Page 56 - Education Issue

Pearls of Wisdom

quiring further into how well they feel
they sleep at night, nearly every one
of the “morning larks,” who go to bed
early, slept well, and less than half of
the night owls claimed good sleep. In-
formal research as it is, it reflects what
I commonly see in my practice.
One of my patients, a woman
several years past menopause, wrote
me to say that she had slept poorly for Photos Courtesy of Pacific Pearl
years and simply resigned herself to
the idea that “this was menopause,”
and she’d probably never sleep well
again. The day she learned about go-
ing to bed early as a better sleep strat- Dr. Mimi Guarneri Dr. Nancy Lonsdorf
egy, she returned from a business trip
and instead of her usual compulsive
unpacking and organizing late into the Nancy Lonsdorf, MD is a John Hopkins and Stanford-trained
night, she turned in early, by 10 PM. physician who practices Integrative Ayurveda and over all health,
Guess what? In her words, she “slept naturally at Guarneri Integrative Health at the Pacific Pearl. Call
like a baby.” This hadn’t happened for 858-459-6919 for details.
years! Mimi Guarneri, MD is President of the Academy of Integrative
Dr. G: This is such an import- Health and Medicine. Dr. Guarneri is board certified in Internal
ant point, how earlier bedtime may Medicine, Cardiovascular Disease and Integrative Medicine. She is
promote better sleep, performance and the medical director and founder of Guarneri Integrative Health at
mental health outcomes. Disturbed Pacific Pearl La Jolla.
sleep is very common and associated
with an increased risk of heart dis- For more information visit their site at
ease, diabetes, obesity and even mood http://pacificpearllajolla.com/ or call 858 459 6919
and memory problems, including
cognitive decline. We offer an easy-to-
use, sleep apnea test at Pacific Pearl Data on Early Bedtime Dinner at Noon—like Those Close
La Jolla that people can take and do at In a US National Longitudinal to the Land
home. I recommend it for most of my Study of Adolescent Health (1), Dr. L - When I was a kid, my rural
patients, as detecting and correcting researchers compared students ran- classmates living on farms used to call
sleep apnea and other sleep disorders domized to go to bed at 10 pm vs. our lunch meal “dinner,” and their eve-
is so key for prevention, as well as students going to bed at midnight. ning meal “supper.” Now I understand
quality of life. The results showed students with why. Being in tune with “the land” and
There are many everyday exam- midnight bedtime were 24% more nature, their families traditionally ate
ples of the wonders of an aligned likely to be depressed, and 20% more their main meal in the middle of the
daily schedule, but let’s look at the likely to have suicidal thoughts. A day, when our bodies most need and can
research. further study showed early bedtime best process a major intake of nutrition.
In short, there are three key benefits were independent of the total I find clinically that eating your
Ayurvedic schedule recommenda- number of hours of sleep. In addition, main meal at lunchtime helps prevent
tions for good health: the effects were long-lasting: those the late afternoon “munchies,” enables
• Go to bed (lights out!) by 10 pm going to bed before 11:15 pm in high you to easily eat lighter in the evening
• Eat your main meal by 12-1 PM school had better academic achieve- and sleep better, too.
• Exercise between 6-10, in the ment and less emotional distress up As a culture, we need all the help
morning or evening to 6 years later. (2) we can get to combat today’s epidem-

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