If You Struggle to Sleep, Start Doing THIS Every Morning

1. SPSpeaker0:00

   As a medical doctor, and literally being Europe's doctor, and the tens of thousands of patients that you've treated, it is really sad and troubling how many people are not getting enough sleep-

2. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee0:17

   Yeah

3. SPSpeaker0:17

   ... how they're having trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, not dropping into deep sleep. And so can you share with us how you say a good night's sleep starts in the morning, and what we need to do to make this easy?

4. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee0:36

   When people think about sleep, the first thing they go to is what are they doing before they go to bed?

5. SPSpeaker0:40

   Mm-hmm.

6. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee0:41

   Now, whilst that is important, what we don't realize is that a good night's sleep starts first thing in the morning, how you start your morning off. Now, if you're able to get natural light first thing in the morning, it's fantastic for your overall well-being. It helps set your circadian rhythm. This is your biological clock. Every single cell in your body has a clock, okay? And one of the key drivers of that clock is exposure to light, okay? So if you expose yourself to bright, natural light ideally, but I appreciate also that, you know, depending on where you live in the world, certainly in the UK at the moment, you're not getting bright, natural light in the morning. So yes, you know, put all the lights on at home. Get them as bright as you possibly can. That actually helps you sleep better in the evening. There's some studies which show us that if you meditate or practice mindfulness first thing in the morning, that can also help you sleep better at night, okay? So there's many ways that I want people to think about sleep, but what you do first thing in the morning can absolutely impact, uh, your sleep in the evening. Now, why should people care about sleep?

7. SPSpeaker1:52

   Yes.

8. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee1:52

   Okay? It's not just about energy. Yes, energy's, of course, something that we all want, right? We want the energy to do the things that we wanna do in life. But here's what happens when you're sleep-deprived. Your mood goes down. You're less empathetic. You're less compassionate. You find it harder to resist temptation. If you sleep five and a half hours each night compared to seven and a half hours each night, one study showed on average you're eating 22% more the following day in terms of calories. Okay, so think about that. Five days of extreme sleep deprivation will lead to a whole extra one day's worth of calories going through your mouth, okay? So I've helped, Mel, some patients lose weight in a sustainable way not by focusing on their diet, by focusing on their sleep.

9. SPSpeaker2:43

   Hmm.

10. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee2:43

    This goes back, Mel, to what I said right at the start. Think about these four pillars and ask yourself, "Which one of these four pillars do I need the most work in?" Right? Too often we focus on our favorite pillar.

11. SPSpeaker2:56

    Hmm.

12. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee2:56

    If your diet is 85% good, moving it from 85% to 90% whilst you're only sleeping five hours a night ain't gonna move the needle. If you can bring up your sleep from five hours to even five and a half hours, again, it's not about perfection. It's not about either eight hours or nothing. If you can actually get 20 minutes more, 30 minutes more, there will be a physiological difference in your body, Mel, the following day. And so it's important for your physical health, your mental well-being. Life feels different when you've had a good night's sleep, okay? So in terms of what people can do-

13. SPSpeaker3:35

    Yeah

14. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee3:35

    ... I mentioned first thing in the morning, okay?

15. SPSpeaker3:37

    Yep.

16. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee3:37

    Get light exposure.

17. SPSpeaker3:39

    And, and, uh, we have so many people around the world that write in when they hear about light exposure in the morning that say, "Well, I have to leave for work before the sun's even up." So how do you do that if it's raining or you have a job where you're already starting work and the sun hasn't risen?

18. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee3:59

    Yeah. So it doesn't always have to be the sun, to be clear.

19. SPSpeaker4:02

    Okay.

20. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee4:02

    You still get a lot of natural light on an overcast day-

21. SPSpeaker4:05

    Okay

22. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee4:06

    ... or on a cloudy day, okay? But yes, I appreciate we all have different work schedules. So if you can't do that, you know, put the lights on in your house. If you want, you can go on Amazon. You can buy, like, these-

23. SPSpeaker4:18

    Oh, yeah

24. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee4:18

    ... bright lux lights. They're not that expensive. You can have those on in your house, right? Do what you can. If you can't do it first thing in the morning, maybe at 10:00 AM when you have a little coffee break at work, can you take your coffee and go to the balcony or go out the front door and be outside and get some of that light into your eyes, okay? There's many ways. And let's be honest, Mel, some days you may not be able to.

25. SPSpeaker4:46

    Correct.

26. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee4:46

    And that's okay.

27. SPSpeaker4:47

    Yes.

28. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee4:48

    Right? Fine. There are other ways to improve your sleep. You know, we can talk about five or 10 different tips. You're probably not gonna be able to do them all.

29. SPSpeaker4:56

    Well, let's talk about that. How can someone create an evening routine that leads to better sleep if they're doing this stuff in the morning that's easy?

30. RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee5:04

    Yeah. The most important thing about an evening routine when it comes to sleep is the fact that you need a routine.

Episode duration: 24:06