Just in time for the Winter season and New Year resolutions, I am thrilled to have Dr. Michael Breus aka ‘The Sleep Doctor’ back at World Wise Beauty. I have selected his books before and there is a reason his books get selected. We love wellness wisdom, science, and holistic health here at World Wise Beauty, and Dr. Breus’s books are chock full of all three. His speciality is ‘sleep’ and he has made it his mission to educate us on just how important sleep is to our biological health and mental health, which of course are connected! ‘Sleep, Drink, Breathe’ -Simple Daily Habits for Profound Long-Term Health is a straightforward guide backed by cutting edge research to help you manage these key key habits wisely.
If you haven’t read his first book ‘The Power of When’, it’s worth picking it up to give you foundational understanding of bio-individual sleep. What does that word bio-individual mean in this context? It means like everything else in our personal health, we all have different circadian rhythms and may need to fine-tune our sleep habits for optimal rest. If you haven’t taken Dr. Breus’s sleep test, you can follow this link to take the quiz and learn more about your chrono-type. Are you a bear, a wolf, or a dolphin? Give the quiz a go and learn more!
We all want to live life well and age with vitality. The New Year is always a good time to get back on track with your wellness goals. Instead of getting bogged down with wellness trends and gadgets, why not get right down to the most important basics, and lay down a foundation for wellness. The WWB Winter ‘Book Wise’ selection will give you the building blocks and remind you NOT to take for granted the most important needs for your body, mind, and spirit. The Q&A with Dr. Breus will demonstrate just how passionate Dr. Breus is about his work. He never holds back with sharing his research and helping us cultivate wellness wisdom. Happy to share his work with you and wishing you a healthy holiday season!
Laura Connolly, CHC and Founder of World Wise Beauty
Coach Lauroly Q- Welcome back Dr. Breus! It is amazing how simple the call of action in your title is ‘Sleep, Drink and Breathe’ for Profound Good Health , yet your book really digs into the complexity of our biology and how modern lifestyle can impair the proper functioning of our bodies. Let’s start with the science of sleep which you have spent your career researching for us. Can you explain how and why the glymphatic system in the brain is so important to our overall being?
Coach Lauroly Q- The other crucial thing to learn from your book, is just how important water is to our entire body. From our blood flow and circulation, to our heart and central nervous system, you cover the differences between severe hydration and mild hydration. Most people don’t fully understand how mild hydration can interfere with our health and general sense of energy. What are simple things we can do to monitor and assess our hydration needs? Are we all the same in terms of water intake needs?
Number one is, just listen to your thirst. A lot of people don’t realize it, but when their mouth is dry, that is a signal to get some water in you. Many people don’t think about that, or they might be taking a medication, or they’re eating something that may have made their mouth a bit dry, maybe salty, and they don’t even think about the fact that they could actually be thirsty.
Number two is, there are a lot of people who actually choose not to drink during certain situations, like on an airplane or during a movie, or during a lecture. That’s not necessarily the best idea. A lot of times we are missing out on some of those cues, which can be very important.
Number three is assessing our needs with something called the skin turgor test. This is a test where you pinch the skin on the back of your hand by lifting it up. And then when you let go of the pinch, if it goes back to form regular skin across your hand within two seconds, then you are well hydrated. If it does not happen that way, then there is a chance that you could be not so well hydrated.
My favorite way to assess hydration is the urine color test. The urine color test basically wants your urine to be either clear or a very light yellow – the darker it gets, the more concentrated it is, and that means you are getting more and more dehydrated. Now, one big thing that people often ask me about is amount of water they should have. How much should they need? Generally speaking, as a regular formula, here’s what I would say: take your weight in pounds and multiply it by 0.6. So a 100-pound person should have about 60 ounces of water. A 200-pound person, 120 ounces of water. Seems like a lot of water, I know. Unfortunately, the larger you are, the more water you actually require, because your body is actually made up of water, and so you start to understand more about the need for water. These needs will change also based on a few factors. Number one, if you exercise – if you do exercise for an hour or longer, I would add an additional 12 to 15 ounces of water, and if you’re exercising outside during the summertime, I would add an additional 15 ounces.
Coach Lauroly Q: Breathing seems like a no-brainer, but as many people with sinus issues knows it can cause havoc for our health when we can’t breathe properly. When I was a regular runner my sinus problems significantly improved. The bottom line is I was just breathing better because blood was moving, and I was taking in more air. Movement is so important to our bodies and learning to breathe through our nose is too! This is something I also learned to do through dance and yoga. What are simple things people can do to improve their breathing habits if they do not run, dance or do yoga?
Coach Lauroly closing: Thanks so much for joining me Dr. Breus. I really want my readers to purchase your book so they can fully understand how sleep, hydration and breathing all connects. I am so grateful for your work and your current book is much appreciated for its straightforward and enlightening approach to educating us on what really matters for profound long-term health.