Sleep, Alzheimer's Prevention and Optimal Health

“Sleep heals everything” -Honey and Vanilla

Did you know that one of the most powerful detox pathways that impacts our health in our body is activated when we sleep? It’s called the glymphatic system and we are about to get real nerdy. I first discovered the glymphatic system while researching Alzheimer’s prevention. I was interested in knowing  what top holistic tools were pertinent to implement for  myself when it comes to  Alzheimer’s prevention. Amongst many things such as cycling through  fasting protocols and eating a whole food diet, sleep was at the top. I soon realized how much sleep is underrated when it comes to maintaining optimal health and keeping our brain sharp. Sleep is the most effective thing we can do to reset our brain and body each day.

“Alcohol is one of the most powerful suppressors of REM sleep that we know of and REM sleep recalibrate the emotional circuits in the brain so that we can think logically”
-Matthew Walker

Have you ever had a terrible night sleep and woke up feeling hungover, have brain fog or starving and just wanting to get the first possible refined carbohydrate into you? That feeling is most likely  because you did not get QUALITY sleep- you did not cycle through all of your sleep stages and did not get a chance to activate your glymphatic system properly. According to Siim Land and Dr.Dinicolantonio’s book Immunity fix, sleep governs adaptive immunity (creates immunological memory), vaccine efficacy (so it’s not a good idea to get a vaccine at say, 3am), supports antioxidant defence, physical repair, immune response and how we recover from stress. 

How does this above knowledge pertain to sleep and Alzheimer’s prevention? Well, in many ways but here is one, ok, maybe two. One- If our immune system is governed in part by our sleep cycles then our brains immune (glial cells) are affected as well. Less quality sleep gives room for amyloid plaque and Tau to be created. Two-I f our adaptive immune system which creates immunological memory is not robust enough due to lack of sleep, this can leave room for certain pathogens such as mold and viruses to go undetected therefore leaving room for toxic overload and creating Alzheimer’s.

So for all of you that do not think sleep impacts your immune system or brain function, please reconsider the power of sleep.

Sleep Cycles

Overnight we go through about four to five- 90 minute sleep cycles and within those cycles there are  2 stages- NREM and REM. These two stages synergistically compete throughout the night and they both have their purpose for keeping our brain sharp.

To put it in simple terms NREM (non rapid eye movement) starts the party off for the evening, within the NREM sleep there are four stages that I won’t get into for this article but fascinating stuff on it’s own. NREM helps consolidate memories by taking newly formed memories and putting them into your long term storage. It is when the glymphatic system (read below) is most active and it is where sleep spindles are most active, which help perform many tasks such as muffling out the outside noise so you won’t wake up. Apparently my sleep spindles are not very strong, I’m a light sleeper.

REM sleep (rapid eye movement) is where you dream, your eyes are rapidly moving, it is when your body is somewhat paralyzed in order to not physically act out your dreams. It is time for integration; interconnecting all of your experiences and putting them together to build a more accurate model. REM sleep regulates our emotional circuit, allowing us to make more intelligent decisions, and be cool headed so to speak.

So you see, quality sleep is sooooo important for brain health. It helps us remember, it keeps us focused, it cleans out toxins from our brain, it helps us stay emotionally stable and really, keeps us sane and functional. There is a reason why sleep deprivation is used to break a human down.

Oh Snap!
Lack of QUALITY sleep+high refined sugar diet=inflammation= atherosclerosis/cardiovascular disease.

Glymphatic System (brain detoxer)

The glymphatic system was discovered back in 2013 by Dr. Nedergaard and her team, it truly is an amazing pathway that our own bodies have created through evolution to clear out waste from our brain. Here’s how it works: while in NREM sleep, it uses pulsating rhythms to activate  our glymphatic system which in turn begins the flow of our  CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) to flush out toxins and other waste products that our hard working neurons create throughout the day.  The waste products it eliminates include many but specifically for this article it eliminates  amyloid plaque and tau; two proteins found in abundance in  many Alzheimer’s patients. The glymphatic system  also helps distribute glucose, lipids, amino acids and growth factors. The most amazing part of this system is that at night, when we fall asleep, our glial cells (immune brain cells) shrink by 60% to allow the CSF to flood our brain and clear out the accumulative waste.

Basically, your brain needs to “poop” eliminate its waste it has accumulated throughout the day, your glymphatic system is what accomplishes this.

Deep sleep (NREM) is critical for preventing Alzheimer’s, it is what consolidates our new memories and as you just read above, it is when the glymphatic system is at full power. According to Dr. Matthew Walker, amyloid plaque tends to accumulate in the frontal lobe of the brain, the same place where NREM sleep happens and not from the memory centre of the brain, the hippocampus. In fact, if you look at a brain with Alzheimer’s, most of the time their hippocampus is free of amyloid plaque. Interesting eh?

Oh Snap!
Lack of sleep= activates sympathetic nervous system (fighter flight)= inflammation=lower killer cell count= lowered immune system= chronic illness such as cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.

In summary

Routinely sleeping less than 6-7 hrs a night will,
Reduces your immune system's capacity to fight off viral and bacterial infection
Doubles your risk of cancer
Increases your risk of Alzheimer’s and heart disease
Increases cellular waste in your brain
Disrupts blood sugar levels and increases your risk of type 2 diabetes
Increases your hunger hormone leptin

What our brain does when we sleep
It enriches our ability to learn, memorize and make logical decisions and choices
It balances our emotional circuits
It replenishes our immune system
It fine tunes the insulin and blood sugar balance
It helps regulate our appetite helping control body weight
It helps maintain a healthy microbiome within our gut
It opens up our glymphatic system which helps detoxify our brains

So, with all of that said, how can you be sure that you are getting optimal sleep ?

1. Blue blocker glasses- Yes, I know, some of you may think this is ridiculous but the science is out, blue light from screens, lights in your house and phones at night, blocks melatonin production at night. It has shown that the right blue blocker glasses put on 1-3 hours before bed increases your own natural melatonin. I can attest to this, I have had blue blocker glasses for over 3 years now and I am sleepy after an hour of putting them on due to my natural melatonin being produced. Melatonin doesn’t just help you sleep, it is crucial for a robust immune system, helps regulate our circadian rhythm and prevents cellular death. See link below, I am not affiliated with this company, just sharing what I use.

2. Sleep in a cool dark room without any technology around you such as your phone, computer or internet modem.

3. Do not drink alcohol or eat three hours before bed. Many think that a little glass of wine helps them sleep but in actuality it inhibits your body from going into quality NREM sleep

4. Use essential oils like vetiver to help you get sleepy and keep you asleep. I started rubbing one drop of vetiver essential oil on the soles of my feet 30 minutes before bed and OMG, I’m not kidding.

5. Practice TRE- It has been shown to help balance your circadian rhythm therefore help keep your sleep cycle in check. Be aware that longer fasting protocols can disrupt your sleep for the short term.

6. Listen to theta binaural beats before sleep to encourage your brain to calm down for the night. 

7. Get sunlight into your eyes first thing in the morning, this helps reset your circadian rhythm

8. If you wake up in the middle of the night and can’t go back to sleep, get out of bed, put on your blue blockers adn use a red light headlamp and go read in another room

9. Take 200 to 400 mg magnesium glycinate

Some of these hacks may not work for everyone (because we are biochemically different) and there are so many reasons why people may not be getting a good night's sleep, so I encourage you to try things for at least a week and don’t feel discouraged if it doesn’t work. Keep trying. If these simple holistic tools do not do the job, go deeper. Look into your thyroid health with a full panel, not just TSH. Consider your stress levels and get your morning cortisol checked, are your adrenals taxed? Are you dealing with mycotoxins from mold? Do you have sleep apnea? Does your partner snore and keep you awake? Ladies, check your hormones, perimeopause? Menopause?

“Taking pharmaceutical sleeping pills for a long period of time actually increases your chances of getting Alzheimer’s.” Dr. Matthew Walker

A note on Melatonin

Melatonin is created in your gut mostly and released by your pineal gland.Your SCN (suprachiasmatic nucleus) is your master clock for your circadian rhythm, it repeats it’s daily and nightly signal due to the hormone melatonin. As soon as dusk appears the SCN signals the pineal gland to release melatonin. Melatonin is the darkness messenger, it shouts, “its dark its dark, lets change crew members to night time duties and get busy sleeping.” It is a myth that melatonin generates sleep, instead it is the hormone that instructs the beginning of sleep, that is why blue blocker glasses are so helpful, they increase melatonin. That is also why blue light at night is so harmful as it suppresses melatonin.Throughout your night of sleep, melatonin slowly reduces in concentration and when the sun starts to rise your SCN puts the break on melatonin until later that evening. You see how we are natural solar panels? We are controlled by the light of the sun. We are conductive beings.

I hope this article helped you, please share and spread the word of optimal health, Alzheimer’s prevention and taking control of your own health destiny.

Links
Swanwick Blue blocker Glasses

Vetiver Essential Oil

Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker

Binaural Beats

References
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326664518_The_Glymphatic_System_A_Review

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2468867319301609

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23635358/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glymphatic_system

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31959516/

Should I Go Gluten Free?

Let’s get NERDY!! But just before that, let me give you a little history on why I went gluten free years ago. Ever since I can remember  (some would disagree) I always had a little “pudge” or “muffin top” until I stopped consuming gluten. I have always had digestive issues; burping, constipation, feeling really full and in pain on the floor trying to unbutton my pants as fast as possible. I have also suffered from painful periods for over 25 years and had other symptoms that I never correlated to gluten.

Some of my favourite foods were gluten based; Yorkshire pudding, croissants, panini’s, homemade pasta, dining out, Asian food and French pastries. Like most people, I ate gluten almost everyday in some form, knowingly and unknowingly. It’s in everything processed and has hidden names as well, It’s like dairy, it’s in almost everything processed in one form or another.

I became more and more interested in the possibility of going gluten free after learning about how gluten can affect the health of the brain and after dealing with years of painful periods, cysts, bloating and fatigue from endometriosis. I was anti gluten free for a very long time, it was trendy- some argue it still is, and I just didn’t believe that it would benefit my health or others if we were not celiac. I hesitated trying it for many reasons but truthfully a big reason was because I hated the thought of asking what was gluten free at a restaurant and everyone looking at me and rolling their eyes. Now I don’t give two hoots!

When I came across evidence and research papers on the correlation between gluten, leaky gut and inflammation I thought, hmmmmm, by continuing to eat gluten containing foods, I could be increasing my overall inflammation which can lead to a chronic illness such as Alzheimer’s and causing more symptoms of endometriosis.
After all, the top 5 leading chronic diseases in the world today all have to do with some kind of underlying inflammation. This journey I chose to take not only became about relieving the symptoms for endometriosis but for overall optimal health and reducing my risk of chronic disease, specifically Alzheimer’s. Remember, I am all about prevention and I assume you are as well if you are following me. I’m going to do things in my present life (without feeling deprived) that will positively impact my future life and health journey.

Endometriosis has many theories as to why it happens, but the newest science out there from the brilliant Dr.Lara Briden and many others has shown that it’s connected to the health of our immune system, insulin resistance, gut health, nickel allergy and genetics. So the immune part and the gut health part peaked my interest because I know from my education that both of these issues have shown beneficial relief from going gluten free.

About 4 or 5 years ago I decided to take a new path and try going gluten free for three months, I never went back. No shit! Well maybe once a year on my birthday, that’s it. Gluten free products at the time tasted like nothing and had a texture more or less like cardboard but I was determined to try it and quickly realized that for me the benefits were undeniable. My “little pudge” just went away, those painful, full feeling nights where I had to unbutton my pants were no more. The pain and inflammation that came with endometriosis was less, not gone, but A LOT less. Over time, the more I healed my gut by eliminating food intolerances and adding in gut healing supplements and foods, reduced overall sugar consumption, practiced TRE, chose mostly natural gluten free whole food over gluten free processed food, my health got better and better. I then learned how to make gluten free food taste good, have great texture and be healthy. WHAAAAAAT!

So what the heck is gluten and how can it actually cause damage?

Gluten is a highly addictive protein found in many grains such as wheat, barley, rye, spelt, bulgur and kamut. Gluten is what helps breads rise, it is what helps give that delicious chewy texture to bread, that is why so many gluten free breads back in the day tasted like cardboard- it lacked the soft chewiness of traditional style bread. Some people develop an autoimmune response to gluten such as celiac disease, others can trigger a sensitivity- which is usually caused by the gliadin protein instead of the gluten protein (according to Dr. David Perlmutter). You can also just have an intolerance to it, which I believe most people actually have today due to overconsumption, dirty grains (glyphosate) and leaky gut.

What can happen over time is that our tight junctions that secure our gut from invaders starts to tear from the release of zonulin and that zonulin makes tinny little holes in our gut lining. When our gut lining can no longer repair itself sufficiently we then create the famous “leaky gut”. You may find it interesting to know that along with gluten, gliadin (another protein in gluten containing grains) and glyphosate are the biggest culprits that release zonulin. You may be sensitive to all three or just one of these which can lead to your specific symptoms.

A leaky gut means that we have let our guard down so to speak. A leaky gut is when there is an increased permeability of the small intestine (tears in the gut lining), allowing for bacteria, bacterial fragments and food particles to enter the gut and cause systemic inflammation. Our gut contains over 80% of our immune system by the way, so unhealthy gut = unhealthy immune system. Gluten, gliadin and glyphosate are not the only culprits that promote leaky gut- Stress, sugar, processed food, aspirin, antibiotics, ibuprofen, PPI’s, heartburn medication and much more, can all cause leaky gut.

When we have a leaky gut this allows for systemic inflammation to take over, your immune system thinks it’s under attack and becomes chronically inflamed and stressed. FIY, our gut and brain speak to each other all of the time, the inflammation that happens in the gut is directly felt in the brain. It can affect people in many different ways not just the typical digestive issues that we know. Once you have leaky gut, you are highly susceptible to other food sensitivities and chronic disease.

“It’s important to keep in mind that each one of us are unique in terms of our DNA and phenotype (how our genes express themselves in their environment). Unchecked inflammation in me could result in obesity and heart disease, whereas the same condition in you could translate to an autoimmune disorder” -Dr. David Perlmutter

If gluten is so bad, why have we eaten it for so long and been fine?

Well, there are many reasons for this. On an evolutionary standpoint, we have only been eating gluten containing foods for the last 10,000 years which is considered relatively new. We do not eat the same kind of gluten containing grains that our ancestors ate- they did not contain glyphosate, they were not cross bread, they contained less overall gluten and they were heirloom strains. The grains we consume today look nothing like what our ancestors ate and while our genetic makeup has not changed much since our ancestors, the food we eat and how it has been modified has. We have so many more insults on our immune system and overall body today than we did back then. The processed food we eat today, the amount of alcohol we consume and toxins we ingest will all have a direct impact on the health of our gut lining and how we can digest many things we consume, including gluten.

Symptoms and conditions that can be connected to eating gluten

Bloating
Constipation
Joint pain
Headaches
Eczema
Psoriasis
Systemic inflammation
Blood sugar imbalances
Fatigue
Autoimmune disorders
Thyroid disorders
Gut issues
Multiple sclerosis
Endometriosis
Neurodegenerative diseases
ADHD
Arthritis

My top benefits for going gluten free

Less overall inflammation
Keeps my immune system strong
Relieves symptoms from endometriosis
Increases my health span
Improves my gut health
Less chance of consuming glyphosate
Reduce the chance of leaky gut
Reduce my chance of getting Alzheimer’s and other chronic disease

Here is the thing, going gluten free gets a bad rep, for good reason if we are talking about the overconsumption of the shitty GF products. The dose makes the poison. Just like other dietary choices such as going vegan, carnivore, keto; these can be done in a healthy and optimal way that will nourish your body for a period of time, or they can be done by over consuming boxed, processed, made in a lab “food” products.

If you make your own gluten free bread, muffins or cookies you can control the sugar and added crap that would normally go into GF processed food.

The dirty side to going gluten free

If you eat too much processed GF food too often you will gain weight just like gluten products
It can be more expensive
It can have more shit in it than a loaf of whole wheat bread, muffins, bagels
Processed GF products will raise your blood sugar and increase your chances of insulin resistance, chronic disease such as Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

Bottom line, going gluten free does not automatically mean HEALTHY. You need to take responsibility, read labels, be aware of how much you are consuming and what you are consuming. If you do continue to eat gluten, eat it less often and please start eating organic sourdough bread, with red fife or spelt flour. These flours contain less gluten and the fermentation process of sourdough may provide benefit . Remember, the dose makes the poison. My suggestion, try going gluten free for 3 months but do it in a healthy way, be aware of how you feel, you may be surprised what little symptoms go away.
In my new book Two Little F Words I have over 25 whole food gluten free recipes that are low in sugar and super satisfying. Bread recipe included in the picture above.

Links and studies that may interest you
https://www.jillcarnahan.com/2013/07/14/zonulin-leaky-gut/
https://www.larabriden.com/endometriosis-and-the-microbiome/
https://www.wheatbellyblog.com/2020/01/zonulin-explains-it-all/
https://www.glutenfreesociety.org/gluten-and-endometriosis-is-there-a-connection/
Gluten Free and endometriosis
Mark Hyman and Gluten
Dr.Will Cole
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16635908/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5214347/