This week’s episode is all about things that can disrupt our sleep which is not great when you’re already running on a deficit thanks to a sleep-disrupted lifestyle, and include social media and blue-light.

Whilst as a Nutritionist, a lot of my clinical focus when working with my patients is around food, nutrition and supplementation, when it comes to enhancing our sleep and trying to repay countless hours of sleep-debt, no amount of tryptophan and melatonin containing foods, along with micro-nutrient supplementation of magnesium, calcium and potassium can compete with the negative effects of blue-light.

In this episode, I discuss how the blue-light emitting from our electronic devices is a type of ‘zeitgeber’ which can severely disrupt our sleep onset, quality and quantity.  It’s also an endocrine disruptor, as it suppresses the production of our sleepy hormone melatonin, and activates arousal-promoting orexin neurons, along with stimulating our sympathetic nervous system involved in the stress response.

So powering down those electronic devices at least 1 hour before bed, along with reducing time on social media, are two very important strategies to implement into your shift working lifestyle, as they will help to reduce feelings of stress and anxiety, along with having a positive, flow-on effect on your sleep.

Links mentioned on the podcast:

Facebook Use Associated with Compromised Well-Being:  A Longitudinal Study.