Dr. Walker's appearance on Joe Rogan basically changed my everything for me in terms of sleep. I'm in my mid thirties and really feel how a lack of sleep completely wrecks my body. Since I've seen his interviews and read his book, I aim for at least 7 hours of solid sleep, but 8-9 if possible, and man, it makes such a difference, physically AND cognitively. I learn languages, and they stick so much better since I get more sleep, it's almost scary.
I have always prioritized and valued my sleep above everything my whole life. I've been accused of sleeping too much by so many people who say, "You can sleep when you're dead," and now I finally have my affirmation. I always knew sleep was important but not to this degree. Dr. Walker is an immensely great speaker! He is so knowledgeable and eloquent in his descriptions while using very understandable analogies and metaphors to further his point. This was a very informative and incredible talk, however, terrifying as well!
No one talks about stress, That's a big one for lack of sleep. We all need to slow down, relax our brains, exercise during the day and quit worrying about everything, surrender ourselves to just giving up tension and mind ruminations.
This guy is impressive. He just spit out detail after detail from so many different studies and experiments for over 2 hours. No question about how much he knows about his area of study. Great interview!
Invaluable information. I'm one of the so called life-long DSPD sufferers. This makes me very aware of my sleep patterns. Everything that's mentioned in this interview is so on point, it explains all the problems I was experiencing with health, learning, weight gain, and overal functioning throughout my life. Such a fascinating subject. Thank you!
I recently purchased Matt's book after seeing him talk on JRE. This was also a great episode (as usual Rhonda). But, what I really want to say is that Matt's book has been the best solution for getting my kids to sleep at night; I'm not kidding, 10 minutes tops! There must be something hypnotic about the large number of long slowly rolling sentences. Thanks.
As a college student who normally has 5-6 hours sleep from school, work and an internship makes me rethink some of my priorities. Thanks for sharing this!
Great talk! If you want to address sleep in hospitals, start with teaching staff in MED school and have doctors and nurses stop glamourizing being sleep deprived!!
Thank you for another incredible video Rhonda. Dr. Walker speaks so eloquently and with such passion that he was able to talk about sleep for hours on end without making the audience the least bit drowsy! The world is very fortunate to have both of you and I personally am grateful for how you have both enriched my life. Thank you again.
Who is this interviewer? So refreshing to hear an interviewer who is informed and can actually contribute to the discussion, rather than just reeling off a list of questions!
I've always been a big fan of sleep. I've been doing it almost every day for as long as I can remember. I'm happy to learn that it's also good for you.
In a nutshell for the people who have no time for 2.5 hours of great information: More and more has it been proven that sleep affects nearly EVERYTHING mentally and physically in us humans: memory, motivation, social behaviour, industriousness, creativeness, open-mindedness, perseverance, empathy, the ability to enjoy things, the willingness to live, stress, muscle gains/losses, fat gains/losses, appetite (more sleep = less ghreline = smaller appetite), strength, endurance, explosiveness, response time, recovery, ability to develop new motor skills (musical instruments, sports, crafts etc.), the strength and regeneration of our immune system, the agression of auto-immune responses, inflammation, oxidisation, blood pressure etc. It's arguably the longest list of benefits from anything imaginable. Good sleep has great synergy with everything else we do right in our life. On the other hand, bad sleep will diminish our gains from whatever we try to do right (supplements, diet, training etc.). Good sleep is heavily underrated. --- Even I don't get enough sleep (6,5-7h of real sleep). It can be hard to break bad habits when you get closer to middle age, but we have to try, because more sleep can seriously influence our life's general succes.
So much info, so many questions! 1) Does the light we need early in the day come through corrective lenses (glasses) or car windows? 2) We make less melatonin as we age, is supplementing melatonin a good idea? 3) How do naps fit into a healthy sleep pattern (I am over 60, so I am questioning for my age group, but interested in all age groups) 4) Binaural beats can help stimulate Delta waves, are they a good idea while we sleep? 5) Re: the lower temperature at night info: Does just not using blankets help out for those without air conditioning? It would be awesome if you could answer these questions on a follow-up session. Thanks for another great podcast!!!!
Thank you so much to both of you. By far, one of the best videos on RU-vid regarding sleep. My family has had Alzheimer's parent. We are always hoping to avoid it with lifestyle science.
Fantastic episode! Can imagine after thirty years of battling with non-24-hour sleep-wake disorder just how much of this kind of stuff I've consumed in my life-after all those _long_ distressed nights slumming around on the Internet before I finally figured out how to use melatonin at an extremely precise dose at an extremely precise time to stabilize my circadian clock. This is a good as it gets. This one episode has more highly quality information than was known to the entire field of circadian biology in the 1990s. There were a few spectacular results back then, rendered twice as spectacular because of how they stood apart from the great black void that constituted the rest of the field in those days. And now chronobiology is second only the the microbiome as _the_ most happening field in biochemistry/microbiology that formerly got no respect. Is there chronobiology of the microbiome? You betcha. Double your research pleasure with poop spindles.
I bought Dr. Walker's book but ironically I would fall asleep before I could read it, now I am awoken to finish it. Btw, a truly wonderful video on sleep. Thank you so very much for giving us all this gift :)
Extraordinarily informative. And Dr. Patrick, you really know how to conduct an effective interview. Fyi, I suffered from profound insomnia starting in my early 40s, which may have permanently damaged my memory, but there were other noticeable brain effects: Starting around age 60, despite being well-physically-coordinated otherwise, I had surprising difficulty dialing a number on the telephone, and could not back up a car in a straight line, even with repeated tries. I was on Rx sleep meds (like Ambien, Benadryl, you-name-it) for years, which likely did even more damage. Unrelenting insomnia forced me to retire early. I was sick with respiratory infections all throughout the years, from trashed immunity. I was on Rx sleep meds (like Ambien, Benadryl, you-name-it) for years, which were ineffective and likely did even more damage. Then I found the solution. I'd been a vegetarian starting at age 40. At age 67 I began eating red meat for the first time in 27 years, and slept like a baby.
@@jesperburns Thanks for asking. Definitely still eat my veggies, I don't go in for the latest crazes like the "carnivore" (all-meat) diet. Although I'm eating meat & eggs, I greatly cut back on dairy, except for yogurt from goat's milk and real butter. Animal fats are **necessary** for health, I was so stupid about that for decades. I buy grass-fed beef hamburger that has more fat content (15-20%) rather than the lean stuff. I've changed my veggies: (1) I eliminated grains of any kind, for several reasons having nothing to do with gluten; am eating more root vegetables; (2) Now eating tons of fermented vegetables, mainly a delicious, locally-made, artisan kimchi. Also started on digestive enzyme supplements that contain phytase, an enzyme that breaks down phytic acid (an anti-nutrient found in all veggies).
Thank you for an excellent interview. My BA is in Psychology with emphasis on learning theory. I'm familiar with the research. I decided on a career change to Landscape Architecture. In Architecture schools, the all-nighters are required. I had no idea beforehand. Yes, required - for as many nights as possible. I didn't do it. I'm not uneducated in that regard. So if you are looking for a willing group of subjects, check out that school. Honestly, I was completely shocked by the culture of the studio. I was actually made fun of for not doing all-nighters. I didn't care and I still refused. In the workplace, the same belief carries through. It's a profession that values long hours over common sense. So, I founded my own business. I'm not interested in a short life. I want to have a long life and enjoy it. Again, awesome interview. It expanded my knowledge about the research. And please, send it over to your architecture (land, building, interior) depts. at your school ;) Cheers, Tricia
It's so awesome to listen to two scientists talking about a fascinating subject, and you can just see and feel their enthusiasm. The way Rhonda's eyes lit up when Matthew was talking about the effects of cytokines on sleep. It's someone finding a new piece of the puzzle, or a confirmation of a theory or bigger picture that is being confirmed by an expert. Lovely to see. F*ck yeah, science! ❤ I will definitely rewatch this one (and get some sleep on it of course!), since it is filled with so much nuggets of knowledge. Thank you for this amazing conversation!
I have never commented to a RU-vid channel before but I felt compelled to share. This was an incredibly fascinating wealth of information. Well done to you both. Thank you
A great, very informative discussion of a very neglected health topic. Matthew has just a few traces of a Merseyside accent left! Great job both of you!!
loved the jre matt walker podcast and looking forward to listening to this on the train! potential future vid on skin flora and eczema/other such skin conditions? I know of many people who might benefit from the perspective you offer!
whahoo!! Back again... keep em coming lol! Looking forward to Dr. Sinclair. I've been taking Niagen and Resveratrol for about a month ( as well as sulforaphane smoothie for a year) I'm finding it easier to stay alert through the day and noticeable increase in energy.
This was one of the most fascinating podcasts I have ever heard! Incredible information on our single most important and underrated growth and healing mechanism, Thankyou!
Thank you so much for sharing your conversation on sleep. So much good information. I feel like my family make excellent study examples of how important sleep is. My husband I are in our late 50s both have high blood pressure. My husband has been a medicated diabetic since 1999. I have sleep apnea, now on a CPAP and am over weight. My daughter is over weight and snores. My 5 year old grandson has suffered from night terrors since he was an infant. Our daily habits and work routines really effect our our sleep and health. Thank you for the tips on caffeine, diet and light before bed. I know I'll be watching this video again.t
Great podcast! I know what I must do to have better sleep. That is to try to listen to fascinating podcasts like this during the day. I woke up early morning and kept putting the podcast back to catch a point I might have missed and of course, I didn't get back to sleep. I'll go back to listening to a philosophical podcast like Dr Peterson, enjoy listening for a while and fall back into a nice sleep:) My bad. Thank you for your great programs.
I wish you would've elaborated more on the topic of viral and bacterial profile in lonely people. Can you link to studies? I'd love to learn more about it.
I would think loneliness is a stressor so it would lower immunity. Do you mean their bacterial gut profile or just in general? I will look for some studies and post a link if I find any!
A few mental note takeaways. 1.) You can increase your recall by playing sounds and smells associated with certain memories in your sleep. 2.) non rem aids short term memory, rem helps with long term and also idea making and creative problem solving 3) you can potentially wake yourself up during rem (maybe by loosely timing an alarm based on sleep cycle) that will make your dreams (creative rem associations) more recallable and available to your memory (could be inventions or answers to problems you couldn't solve in there!) 4) sleeping sufficiently before and after learning are critically important to learning
Ridiculous quality content. Everyone needs to be watching this stuff and at least trying to understand the studies posted so we know what we're arguing about in the ig comments. Thanks doc
Wow this has been a phenomenally informative video. The references to the papers throughout the video is an excellent way for us to seek out more info too!!!
To think that success in modern life is centred around how much one can do or fit into a 24hr window. Most successful people say they sleep less, yet that is the cause of illness, Aging and reduced a life span. How about new parents who are sleep deprived for at most 5yrs of having children and the extreme deprivation that new mothers undergo? Fascinating stuff!
Very interesting! Especially interesting is how interrelated all the systems are, and how connected they are to sleep. And this is not in random ways, but everything is perfectly ordered to work best with a certain quantity and quality of sleep. It points to human life being designed. Another evidence for that is that most everything in modern life works against the right kind of sleep. If evolution were our origin, we would have evolved to thrive on the conditions that exist. But no, the truth is that we have strayed from the design.
I always knew that sleep deprivation and your daily habits and dietary lifestyle choices for gut health are responsible for the onset of many chronic conditions, but try telling that to your Doctor in the U.K. and they just think you need counselling! 🤦🏽♂️ So glad I found this video as I’m learning so much more than I already knew and to permanently fix my sleep issues which got wrecked by pointless antibiotic administration from the hospitals who think they know what they are doing, but haven’t got a clue for most of the part! 😩
So just got to the part ~25 minutes in where Dr. Walker discusses his theory that he believes it might be possible that we store most, if not all, of our dream data; commenting that there are times that we come across things later that remind us of a dream we had. I have always thought that the deja vu feeling/experience may possibly be a result of a dream memory "come to life" but because who knows when you had the dream you are unable to make that connection but it gives you that overwhelming familiar feeling. I get the deja vu feeling a lot.
Hello dr. Rhonda I am a pharmacist and I work overnight in a 7 on 7 off pattern. I switch my sleeping to get normal sleeping on my days off. But I am struggling with sleeping averaging 5 hours daily. Can you make a video for people like us on how to mitigate the effects of night shift or how to improve day sleeping ? Thank you so much!
Walker mentioned how you can't deposit and withdraw benefits from sleep like a bank. Lost sleep already has done its damage. However, looking at pilots with overnight flights, they take 20 minute naps before they're going to be sleep deprived to minimize its negative effects. Walker's book "Why We Sleep" goes more into this.
Awesome video, he explains the connections so well! I am a Psychopathology student currently writing a paper on the effects of sleep (deprivation) on later obesity. This helped me so much. Thank you!
Rhonda, this podcast was fantastic; one of your best! Keep up the good work. This guest had so much great information that, well, I couldn't sleep last night :-)
When I was late for school, I told teachers "I overslept! I feel bad to wake up early". They would not listen! Where was Dr Walker when I needed him to explain why we really need to get good sleep! 80% of kids these days go sleepy to school. How can they learn?
Amazing! Thank you for sharing, this is life habit changing for many of us... for the better! This is one of very few long vids I could actually listen to, all the way through. It was that capturing
Excellent information. Thank you! Really curious what part thyroid might play, or rather the struggle to keep thyroid consistent. It really takes a toll on your sleep. And the struggle to counteract with caffeine just to function. Can be frustrating. Being tested regularly but still fluctuates greatly.
Did you notice the mirror imaging of both of them! I love intelligent discussion, and this was. And I like nice people.I have an interest in sleep as I have Narcolepsy, and can fall asleep just about anywhere, but I don’t know how much good sleep I get. I almost immediately go into REM. I teach, and I have real difficulty if I sit down to look at the computer or show a video. I have hardly ever been in a class or seminar where I have stayed awake. but having seen Rhonda and Matt, I might try getting 7 hours instead of 6.
