about; they could only lie awake and fall asleep" Their brainwaves were monitored. The first day many people slept 16 hours or so (some people slept even 20). In the final day the subjects were only able to sleep on average of 8 hours." There's was nothing else to do, but to sleep. But they were not able to sleep more than they "needed" and they felt great.
I see a lot of people claiming that sleeping more than N hours a day is bad for your health. But I don't see any strong empirical evidence behind those claims. Am I not getting something? Because usually people say some average number and not "sleep as much as you can, because without any sleep debt you won't be able to sleep more than you need anyway".
Any thoughts about it? Thank you.
Jon Wise Hi Jon,
I just had this discussion with Jimmy Moore today--on his podcast. You are spot on. Usually, sleeping in excess of 8 hours is a result of sleep deprivation. After the sleep debt has been paid back, the vast majority of people settle into a sleep pattern of about 7.5 hours =/- about 30 minutes.
However, you are also correct about the correlation with comorbidities. Depressed people often sleep more, so do people with metabolic diseases, storage diseases, people on multiple medications, patients with cancer, or severe cardiovascular or pulmonary disease. So, if you add all of these people in with the general public, you can easily see how one could say sleeping less is correlated with higher mortality.
But the fact remains, that humans are the ONLY animal on the planet that selectively, and purposefully sleep deprive ourselves. House pets get obese, and don't get enough exercise, but they don't sleep deprive themselves. This is our worst behavior as humans.
Why only America... this is a global issue... a negative spiral.... sleep more and get more done!
Can I cite Kirk Parsley?
Ok doc i need your help. Im 16 female with slight obesity. I am unable to sleep and if i do
I dont think im reaching REM because i havent had not 1 dream in 2 years. School starts at 6 so i have to get up at 5. I try to go to bed at 8:10 but most of the time i fall asleep at 10 wake at 12 goo back to sleep at 1 and wake at 5:10 am. I get off at 3pm and my parents yell at me for taking naps instead of doing my homework and studying. My parents also dont want me to take sleep meds like zznightquil less i become addicted to it and they wont take me to the sleep doctor because they think im fine. PLEASE HELP YOU ARE MY ONLY HOPE! I need a detailed response.
the Were Dragon look up jeff nichols raider project seminar
sooo how many hours of sleep do I need?
Dead serious question , will getting more sleep thicken my beard?
if lack of sleep can make u drunk then everyone would do it. and stuides are very specific on what they study the average man blah blah blah. i have gone with little to no sleep for months, and ive gone with 10-12hrs of sleep for months the only thing that matters is how much u can handle. some ppl need their sleep others dont need it.
So you disagree with what he says then?
Nice profile pic :D
also i am glad i am not some people
I heard about this on the Livin La Vida Lo Carb Show with Jimmy Moore podcast, episode 1325. You all need to go listen to it too... even more information there.
'if we could have evolved to sleep less, we would have' isn't very true. There are people (supersleepers, 1-3% of the population) that function perfectly fine on just 5 hours or less of sleep every day, if it really was that useful we would all have those genes. It's more likely IMHO that there was never a selective pressure for short sleepers because when it's dark you can't hunt & gather anyway and you're best off conserving energy by sleeping.
The paper your referring to never showed that ANYBODY was optimal at 5 hours of sleep per night. What it showed is that some people suffer less (in selected markers) from short sleep. Those people still perform better with more sleep.
However, performance is only one issue of many. For example--insulin sensitivity changing with short sleep, is a much bigger problem than your reaction time to computer games.
As far as the evolution/ hunting & gathering argument--I think your making my point for me.
Eat more parsley it helps.
sleep, water, sugar
go 80/10/10 high carb vegan
best choice you'll ever make :)
Good luck with that! ;-)
But, at least putting sleep first will make you pretty darn resilient
I’m going Make Sleep Great Again
🤢
It surprises people that SEALs don't get enough sleep...? X_X
It's hit or miss, but remember; they primarily work at night--which also means a lot of night training.
this talk put me to sleep
Watching this made me tired...
+Kevin Turner SO fucking boring right?
then go to bed
Thumbs down he offered no solutions
This is so gimmicky. I feel like I'm watching spam mail. "This 1 tip will make you 100% happier! CLICK HERE!"
Pshh, no mention of the Jews.... dislike!