The Insomnia Blog - Sleep Doctor Michael Breus, PhD

Olympics Got Your Sleep—Again?

Watching the Olympics in Beijing less than two years ago kept a lot of us up late at night, waiting and waiting for the events to be shown. The teasers kept us high on alert and anticipation: Coming up, in about 45 minutes, Michael Phelps goes for his 6^th gold… But before that, we’ll turn to women’s gymnastics where the Chinese are determined to beat the Americans…

Now we’re back at the games again, this time in Vancouver where the adrenaline is pumping both at the competition and at home on the couch as we watch these crazy wintertime athletes strut their stuff.

Accupuncture and Accupressure: Can They Help You Get a Good Night’s Sleep?

I get asked pretty frequently about alternative therapies to treat sleep problems. While drugs do have their place in treating some types of sleep disorders, there’s something to be said for the array of so-called alternative methods that don’t entail pharmaceuticals but do, in fact, support restful sleep.

Coming to a Store Near You: Perky Jerky

Caffeine comes in all shapes and sizes now. And I mean all shapes and sizes:

• I just read about a guy in New York who is introducing caffeinated beef jerky to the world. So if you’re not a gum aficionado, this is another option for chewing your way to a jolt.
• Gross or enticing?
• Then again, you can find caffeine in just about anything these days, from breath mints to water. Take your pick.

It all started when Matt Keiser of the Tribeca neighborhood spilled a can of Red Bull on some beef jerky while skiing in Utah four years ago. A-ha! Soon enough, he found a partner to develop the product, which has already hit the Internet and will be sold in Sports Authority shops any day now. A single-ounce bag will deliver 60 milligrams of caffeine, which his the equivalent of a small cup of coffee or one can of Red Bull. (Of course you could always go for the two-ounce version and double your dose.)

But not everyone has raved about this new concoction. I haven’t tried it yet myself, but some say the combination isn’t so tasty. My guess is they’ll figure out a way to perfect the ingredients in the food lab to make for a better-tasting treat.

I wrote about the call for new labeling recently. The good news about something like Perky Jerky and other companies that sell caffeinated foods is that they want to capitalize on the fact their product contains caffeine. So they market their products accordingly. You can’t mistake old-fashioned beef jerky for this latest modified version when the label screams “invigorating beef jerky.” And their slogan: “Getting a Kick Out of Meat.”

But not for a kick out of sleep.

Sweet Dreams,  

Michael J. Breus, PhD
The Sleep Doctor™
www.thesleepdoctor.com
Follow me on Twitter:   http://twitter.com/thesleepdoctor

Click here to order Dr. Breus's book, Beauty Sleep, on Amazon or Kindle, or here to buy it for the Barnes & Noble Nook.

Sleep Loss, Brain Loss

A mind is a terrible thing to waste, as the old adage goes. But so is sleep.

Last week a new study emerged indicating that chronic insomnia may be doing more damage to your brain than you ever thought: it could be associated with a wasting away of its gray matter.

Would You Like Us to Send in a Human Bed Warmer?

Imagine checking into a hotel, and instead of the front desk telling you about their bed-turning-down routine in the evening (with the chocolates gingerly placed on propped pillows), they tell you about a new amenity: human bed warmers. As in, they send someone dressed in a special all-in-one sleeper suit to curl up in your bed for five minutes to heat the sheets up.  

Sound absurd? Well, it’s not. Starting at the end of January, the U.K.’s Holiday Inns in London and Manchester will test out this program in an attempt to outshine others in the crowded hotel industry.  

Granted, there’s nothing like getting into a warm bed. A cool bedroom combined with a warm bed is the perfect recipe for dozing off to a good night’s sleep as the body’s temperature takes a dip. But I wonder if there are other ways to stand out without resorting to this weird, human-required strategy? How about:  

• A smart phone application that lets you control your bed’s temperature or alert the front desk when to turn on the electric blanket.
  
• A sterile, non-human device that can be used to warm up the bed quickly when placed on top of it (note: no need to soil the actual sheets), like a big heated brick.
• More amenities elsewhere: a swankier bathroom, free wi-fi, more TV channels, a plusher mattress and blankets, etc.  

I mean, really, who wants to get into a fresh bed that’s already been used, albeit briefly, by a stranger? What if that person has a cold coming on and sneezes into your sheets and pillow when “incubating” your bed?  

This is something for which the consumer electronics industry and sleep industry should combine forces. There must be a gadget that can do the same thing and give hotel guests more peace of mind. Besides, what if you run into your human bed warmer on your way back to your room (who happens to be chatty) and you just don’t feel like engaging in conversation?   Maybe it is just me but this feels a little weird.  

Sweet Dreams,  

Michael J. Breus, PhD
The Sleep Doctor™
www.thesleepdoctor.com
Follow me on Twitter:   http://twitter.com/thesleepdoctor

Click here to see Dr. Breus's list of recommended sleep products. Click here to order his book, Beauty Sleep, on Amazon or Kindle, or here to buy it for the Barnes & Noble Nook.