Circadian Rhythms—Are They Important or Not?

by Dio Miranda

There is a government warning that states that according to the Surgeon General, “the consumption of alcoholic beverages impairs your ability to drive a car or operate machinery, and may cause health problems”. This very same statement should be applied to lack of sleep! Sleep is one of the most poorly understood areas of human behavior. Considering that we spend around one-third of our lives asleep, not taking time to understand its importance is incredible. Sleeping is as essential to good health as the water and food I have discussed in previous articles.

Human beings are incredibly complex. I am often faced with physiological riddles that do not respond to conventional medicine. The scientific method has created a situation where highly intelligent, well-educated people study a tiny aspect of human function and pursue that same minute area for a lifetime. In following this model, many practitioners have lost sight of the big picture and have created a health care system that does not always understand how to evaluate dysfunction from a holistic standpoint. So it is with sleep deprivation-- which can be the answer to hormonal problems, neck pains, headaches, skin changes, itching, dyslexic behavior, forgetfulness, and lack of focus.

It is recommended that we go to bed with the moon, and rise with the sun. Some folks criticize this idea as if it were a new religion! The fact is that the later we go to bed, the longer our body will delay releasing melatonin, which is the hormone that makes us sleepy.

Sleep and Hormones
Just like us, our children can suffer due to our unknowing irresponsibility. In my opinion, children should nap everyday and sleep at least 10-12 hours at night. If we keep lights bright and televisions on when it is time to start turning off our bodies, our nervous system will actually over-ride our tiring bodies and enact the fight or flight syndrome. This will actually keep us awake longer! Bright lights activate Cortisol, which ideally is released when we wake up to begin the day. The later you stay up, the more Cortisol that is released to keep you up, and the less time your body has to repair itself while you sleep. To fix this, we should try to return to a “normal” bed time little by little. It can take 7-21 days for the body to get used to your new pattern for healthy living.

Melatonin, the hormone that helps us sleep, is activated by darkness; thus, going to sleep with the moon makes sense. Cortisol controls activity level, so if it is out of balance, we can put on excess belly fat. The belly fat is stored for survival reasons. Some fat is important, but too much is a problem, of course.


The Ideal Sleep Plan
To manage our bodies well, we should try to be in bed from 10:30 PM and we should wake at 6:30 AM or later. These times are not determined by me, but rather by nature. From 10:30 PM-2:30 AM, your body repairs physically. From 2:30 AM-6:30 AM, the body recovers emotionally, which includes repairing the immune system. This constitutes the famous “eight hours of sleep” you always hear about. Some folks say they are the portrait of health and vitality with less rest, but they are disconnected from themselves—numb. If someone said that they didn’t have cancer and had been smoking for years, that would not cause us to smoke and would not be a good argument that smoking doesn’t cause cancer.

Individual sleep requirements are unique, but some general trends can be identified. Teenagers, for instance, require much more sleep than adults because of the tremendous changes that are occurring in their bodies. Experts say that teenagers require 9 ½ hours of sleep. This is nearly impossible to attain, as school in the United States starts much earlier than in other countries. Teenagers tend to feel very alert late at night and are typically unable to function well early in the morning. The fact that they stay up later and start school earlier constitutes a sleep debt of nearly 3 hours per night (Carskadon). For the people that work late, it is better to choose a schedule that is steady in time as their body will adapt to stress, although it is a good idea to nap during the day.

Suggestions for Better Sleep:
• Go to bed at 10:30 PM and wake at 6:30 AM for 21 days.
• Begin to dim lights close to bedtime.
• Find time to read peaceful books before bedtime, not gossip magazines.
• Avoid coffee, wine, and other stimulants before bedtime.
• Exercise four hours before bedtime, no later. This will give your body time to calm down.
• Make your room as dark as possible.
• Don’t go to bed hungry.
• www.pzizz.com has an amazing device that will help you nap easily without releasing melatonin, ensuring that you wake up refreshed and not feeling sluggish.

Electromagnetic Pollution
Electromagnetic pollution can be another source of stimulation that prevents sleep. Our bodies have antenna-like tendencies, and can detect electromagnetic waves from microwave ovens and other electronic devices. These waves disrupt hormonal pathways and create disorder inside of us.

In particular, microwave ovens are a convenience that we do not need if health and vitality are our goals. Research shows that food cooked in microwaves can increase cholesterol HDL/LDL ratios, and even create new chemicals that the liver has never seen before! Staying several feet away from the microwave oven while it is functioning will help you avoid some electromagnetic pollution and help avoid the decrease of hemoglobin levels (Baker). The consumption of foods cooked in the microwaves are pretty much like plastic—ready to pollute the body. I remember once when a client told me that we, as humans, could digest plastic. Actually, it was the answer to his sluggishness and inflamed body! Microwave ovens are an additional form of stress to the body. It damages cells and poisons them, depletes your food’s nutrition, and leaves you feeling tired. Many people use microwave ovens to heat babies’ food and bottles, then complain that their babies won’t sleep--maybe it’s because of their over-stimulated food.

Consider that our ancestors cooked with fire, and never encountered this new stress that microwave ovens have added to our lives. Did you know that taking time to cook or heat up your food is a step of digestion? Our mouths water in response to hunger or when you think of something good that you want to eat. Skipping the step of waiting for your food to warm could actually cause you to miss a step of digestion—anticipation!

There are several sources of electromagnetic fields that have been linked to health problems and interruption of sleep. These include but are not limited to:
• Cellular communication transmission towers
• Power lines of all types
• Electric water beds
• Visual display terminals (VDTs)
• Mobile telephones
• Domestic microwave cookers
• Electric blankets
• Medical equipment including x-rays, CT and MRI scans
• In-floor/wall central heating systems
• Televisions
• Domestic electrical wiring
• Computers
• Radio and television transmission towers

References
Dement, W.C. and C.Vaughan. The Promise of Sleep. Delacorte Press, 1999.

Carskadon, M.A., A. R. Wolfson, C. Acebo, O. Tzischinsky and R. Seifer. “Adolescent sleep patterns, circadian timing, and sleepiness at a transition to early school days.” Sleep 21.8. (1998): 871-881.

Becker, Robert and Selden, Gary. The Body Electric: Electromagnetism and the Foundation of Life. (Paperback-July 22, 1998)

iPhone Photography

I love blogs with beautiful pictures. I have no interest in becoming a better photographer, just taking photos. Maybe someday I will. But, iPhones take great pictures outdoors. It often frustrates me that I can't zoom with my iPhone. Most days, 4 of us at school are armed with iPhones. We don't talk on our iPhones during class time unless it is an absolute emergency related to family. All recent pictures on this blog are courtesy of an iPhone. I thought you should know that we don't kid ourselves about the quality of our photos, but we are excited to capture special moments at school to share with you!

~Leslie

Menu, 3/29-4/1/10

Monday
AM Snack: organic pear slices
Lunch: organic spaghetti with organic marinara sauce and local grass fed beef, organic tossed salad, organic vinaigrette
PM Snack: Pirates' Booty, organic raisins

Tuesday
AM Snack: bananas
Lunch: "breakfast" tacos: organic eggs, nitrite/nitrate free Texas bacon; roasted potatoes
PM Snack: homemade crispy rice treats (organic rice cereal, organic brown rice syrup, organic butter, almond butter), 100% juice popsicle

Wednesday
AM Snack: organic apples with organic yogurt dip
Lunch: homemade organic veggie-beef soup (Whole Foods short ribs), kid-made organic bread with organic butter
PM Snack: snack mix: dried veggie chips, pecans, cranberries

Thursday
AM Snack: organic waffle with cinnamon and organic sugar
Lunch: roasted organic chicken thighs, organic jasmine rice, organic roasted baby carrots
PM Snack: organic tortilla chips, organic hummus

CLOSED FRIDAY 4/2/10!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Today we thought we'd show you some of the "routine" parts of our day:
~serving ourselves morning snack--today we had fresh apple slices
~baking bread for Wednesday lunch
~making "lightning" with the light switch to signal that it's clean up time
~wiping the table after lunch

We had a good one!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010--Painting Rainbows!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010--Infant Friends

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Tuesdays are for beeswax! Today we modeled beeswax during our story at community time and drew with beeswax crayons. A few friends finished painting with a rainbow of colors. We practiced using scissors, and Kari and some of the children worked on laying the stepping stones in the butterfly garden. Several friends helped make English muffin pizzas, including our Twos class!

This week we began collecting our brown hand towels for composting. The children are placing the used towels in a brown paper bag, which will also be composted. This greatly reduces the amount of trash we throw away each day. So, for a school of 40-50 children, we are throwing away about 3 small bags of diapers and a bag of miscellaneous kitchen trash on a daily basis. Most everything else is recycled or composted. Not bad, if we do say so ourselves! If you want to discuss composting at home, we've been explaining to the children that we'll be turning our brown towels into dirt!

Monday, March 22, 2010

It was good to be back together after Spring Break last week! It is truly amazing to see how much the children grow and change in just a week's time. Today we enjoyed playing in the fallen leaves on the play yard. Lily Belle (our miniature horse) received some grooming and enjoyed nibbling on green grass on the petting farm field, as did our other "lawn mowers" Tonka and Chevy (our goats)! Everyone loved a lunch of brown rice, chicken, and veggies--even some of our friends who don't usually eat much. The toddlers had fun playing outside in the bright sunshine, and Luca loved donning a hat.

This week we are talking about rainbows and light. Our story describes how light appears white, but is really a combination of the primary and secondary colors. This is evidenced when light shines through a drop of water, a window, or a prism. Mondays are for painting, and that's what we did!