Sleep By… Not Sleeping?

When I was a first year junior doctor… about 6 months into the job my sleep was becoming increasingly fractured. By month 8, I had some degree of insomnia – not ideal for a doctor.

While this led me down a path of taking a closer look at my sleep routine and fix it for the better; one small change helped me in the short term and long term – the notion of paradoxical intention.

This is not a new fangled fad, it is a long standing science-based method used in psychological therapy for decades. In fact it has been used in treating phobias and anxiety disorders too, using the premise of adopting the opposite attitude towards your desired outcome.

In the case of sleep – you try to remain awake when you feel ready for bed and essentially reverse your intention of sleep. Bear with me, I know it seems highly illogical but it rests upon the hypothesis that trying TOO hard to sleep can be counter-intuitive.

Sleep is an involuntary process so by trying to over manufacture and control it – you usually mess it up.

Here’s my step by step guide to paradoxical intention to fall asleep faster:

1.    Sleep only when you feel sleepy, not before

·       Your sleep drive needs to be high enough before getting into bed otherwise you will lie in your bed awake and your brain will begin to associate your bed with a state of awakening.

2.    Keep to your normal bed-time routine

·       This still means no TVs, phones or screens at least in the hour before bed

·       You don’t need any fancy sleep apps either

·       Just get into bed and lie down

3.    Don’t close your eyes

·       Eyes open and think to yourself “I’m not sleeping” and continue to reinforce this fact and forcing your body to stay awake simply by trying to keep your eyes open (not by other means like watching tv!)

·       Eventually it’ll be harder and harder to keep your eyes open

·       When you feel the sleep coming on, don’t fight it too hard and let it happen

4.    Aim for consistency

·       As with anything this may not happen instantly. It might take a few days or more to work. Sleep is never an instant fix

If you want to learn more about how to improve your sleep routine, read all about science based methods in my best-selling book:

A Warning About Re-usable Water Bottles!

If you’re reading this, you probably own a re-usable water bottle. What’s not to like – you’re helping to reduce the burden of single use plastic and reminding yourself to drink more water during the day…. but there might be a hidden risk if you don’t use it properly.

The real question is – how often and how do you clean yours?

The water you drink from a tap is not sterile and bacteria will naturally grow after a few days in any filled bottle. The longer you leave the bottle, the more bacteria will grow. A lot of the bacterial load also comes from your oral microbiome – the bugs in your own mouth!

Analysis of these re-usable water bottles show the presence of oral bacterial strains like Staph and Strep – which can be a totally normal part of your microbiome but can also cause skin and lung infections.

Additionally the bottle will accumulate microbes from the environment. Furthermore, if you don’t regularly wash your hands – bacteria from surfaces or other body parts you touch could make their way inside the bottle too.

There is evidence suggesting that a typical water bottle also contains intestinal bacterial strains like E.coli in similar numbers to those found on toilet seats!

The type of liquid can also contribute and influence bacteria growth – liquids containing sugars like protein shakes, fruit juices can stimulate bacterial or mould growth.

The key thing to minimise any risk of an upset tummy is regularly washing your water bottle – you should not just refill and reuse without cleaning it every time just like you would dirty dishes or cooking utensils.

Ensure you use water over 60 degrees Celsius as this ensures most pathogens are killed. Also make sure you use some form or washing up liquid or detergent and rinse again with hot water.

If you’ve not cleaned it for a long time – consider adding a vinegar/water 50/50 mixture and soak it for a couple of days and then wash as above (and clean the lid too!)

Ultimately the reassuring thing is, you have a very robust and powerful immune system to protect you. So just think about cleaning your water bottle as added insurance.

What You Should Watch: 

“Hi-jack” – Apple +

My apple + subscription is coming to an end this month and I must say I’ve really enjoyed some of the series I’ve watched on here.

Most are limited series so you can get a full conclusion in one season and you don’t need to commit to bingeing several seasons and get sucked into a TV black hole.

I don’t think I’ve seen a bad movie or tv show starring Idris Elba. Hi-jack reminds me of the series 24 with Kiefer Sutherland – it has that sort of build up and pace to it – a race against time to avoid calamity.

Idris is a corporate negotiator who ends up on a plane that is being hi-jacked by international financial criminals.

The way the plot plays out makes it seem incredibly believable that this sort of scenario could play out in real life too. It’s only a season long and the episodes go by very quick!

Life Updates:

The last 2 weeks have been hectic.

An all-day health tech conference, 2 speaking events at Oxford University, yearly appraisal deadlines, scripting out my next Youtube video, multiple research deadlines… and throw in family, dog, gym and me time and sleep obviously, somehow.

I’ve always said I enjoy being busy. One day in the distant future, I will look back fondly at these moments where I worked hard in order to achieve the life I want.

Being busy is a privilege, not a burden – at least that’s how I see it.

The next month has a slightly slower pace and I’ll be increasingly less stressed once I get my yearly appraisal done with!

My pooch is having minor surgery tomorrow so that’s also playing on my mind – he’ll be staying as an inpatient at the hospital for 1-2 days for monitoring before he comes back home on Wednesday or Thursday.

I’d like to plan a holiday away this summer – somewhere that has a beach and great food. That’s all I desire.

Achieving Success Boils Down To…

Consistency. The boring stuff.

Whilst consistency doesn’t guarantee success, you cannot be successful without consistency. It is a pre-requisite to even join the waiting list for the “success club”.

Success also doesn’t mean you need to be truly talented or skillful. These terms are overrated and can be built through experience.

What you need to do, is be hard to kill. Be belligerent.

When I started my Youtube channel in 2012… it was 8 years before I had my first taste of “success” in 2020. That’s not to say those 8 years of getting almost no views and traction were wasted, no. Those years were invaluable in building my work ethic, allowing to hone my communication, video curation skills, editing and story-telling. Without those lean years, I wouldn’t have this modicum of success I have on social media right now.

Kimchi recipe!

Fermentation baby!

This recipe for kimchi is adapted to it can be enjoyed by those who are vegan and vegetarian too! (doesn’t have shrimp paste or fish sauce but if you wanted you can add these to the kimchi paste side of things!)

I also didn’t have gochugaru powder so subbed in paprika!

As someone who loves kimchi and has eaten a lot of it – the below ingredients taste pretty good and holds up well to the “traditional” recipes!

Recipe below:

Ingredients for main mix:

- [ ] Napa cabbage 
- [ ] Radish
- [ ] Carrots
- [ ] Spring onions 

Ingredients for kimchi paste:

- [ ] Paprika
- [ ] Ground chilli 
- [ ] Onion
- [ ] Garlic
- [ ] Ginger 

Ingredients for porridge 

- [ ] Brown sugar
- [ ] Water
- [ ] Soy sauce 
- [ ] Rice flour 

Instructions:

1. Wash then quarter the Napa cabbage
2. Salt the cabbage and leave for 30-60 mins until it shrinks in size 
3. Rinse wilted cabbage thoroughly
4. Whisk rice flour, water and brown sugar and bring to boil.
5. Let this mixture cool and add soy sauce
6. Blend together onion, garlic, ginger, ground chilli and paprika to make kimchi paste
7. Combine this with porridge to thicken it
8. Add this thickened kimchi paste to a bowl consisting of sliced carrots, radish and finely chopped spring onion and mix well
9. Then pour this into a large bowl containing the cabbage and mix well
10. Put into a watertight jar and leave at room temperature for 1-2 days to kickstart fermentation

Why is fermented food good for us?

The digestive tract is teeming with some 100 trillion bacteria and other microorganisms.

More research is revealing the importance of a diverse and healthy intestinal microbiome because it helps in fine-tuning the immune system and wards off damaging inflammation inside the body, which may lead to conditions ranging from obesity and diabetes to neurodegenerative diseases.

Until we get to the stage of personalised nutrition where we know which specific strains could help target specific diseases – fermented foods you’re your best bet at keeping your gut in good shape.

Fermented foods are useful because they help provide a spectrum of probiotics (live bugs) to foster a vigorous microbiome in your digestive tract that can keep bad actors at bay.

In addition to helping food last longer, fermentation also enhances the taste of foods, giving them added complexity. Plus, the fermentation process works other forms of magic on foods, changing them and adding nutrients. For example, by eating fermented vegetables, vegetarians can get vitamin B12, which otherwise isn't present in plant foods!