Since I got my smartwatch last year, I’ve been tracking the quality of my sleep each night and reviewing the report every morning. After a brain injury, quality sleep can sometimes be elusive, but it’s more important than ever. I understand that my smartwatch isn’t as accurate as a medical sleep study, but it can give me at least a reasonably close estimation of how I’m doing.
I do good with deep sleep fairly consistently, most times I get around 75% of what’s considered a normal range. My REM cycle typically falls between 30 – 50% of the normal range. And every night, the number of times I wake up, the amount of time I’m awake, and my amount of light sleep significantly exceeds what’s considered to be in the normal range.
I’ve learned a few things about how to get great sleep every night, and I’ve made some changes recently. Only one of those changes is something I’m excited about. The first change is adding exercise to my daily routine. The second is the harder one to accept; I’ve been foregoing the glass or two of wine I normally enjoy around dinnertime. Here’s a little about my journey and what I’ve learned.
My Daily Exercise
We have a rowing machine that in all honesty, collects far too much dust. I’ve dusted it off and am now using it five days a week. It’s one of those things where you need to start at the beginner level and work yourself up, and that’s my approach. I’ve been rowing daily, and while some experienced rowers might not be impressed, my 3500-meter session this morning feels like a noteworthy accomplishment.
I’m still walking daily, and I’m up to the three-mile mark. I typically complete it in about an hour most days. Combining rowing with my daily walk makes me feel like I’m doing something positive not only for my general health, but studies consistently show that exercise during the day can improve both quality and duration of sleep. The increased quality is reflected by reduced NREM (light sleep), increased REM, sleep continuity, and sleep efficiency (1). After the next discussion about the other big change I made, I’ll share my results.
My Evening Wine
I well understand that my evening wine can be detrimental to my sleep cycles. While there are many well understood health benefits to a glass of red wine each day, studies show that while it may help some initially fall asleep faster, for others it may make it more difficult to drift off quickly. Additionally, it is associated with nocturnal awakenings, which is something I experience nightly. But the biggest factor that caught my eye is that alcohol consumption later in the day can decrease the amount of REM sleep we get.
But wait a minute, wine is healthy for me and even good for my brain. Oh, and there’s the part about I really enjoy a nice glass of wine. I’m not ready to just give it up. Still, if it contributes to better sleep, I’m fine with enjoying a glass with lunch if that’s what it comes to. So, I stopped having wine around dinnertime; it’s been four weeks so far.
What Happened?
The difference has been nothing short of amazing. My light sleep cycles are greatly reduced, my wake ups have dropped to one, sometimes two in a night, and I’m always able to go back to sleep within a few minutes. My deep sleep and REM sleep are both landing right in the zone that’s considered normal. What does that mean?
Let’s look at my average sleep record from a few short weeks ago. My waking time would be anywhere from 60 to 90-minutes across 3 to 8 individual wake ups. My typical REM sleep time was anywhere between 40 minutes up to the rare hour or so. My deep sleep was usually fair, in the 40 to 50-minute range. The rest, of course, was light sleep coming in at 6 to 7 hours.
Now, let me share last night’s records, which has been fairly consistent since making these changes. My awake time was 27 minutes. My deep sleep was 54 minutes, so not much of a change there. But my light sleep dropped down to 5 hours and my REM sleep came in at 2 hours and 20 minutes. Wow. My sleep tracker reports that all of my sleep cycles are now in what’s considered a normal range. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how much better I feel in the mornings lately. A good night of high-quality sleep comprised of the correct ratios of each sleep cycle makes such an amazing difference in how I feel the next day.
My Path Forward
Since I started both the exercise and not drinking wine in the evening on the same day, I can’t say what one of these might have done without the other. Right now, I’m enjoying great sleep far too much to change things except perhaps to see if I can eventually get my rowing time up to the 30-minute range.
As I discussed in my post on how wine can be good for our brains, the polyphenols can help us in many ways. But a little research shows that dealcoholized red wine contains all the same benefits as regular wine. Given that the polyphenols help my brain, and wine is something that I enjoy having with my dinner, I’ve ordered some dealcoholized wine and will be giving it a try. I’ll keep you posted.
References
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