Sleep like a biohacker

Do you know about biohacking? This trend from across the Atlantic brings together a set of practices aimed at improving the body’s vitality and energy, and pushing the limits of life. “Biohacking is about finding shortcuts that will bring you to an optimal state of energy and strength so you can reveal the best version of yourself”says Dave Asprey.
If some advanced practices are controversial – when it comes to modifying the genome of cells or implanting electronic devices under the skin – other gentler ones are accessible to everyone. Nutritional strategies or lifestyle habits can also make a difference and significantly improve your health, as we have been demonstrating for a long time on this site.

Sleep plays an important role in the practices of biohackers. Without restorative sleep, no vitality is possible. There is no point in embarking on complicated biohacking practices if, basically, you sleep poorly. “When you settle into a good, deep sleep, your body goes into repair modeexplains Dave Asprey. This is when your cells get rid of their molecular waste and carry out their maintenance, your muscles grow and your tissues regenerate thanks to the high quality raw materials you have stocked up on. » Quality sleep reduces stress and inflammation, improves cognitive function and memory, and helps with weight loss. “In other words, it is a non-negotiable source of recovery, very accessible if you know how to go about it.”

Here are three practices he recommends for ideal sleep.

1: Track your sleep with an app

How many hours do you actually sleep, do you wake up during the night, and how often? How much deep, light, or REM sleep is there in each of your nights? Difficult to know… And yet this data is essential to estimate the quality of your nights. “The ideal is to enjoy around 1.5 hours of deep sleep and 1 hour of REM sleep per night”says Dave Asprey.

Thanks to an application installed on your smartphone, you can know the characteristics of your sleep. For this, Dave Asprey recommends SleepSpace, an app developed by cognitive scientist Dr. Dan Gartenberg. “He tested and validated SleepSpace technology with a study on aging that cost several million dollars”he said.

The app combines sleep tracking with sound therapy to improve the amount of deep sleep you get.

There are many other applications: Sleep Cycle, ShutEye… They use the sounds you make (snoring, etc.), analyze your movements and your heart rate (if you have a connected watch) in order to analyze your sleep. They can also emit sounds and music to help you sleep better. A French application, Apneal, can allow you to detect sleep apnea.

“Every night, before you go to sleep, quickly write down how you feel – I’ve been doing this for years, advises Dave Asprey. When you wake up in the morning, take your readings using your sleep tracker. But the most important measure is subjective: Did you wake up feeling energized? »

2: Apply the basic principles of good sleep hygiene

These tips may seem obvious, but they are essential for sleeping well: stop using electronic devices and eating two hours before going to bed, and keep your bedroom tidy and peaceful. “Dim the lights at night. Use blackout curtains. Set your thermostat between 15 and 20°C. Change your phone settings to increase the warm light, so you get more red light simulating the sunset »adds Dave Asprey. He also recommends practicing meditation daily to reduce stress.

3: Use food supplements to sleep well

Are you too stressed? Are you having difficulty falling asleep? Is your sleep not as restorative as it should be? There are many herbal solutions and supplements to help you sleep well.

Read: Sleep: 3 supplements to sleep well

Here are three supplements recommended by Dave Asprey in his book to combat stress and improve sleep.

Ashwagandhaan adaptogenic plant from Ayurvedic medicine, is known to promote states of calm.

Magnesium : “The vast majority of us are deficient in magnesium, unless we supplement”says Dave Asprey. He recommends 500 to 1,000 mg of magnesium in two doses, one in the morning and one in the evening.

To learn more, read: Treat yourself with magnesium

L-tyrosinean amino acid used by the brain to produce neurotransmitters involved in the stress response.

To go further: Hyper health