Podcast Notes: Dr. Matt Walker on Sleep (Andrew Huberman)

General:

  • Studies have shown an inverse relationship between REM sleep and all-cause mortality: the lower your REM sleep, the higher all-cause mortality.
  • There is no major psychiatric disorder we can find in which sleep is normal.
  • It’s natural to wake up in the middle of the night, especially with age. When we finish 90-minute cycles, almost everyone wakes up and changes position because the body has been paralyzed in REM.
  • For every 1 hour of extra sleep, a woman gets, her interest in sexual intimacy increases by 14%.

Tools:

  • Pro-sleep behaviors: sleep and wake up at regular times, keep the temperature cool, keep the room dark, limit caffeine intake window to 8-10 hours before sleeping, do your best to minimize or eliminate alcohol, have a wind-down routine.
  • In the first half of the day, get at least 30-40 minutes of direct sunlight each morning to feel more alert – can do this even by working next to a window with natural light coming through.
  • If you have fragile sleep and insomnia – don’t nap during the day because you’re releasing healthy sleep pressure that’s built up. If you nap regularly and sleep well at night, go for it!
  • Sleep doesn’t seem different than other things in our life – you can overeat, you can over-exercise, you can over-hydrate, etc. – it seems logical you can get too much sleep. Oversleep is over 9 hours.
  • If you have a bad night of sleep, do nothing: don’t wake up later, don’t sleep earlier, don’t nap, don’t increase extra caffeine

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