The Power Sleep Program

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The Power Sleep Program

A proven, step-by-step program to
Double Your Energy
Triple Your Productivity
Eliminate Tiredness
Wake Up with Ease
And Get by on 6 Hours of Sleep or Less
Published by:
Jeff Munroe
http://www.sleepwarrior.com
Copyright 2010 Jeff Munroe. All Rights Reserved. No part of this
report may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written
permission of the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a
review.
Note: This e-book is optimized for viewing on a computer screen, but it is
organized so you can also print it out and assemble it as a book. Since the
text is optimized for screen viewing, the type is larger than that in usual
printed books.
Copyright Jeff Munroe
www.SleepWarrior.com
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This book provides health advice concerning sleep practices. It is not a

substitute for medical diagnosis or treatment. This advice should not replace
that of your physician.
The author of this book is not a licensed practitioner of medicine. The
information, advice, and techniques in this book are for informational
purposes only. The reader is advised to verify all of the information in this
book with a qualified physician before making any decisions based on the
advice within.
The author shall not be held liable for any decisions resulting from the
purchase of this book. Before making changes in prescribed health-care
regimes, consult a licensed practitioner.
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Hello. Im Jeff Munroe.

Although my current profession is in neurobiology research, Ive developed a
passion and obsession with personal health and fitness over the years.
Through my own research and personal experience, Ive been amazed at the
lack of attention sleep receives as a component of overall health, well-being,
mind-power, and productivity.
Furthermore, Ive been amazed at the overwhelming amount of rehashed
and sometimes completely ineffective sleep advice thats out there. I firmly
believe that powerful sleep is one of the keys to an optimal life. Ive made it
my mission to spread this knowledge as far and wide as possible, so that
others who share my passion for personal growth can benefit from the
outstanding powers of high quality sleep.
I run a sleep advice website (http://www.sleepwarrior.com), which has
reached sizable popularity.
What youre reading now is, what I consider, the complete bible to getting
the most out of life through powerful sleep.
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Part 1: Core Concepts

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Introduction
How to Use This Guide
History of Sleep
What is High Quality Sleep Anyway?
The Hormones & Neurotransmitter of Sleep
Serotonin & Dopamine
Core Concepts Summary
Part 2: Lifestyle
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
Diet
ExerciseTwo
Common Energy Robbers
Circadian Rhythm
Light Exposure
Caffeine, Alcohol, & Sleep
Relaxation Techniques
Sleep Environment
Conclusion
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Part I
Core Concepts
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The Power Sleep Program has the potential to change lives. How much
depends on your current situation and how much of the advice you put into
practice.
Sleep is often the missing link to the happy, energetic, productive lifestyles
we want for ourselves. Whether you're looking to overcome insomnia and
get more sleep, or learn how to greatly boost your sleep quality and
efficiency so that you can spend less time in bed, the right sleep practices
discussed in this guide will help you achieve your goal.
If you take a close look at your deepest dreams and desires it's unlikely
sleep has anything to do with them. You may want more money, better
relationships, better health, more energy... whatever it is that fills your daily
fantasies, you probably don't think too much about their relationship to
sleep.
Despite the fact that I run a popular sleep advice website, I don't personally
think about sleep too much either.
I, like you, focus my time and energy on my hobbies, interests, friends, and
goalsand, really, just the joy of being alive.
Yet I never lose sight of the importance that sleep plays in our lives. Without
proper sleep, I can pretty much forget about my goals. My energy,
motivation, and even my social skills, have a direct dependence on the
quality of sleep I got the night before.
I see sleep as playing a supportive role in my life. And I think this is a good
attitude to adopt as you read this guide. Perhaps high quality sleep itself
doesn't hold much interest to us all the time, but when we consider how high
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quality sleep can double our energy, double our motivation, and triple our
productivity... then sleep becomes much more interesting.
Learning how to increase your sleep quality should be, I think, required
information for everyone. Why go through life being in the dark about how
your body works?
This guide will probably only take you one day to read, but this advice may
serve you for the many years ahead.
Even if you only improve your sleep quality by 10%, that's a 10% increase
every night for the rest of your life.
If that 10% increase in sleep quality yields a 10% increase in energy and a
10% increase in productivity...
Then, assuming that you work 8 hours per day, that's an extra 30 minutes
of focused productivity per day. Which is almost an extra 200 hours per
year. Think of all the extra projects you can accomplish in 200
hours...
And if this guide reduces your required sleep need by 1 hour per day, that's
effectively an extra 15 days per year, or an extra month every other year.
What could you do with an extra month every other year for the rest
of your life?
I hope you can start to see how making incremental improvements in your
sleep can make big changes in your life for many years to come.
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The guide takes a lateral approach to improving sleep. Sleep should never
be treated in isolation; it should be treated in regards to its relationship to
other lifestyle factors, such as diet, exercise, psychology, and mental health:
Although you should read it from start to finish, when it comes to applying
the advice in your own life, you'll have to pick and choose. Make
improvements one step at a time depending on what improvements you feel
are most critical to you at that time.
At the end of each section, I include references to websites that might be
useful. I suggest you:
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Ignore these references the first time you read this guide.
Or bookmark the references for further reading.
That way you don't come down with a information overload the first time
you read this.
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I like to start my discussions of sleep with a bit of history. This will help you
understand the big picture of sleep.
To our knowledge, nearly every sleep disorder is of modern origin. The
opening sentence of Eluned Summers-Bremners book, Insomnia: A Culture
History states:
Insomnia as we know it today was not to be found in the
ancient world.
Insomnia is estimated to affect at least 10% of the entire industrialized
population, although some national surveys have shown that at least 50% of
the populations experience some sort of difficulty with sleep.
It makes you wonder, then, why are sleep problems so prevalent
today? And why didnt they exist in the ancient world?
I hope this guide will help shed some light, but lets get the basics out of the
way first.
The answer comes down to something any Biology 101 student should
understand: Gene Expression.
Most people think genes refer to some hard-coded blueprint that describes
the fate of your health. You either have the cancer gene or you dont.
Maybe you have the fat gene which is making you fat. Maybe you have the
god gene which explains your faith, or the alcohol gene that turns you
into an alcoholic. If you have clear skin, an athletic body, and symmetrical
face, people may be envious of your good genes.
Too bad genes dont work that way.
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The truth is that your genes are programmable. Certain genes turn on or
off based on the environment they are exposed to. Right this very second,
thousands of genes are turning on and off inside your body.
That Alzheimers gene wont turn on if you feed your brain the right food
as well as get adequate exercise. The fat gene wont turn on if you dont
overload on sugary sodas every day.
Likewise, the insomnia gene can turn off if you take the right steps to do
so. Same with the fatigue gene, the tired-all-the-time gene, and the Isleep-10-hours-a-day-but-still-feel-like-crap gene.
Anyway, back to history.

Human history dates back 2.5 million years. For that extensive length of
time we lived roughly the same type of lifestyle. We ate from the same food
groups, got the same amount of exercise each day, slept the same amount,
and were exposed to the same amount of stress. We exposed our genes to
roughly the same environment for those 2.5 million years.
Our genes evolved to handle this lifestyle. The process of gene expression
became optimized for this environment.
But in recent evolutionary history a few major environmental changes have
occurredhere are 4 big ones:
10,000 years ago: humans started consuming grains, legumes, and

dairy products (the agricultural revolution). Since grains are energydense (but nutrient poor) this allowed us to change from huntergatherers into city-dwellers. For various reasons, this was a bad move
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for human health, but a good move for civilization and cultural
advancement. (Most people cant fathom the idea of a grain-free diet,
but the truth is that humans went 99.5% of their history grain-free.)
140 years ago: the invention of the light bulb. We no longer lived by
the sun and moon, but by day lengths of our choosing, screwing up
our melatonin cycles and the genes that code for it.
Past 100 years: huge increase in the amount of environmental toxins

from industrialization (pollution, pesticides, mercury in waters,
aluminum compounds in skin products, etc.)
Past few decades: huge increase in the amount of processed food

consumed. Huge increase in the amount of artificial stress
(overworked, 24-hour society, etc).
2.5 million years of the hunter-gatherer lifestyle is a long time. For the most
part, our genes are identical to those of our ancestors about 30,000
years ago. Evolution has yet to truly catch up to the radical change in diet
brought by the agricultural revolution (which was just 500 generations ago).
And evolution certainly hasnt had a chance to re-optimize our genes to deal
with the changes of the past 100 years.
There are about 85 or so hunter-gatherer tribes still in existence today (that
is, 85 remaining caveman tribes). Many scientists have compared their
health with the health of us industrialized people. Hunter-gatherers, such as
the Pygmies of Africa, the Pila Nguru of Australia, or the Sentinelese of the
Andaman Islands all these societies are essentially devoid of most
modern diseases.
Cancer, diabetes, obesity, heart disease, depression, acne, schizophrenia,
and insomnia are rarities, if not nonexistent. (They also have great eyesight
and straight teeth.)
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In Captain Cooks voyage to New Zealand and Australia (the first European
contact of the continent, around 1770) he made the following comment
about the hunter-gatherer Maori tribe of New Zealand:
... strange that these people enjoy perfect and uninterrupted
health...we never saw a single person who appeared to have any
bodily complaint...the great number of old men that we saw. . . .
appeared to be very ancient , yet none of them were decrepit;
and though not equal to the young in muscular strength, were
not a whit behind them in cheerfulness and vivacity..."
This was, of course, because the Maori were programming their genes
using a diet and lifestyle through which the human genome was optimized.
(By mimicking their lifestyle, you too can program your genes to experience
perfect and uninterrupted health, but well get to that later)
Now, a note on sleep and energy (since that is what The Power Sleep
Program is about).
As I mentioned, there is little evidence of sleep problems in the huntergatherer realm. Even the agricultural era preceding the invention of the light
bulb had little evidence of sleep disorders. The light bulb brought a
sudden change to our genes external environment. When this
happened, our sleep patterns changed and our melatonin cycles became flat.
More on this later.
Second is the topic of energy. I experienced a rather drastic case of
tiredness/fatigue earlier in my life. As I was learning more about the hunter-
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gatherer (a.k.a. Paleolithic) lifestyle I ran across a fact that startled me:
Our hunter-gatherer ancestors walked, on average, about 12 miles per day.
There was no way could I fathom walking 5 miles per day, let alone 12.
Its not just about being physically fit either, but also about mental stamina.
Either way, something about my lifestyle was not programming my genes to
express themselves in the true energetic, enthusiastic, animated ways of
my inner hunter-gatherer.
You have a hunter-gatherer in you capable of explosive energy and
disturbance-free sleep. Its just a matter of reprogramming your genes.
Question: But didnt our ancestors live only to be 35?
This is the first question that pops into everyones mind at the
mention of the Paleolithic lifestyle.
First, the average age was 35, meaning for every child that died
at birth there was someone who lived to 70. For every mother
who died during childbirth at the age of 20 there was someone
who lived to 50.
Second, people died from many causes that our modern lifestyle
circumvents. To eat dinner, we just have to go to the grocery
store and pick up some food; we dont have to hunt and kill
another animal.
Third, modern medicine has drastically improved the average
lifespan through fighting rare infections and reducing the risk
associated with child birth.
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Regardless, when you compare similarly-aged individuals from industrialized

societies and hunter-gatherer societies, the hunter-gatherers are simply
healthier; in the words of Dr. Cordain:
While chronic degenerative diseases generally produce mortality
in later life, they begin much earlier, often in childhood. This
allows comparison between age-matched younger members of
industrial and technologically primitive societies. Biomarkers of
developing abnormality such as obesity, rising blood pressure,
non-obstructive coronary atherosclerosis, and insulin resistance
are common among the former, but rare in the latter.
Measurements of muscular strength and aerobic power reveal
similar discrepancies, again favoring individuals whose lives
more closely resemble the ancestral pattern. About 20% of
hunter-gatherers reach age 60 or beyond, but even in this age
bracket, individuals from foraging and other technologically
primitive cultures appear almost completely free from
manifestations of most chronic degenerative diseases
(osteoarthritis is an exception).
In terms of overall health and wellness I love the hunter-gatherer context.

But the hunter-gatherer context also provides some interesting information
about the natural human sleep pattern.
Generally, humans slept quite differently before the advent of artificial light.
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Before the invention of the light bulb, people experienced much longer
nightsup to 14 hours of complete darkness, depending on the season and
latitude.
Studies of pre-industrial societies show that people normally fell asleep just
an hour or two after sundown. This could be as early as 6 or 7pm.
After about four hours of sleep, they woke up naturallyright in the middle
of the nightand spent a few hours socializing, doing chores, making love,
or simply meditating over the dreams they had.
They then retired for a second 4-hour session of sleep and woke up around
sunrise.
Afternoon naps were also much more common.
One recent study put subjects into an environment free of artificial light. The
subjects slept just like our ancestors. The graph on the next page shows the
sleep pattern of one woman from the experiment.
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As you can see, for the first few nights the person slept excessively to catch
up on sleep debt, but after a while the sleep stabilized to the same way our
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ancestors sleptapproximately in two 3- to 5-hour sessions, but still totaling

around 8 hours per night.
Other studies have also found that, before the invention of the light bulb,
people:
Often took about an hour to fully fall asleep. The time before
sleep was considered a nice time to meditate and relax, and the
transition into sleep was more gradual.
Woke up gradually, not instantaneously.
This picture of natural human sleep is very different from what we

see today.
The reason I mention these things is to loosen up your assumptions about
sleep patterns. When it comes to developing your own power sleep
routine, you do not need to necessarily conform to some of the modern
sleep rules:
That 8 hours of sleep is absolutely essential.
That taking 1 hour to fall asleep is necessarily bad.
That waking up once or twice during the night (and being unable to fall
back asleep) is necessarily bad.
That the wake-up process is instantaneous, and should be facilitated

by an alarm clock.
The above rules do apply in some cases, but theyre not necessarily
gospel.
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Because artificial light forces us to live in perpetual summers, its

impractical to sleep in two sessions per night like our ancestors did during
winter months. But if your body tends to a more flexible sleep pattern,
realize this might not be a disorder in itself, but perhaps your bodys way of
reverting to its old ways.
Now, enough about the evolutionary backdrop of sleep. Lets get into the
science of sleep.
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I dont want to spend too much time on the science of sleep, or all the
fascinating processes the brain goes through during sleep. You can get that
information from most popular sleep books.
However, a little bit of science is necessary to understand just what Power
Sleep entails.
As you may know, your brain enters different sleep stages throughout the
night. Each sleep stage is defined by different brainwave frequencies, with
the slowest frequencies corresponding to the deepest stages of sleep (see
the resources if you dont understand what brainwaves are).
The 5 sleep stages are:
Stage 1: A drowsy, semi-conscious state.
Stage 2: Slower brain activity. About half of all your sleep each night is
spent in stage 2 more for inefficient sleepers and less for efficient sleepers.
Stage 3: Even slower brain activity.
Stage 4: Slowest, deepest stage of sleep. Heartbeat slows. This stage
triggers your body to release several hormones that are essential in healing
the body.
REM stage: REM is a special stage of sleep. This is where the most vivid
dreams occur. The body paralyzes itself to ensure that it doesn't act out the
dreams.
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Note: When I say that stage 3 and 4 are characterized by slow

brain activity, Im referring to the rate at which your brain cells
are firing. But dont think that your brain is less active overall. In
fact, stage 4 sleep is very active.
Think of it this way:
Fast brain activity is when your brain is taking short, shallow
breaths at a rapid pace.
Slow brain activity (i.e. stage 4 sleep) is when your brain is
taking deep, heavy breaths.
This is important to know because we want to do everything we
can to ensure the brain has enough energy throughout the night
to maintain this high-level of activity.
Stages 3 and 4 are collectively known as deep sleep or slow-wave
sleep. For the rest of this guide I'll use deep sleep to refer to these
stages.
Now thats the basics of sleep stages Onto the basics of sleep cycles.
All throughout the day, your brain goes through what are known as basic
rest and activity cycles (BRAC)it cycles through highs and lows of
alertness and relaxation. Each period of alertness corresponds to fast
brainwaves. Each period of relaxation corresponds to slow brainwaves.
You have about 12-16 BRAC cycles per day.
If you pay close attention, you may notice that every 90 120 minutes
during the day, your mind will start to daydream and dip into a state of
relaxation. That just means youre at the end of a BRAC cycle. Give your
brain about 20 minutes and the cycle will restart, where youll feel energized
an alert.
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This BRAC continues on through the night. (Its active during sleeping and
waking.) During night, the BRAC produces what are called sleep cycles:
Im sure youve seen one of these images before.

At night each time you hit the REM stage that means youre at the end of
the cycle. Notice how these cycles tend to last 90 to 120 minutes. Also
notice that deep sleep occurs primarily in the first half of the night,
while REM sleep occurs primarily in the second half of the night.
Question: What stages of sleep are most important?
Common wisdom says that deep sleep and REM are considered the
need stages, but why they're needed is not perfectly understood.
Keep in mind that since sleep is mostly a function of the brain, there's still a
lot about it that we don't understand about it (since there's a lot about the
brain we don't understand).
In fact, we don't even understand 1% of how sleep and the brain work. The
description of stages is only a starting point, but it barely scratches the
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surface. There's just so much that neuroscience has yet to revealfor now,
this is just a fact we have to deal with.
Keep this in mind so you don't fall into the trap of thinking that sleep stages
are the end-all description of the sleep process.
With that said, various studies do suggest that deep sleep and REM appear
most critical, and contribute most to that feeling of refreshed vitality during
the day. Both deep sleep and REM appear to play complimentary rolesthe
two reinforce each other, so we probably dont want to go on a mission to
maximize one but not the other.
Maximizing sleep quality can thus be thought of as maximizing time
spent in deep sleep and REM. As we will find out, most studies show that
good sleep habits increase the time spent in both of these stages.
Example: As we age our sleep becomes less refreshing, as
perhaps many elderly people could tell you. By monitoring brain
activity during sleep, we see that the older we are the less time
we spend in these need stages and more time we spend in the
light sleep stagesthat is, stages 1 and 2.
Likewise, most sleep disorders are at least characterized by
excessive amounts of light sleep and minimal amounts of deep
sleep and REM.
If you wake up feeling fantastic, you can safely assume that you got a nice
dose of deep sleep and REM.
If you wake up feeling tired, you can safely assume that you spent most of
the night in light sleep.
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Take a close look at both of these graphs

The top graph shows the type of sleep you probably had during childhood.
Lots of deep sleep (stage 3 and 4).
Lots of REM
Continuous, undisrupted sleep cycles.
The person who has sleep defined by the top graph wakes up easier, has
more energy, and needs less sleep overall (since the body gets in the need
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stages in a shorter amount of time). The bottom graph may be the type of
sleep you experience now.
Hopefully, after reading this guide you can get a sense of how to change
your sleep quality to resemble the top graph.
Resources
Brain Waves & Brainwave Entrainment Read this article for a good
understanding of what brainwaves exactly are. This will help you
appreciate what is actually meant by the different stages of sleep.
http://www.sleepwarrior.com/brain-waves-brainwave-entrainment/
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The process of sleep is complicated, and, as I already mentioned, not

terribly well understood.
Many hormones and neurotransmitters affect the process of sleep.
Note: A hormone is simply a chemical your body uses to send
signals between cells. For example, if you see a lion out in the
wild, your brain will tell the adrenal glands to release the
hormone adrenaline, which will tell the muscles to take in more
energy (the fight or flight response).
A neurotransmitter can be thought of as a chemical that tells
certain regions of the brain to be on or off.
Some chemicals, such as serotonin, are both hormones and
neurotransmitters.
Your body uses hundreds of different hormones, and dozens of
neurotransmitters.
There are four main hormones/neurotransmitters that play a very big role in
sleep quality, wakefulness, and energy levels. Those four are:
Melatonin
Cortisol
Serotonin
Dopamine
(I could turn this into a 1,000-page guide by detailing all the sleep-related
interactions between your bodys many hormones and neurotransmitters,
but well keep it simple).
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Melatonin is considered the nighttime hormone. Its main function is to

tell the brain to release a neurotransmitter called GABA, which is essentially
your brains main tranquilizer, or sleep-inducer.
Melatonin is also your body's most powerful antioxidant, with 60 times the
antioxidant power of Vitamin C. It has powerful anti-cancerous and antiaging properties. So its two main functions are to heal the body and promote
the natural sleep process in the brain.
High nighttime melatonin levels increase both deep sleep and REM
amount. Learning to maximize this hormone through lifestyle habits will be
a common theme in obtaining powerful sleep.
Melatonin follows a rhythm each 24-hour period. During the day, your
body turns off melatonin production (and switches to serotonin/dopamine
mode). During the night, your body ramps up melatonin production to
improve sleep quality.
Learning to maximize melatonin levels at night, and minimize levels
during the day is one of the core concepts of the Power Sleep
Program.
Think of melatonin levels as a wave we want that wave to be as big as
possible, with high highs and low lows. The lifestyle section of this guide will
show you how to do this.
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Next we have cortisol. Cortisol has been called the stress hormone,
because its levels increase in times of stress. But in reality, cortisol has
numerous functions, such as:
To help wake you up in the morning with a jolt of energy
To stimulate the brain and increase alertness in the early morning

hours
To increase alertness during times of stress (fight or flight)
To heal the body from physical stress (an injury).
To increase blood sugar when levels are too low (well discuss this one
later)
And that's just a few of its functions...

For a healthy individual, cortisol follows this pattern throughout the day:
In the last few hours of the night (e.g. 6am to 8am), cortisol will start to
increase. It spikes when you wake up, and gradually declines throughout the
day. Other alertness mechanisms take place in the evening hours.
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Because cortisol stimulates the brain, it is one of the greatest

inhibitors of deep sleep. You want cortisol to be as low as possible
as you fall asleep at night.
Low cortisol at the start of night lots of deep sleep.
However, cortisol is necessary to stimulate the brain in the morning hours.
A healthy spike of cortisol in the morning a jolt of energy to wake

you up.
Many cases of insomnia may be simply due to heightened cortisol

levels at night. But even if you don't have insomnia, high cortisol levels will
decrease your sleep efficiency, causing you to wake up less refreshed.
You have probably heard that stress is harmful to sleep. This is due to the
fact that during times of stress the body release excess cortisol, which has
the side effect of keeping your mind in racing thoughts mode.
So although cortisol has numerous functions, one of our core goals is to
decrease stress so that cortisol is allowed to follow its natural rhythm.
Now with that said, take a closer look at that graph. Our goal here is not to
decrease or increase cortisol. Our goal is to let our body use cortisol in
its natural way that is, we want our bodies to release a healthy spike of
cortisol in the morning, and we want to facilitate a gradual decline
throughout the day so that at nighttime cortisol levels are nearly 0.
Some people have over-stimulated adrenal glands, and produce around
twice as much cortisol than they should. Others, however, have the opposite
problem and barely produce any cortisol. The former problem sometimes
goes hand-in-hand with stressful lifestyle and anxiety-related insomnia. The
latter problem sometimes goes hand-in-hand with low energy and
uncontrollable tiredness.
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The Power Sleep Program will aim to fix both problems.

Note: If you look at the above graph you will notice that cortisol
levels start to increase about half-way through sleep. This is
normal. This is partly due to the fact that you havent eaten for a
while, and cortisol levels increase to keep blood sugar levels
normal (well discuss this later), and is partly your brains way to
switch to include more REM sleep. The key is to have cortisol
levels as low as possible during the first half of the night so that
deep sleep is maximized.
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Out of the 50-ish neurotransmitters in your brain, serotonin and dopamine

are among the most important in controlling your mood and overall state of
mind.
Both are important in regulating sleep and energy levels. Many cases of
insomnia, excess tiredness, lack of motivation, aggression, and even
schizophrenia can be explained by a serotonin/dopamine imbalance.
You may have heard serotonin referred to as the happy chemical and
dopamine as the reward/addiction chemical.
Unfortunately, both neurotransmitters are much more complicated and have
many (sometimes contradictory) functions.
For example, in the 1950s, studies were done proving that serotonin is a
sleep hormone, that it induces drowsiness. A couple decades later, other
scientists proved that serotonin is actually an alertness hormone.
Hmm
What we now know is that serotonin supports high quality sleep (lots of deep
sleep and REM) and alertness and mental energy during the day. How
serotonin functions depends on several factors, such as the type of
receptors used, the region of the brain in which serotonin is acting, and
the availability of other hormones such as insulin.
Dopamine is equally complicated. However, well try to keep things as simple
as possible. So lets take a generalized look at how both of these brain
chemicals apply to The Power Sleep Program.
Dopamine increases energy, alertness, libido, motivation, happiness,
and impulsiveness. A healthy dopamine high is what you experience when
you feel naturally high on life. It also promotes learning and is critical for
memory consolidation.
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Serotonin increases energy and alertness as well. It lifts the mood,

produces a calm happiness and an overall sense of well-being. Unlike
dopamine, serotonin suppresses impulsiveness.
High serotonin levels might induce a calm euphoria, whereas high dopamine
levels might induce a buzzed euphoria.
Serotonin is also important for sleep. As we mentioned, it increases deep
sleep and REM. Part of the reason is because serotonin is the precursor
to melatonin.
In other words, your body converts serotonin into melatonin. Generally
speaking, your brain is in either serotonin mode or melatonin mode.
Which mode depends on how much light your eyes are exposed to.
Nighttime is melatonin mode, daylight is serotonin mode.
So serotonin levels are used up throughout the night (in darkness) as your
brain is in melatonin mode, because most of the serotonin is converted
into melatonin. Once daylight arrives your brain switches to serotonin
mode and halts the production of melatonin.
Now back to dopamine: an interesting effect of a dopamine high is the
apparent ability to get by on less sleep.
Have you ever noticed that during your high on life moments you wake up
easier and never feel tired? Thats the dopamine acting.
Dopamine is also your primary love chemical. Levels of dopamine surge
during the honeymoon stage of a relationship, but eventually subside after a
few weeks or months. This explains why studies show high school lovebirds
report sleeping 1 hour less than their loveless peers.
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So what is life like when your serotonin or dopamine tanks are on empty?
One fascinating study (Am J Psychiatry, 2005) administered a dopamineblocking drug to a 21-year old (Mr. A.) and observed the effects. According
to the study, heres what happens when you literally have zero dopamine
its quite fascinating:
Mr. A was a healthy, extraverted, very well functioning 21-yearold medical student without even minor psychological difficulties
or psychiatric disorders in his family We will describe the
spontaneous reported subjective experiences after he started the
first dose of 750 mg AMPT [a dopamine-blocking drug]
After 7 hours, Mr. A felt more distance between himself and his
environment. Stimuli had less impact; visual and audible stimuli
were less sharp. He experienced a loss of motivation and
tiredness. After 18 hours, he had difficulty waking up and
increasing tiredness; environmental stimuli seemed dull. He
had less fluency of speech. After 20 hours, he felt confused. He
felt tense before his appointment and had an urge to check his
watch in an obsessive way.
After 24 hours, Mr. A had inner restlessness, flight of ideas; his
ideas seemed inflicted, and he could not remember them. He felt
a loss of control over his ideas. After 28 hours, he felt ashamed,
frightened, anxious, and depressed. He was afraid that the
situation would continue. At that time, blepharospasm, mask
face, and tremor were noted. After 30 hours, he was tired and
slept 11 hours. After 42 hours, he had poor concentration. In the
next hours, he returned to normal.
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Fortunately, youll never experience completely diminished dopamine levels,

but you can gather some themes from what life is like on low dopamine:
excessive tiredness
unable to control your thoughts
anxiety
difficulty waking up
loss of motivation
What about low serotonin?
P a g e | 36
According to Mary Ann Copson, a brain chemistry profile clinician, 10 signs

of low serotonin are:
1. You become reclusive and avoid situations that make you
anxious.
2. You feel driven to avoid all conflict and challenge and are
fearful of starting new ventures or taking calculated risks.
3. You feel overwhelmed, resentful, and victimized by your
circumstances.
4. You have a tendency toward compulsive behaviors,
perfectionism, and withdrawal. You worry a lot and see most
things in a negative way. You may be extremely vigilant and
overly controlling.
5. You are impulsive, have a short attention span, feel blocked
and scattered, and easily fly off the handle.
6. You crave sweets and carbohydrates and tend to
overeat (especially comfort foods). You tend to eat more
in the afternoon and evening.
7. You are compelled to clean and organize things around you.
Once you start cleaning you may get "sucked" into the activity
and find it hard to stop.
8. You are prone to heat intolerance, panic, phobias,
fibromyalgia, and TMJ.
9. You are a night owl, experience insomnia, and have
trouble getting to sleep.
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10. You feel depressed, hopeless and that you lack personal
power. You may feel sad and cry a lot.
I highlighted points 6 and 9point 6 will become clear in the diet section of
this guide.
Since serotonin levels are so important for sleep, a poor serotonin system
will make it not only difficult to fall asleep, but rob you of true Power Sleep.
Your body needs the serotonin to convert to melatonin at nighttime.
So both serotonin and dopamine, so far, sound like good chemicals.

Serotonins good for sleep and inducing calmness at night, as well as
promoting mental energy and happiness during the day. Its good for
alleviating depression and suppressing compulsive behavior.
Dopamine is good for daily energy, motivation, libido, and goal-oriented
behavior (and a healthy level of impulsiveness to combat the problem of
repetitive day-to-day routines).
But as you might guess, they have a slight dark side.
Excessive dopamine can lead to addictive behavior, unhealthy risk-taking
and compulsiveness, aggression, anxiety, and schizophrenia. This is
particularly true when dopamine levels are high but serotonin levels are low,
since serotonin can help calm the mind and lighten some of dopamines
negative effects.
Although serotonin is an energizer chemical, if serotonin levels are too
high compared to dopamine, it can lead to a slight numbness a lack of
impulsiveness, decision-making, motivation, and vitality. Serotonin, without
its counter-part dopamine, can also cause impotence and lack of sexual
desire.
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Low serotonin is not always bad. When you fall in love for the first time,
serotonin drops drastically, while dopamine levels explode. The result: you
feel buzzed, excited, and high on life, and your focus turns towards sex. In
true evolutionary fashion, the dopamine eventually subsides to serotonin
and you can focus on non-sexual aspects of survival (hunting, etc).
If any of this sounds confusing, just focus on the following key points:
Both serotonin and dopamine are generally considered good

chemicals. We want them.
Both serotonin and dopamine improve energy levels. Serotonin is more
associated with feelings of happiness and tranquilitywe also need it
for high quality sleep. Dopamine keeps you excited, always motivated,
and high on life.
These are the basics. We mentioned how problems can arise when either
chemical is too high or too low, or when they are out of balance (one high,
the other low).
But heres the good news: we dont have to micromanage our
serotonin/dopamine balance. We can reprogram our genes to handle
the balancing for us.
With certain lifestyle tricks, we will find ways to keep serotonin and
dopamine in their natural, healthy ranges (not too high, not too low). We
will have enough serotonin at night to be converted into melatonin. Our
bodies will produce enough serotonin during the day, without overpowering
the effects of dopamine. And we will find ways to stimulate dopamine
production to keep us naturally energized and motivated, without going
overboard into the realm of unwise risk-taking and aggression.
P a g e | 39
Once you expose your body to the right environmental cues (the ones your
genes have accustomed themselves to over the past 2.5 million years), the
balancing act will take care of itself. Youll feel energized. And youll sleep
like a baby. And, in those rare cases you fall in love or find novel excitement
in life, youll switch into high dopamine gear and feel on top of the world
(and will probably require less sleep because of it).
P a g e | 40
High quality sleep is defined by the amount of Deep Sleep and REM
obtained. We can improve sleep quality by getting more Deep Sleep
and REM, and getting less Light Sleep.
Melatonin is a hormone that makes us tired and increases Deep Sleep
and REM
Melatonin is good at night, but bad when were awake.
Cortisol is a good hormone in the morning because it wakes us up
and keeps us alert.
Cortisol is a bad hormone at night because it interferes with deep
sleep.
Healthy serotonin levels are important for sleep quality at night
because serotonin is converted into melatonin
Healthy serotonin levels are important for energy levels during the
day, because serotonin can also act as a mood-enhancing stimulant.
Healthy dopamine levels are important for that high on life feeling.
Dopamine is responsible for our mental energy, motivation, and libido.
Both serotonin and dopamine can go out of whackeither too high or
too low or out of balance with each other.
We will follow the example of our hunter-gatherer ancestors,
reprogram our genes, and let our bodies balance all of these
hormones/neurotransmitters for us!
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Part II
Lifestyle
P a g e | 42
Now that you understand the core concepts of Power Sleep, lets get into
the lifestyle recommendations that make it happen.
Well start with diet.
When I solved my energy problems I did it with diet. I think diet was about
70% of the solution; the remaining 30% came laterthey were exercise,
light therapy, and some other aspects well talk about.
But since diet is, in my opinion, the most important factor in sleep quality
and energy levels, well start with that.
I want to explain the diet-sleep connection in a bit of a roundabout way. I
want to sell you on a particular dietary philosophy, and then follow up with
explanations of why this diet gives the results that it does.
In particular, I want to focus on what some have labeled the Paleolithic
diet.
I wont flat-out recommend following its every rule (though you can if you
want). Instead, lets just explore it for a moment, and see what sort of
results people report when they follow it.
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The Paleolithic diet (or simply, Paleo diet) is based on a very simple concept:
eat what our ancestors ate.
Here are the rules for the Paleo diet:
Can eat:
Meat
Fish
Eggs
Vegetables
Fruit
Nuts
Seeds
Cant eat:
Grains
Beans
Refined sugar
Starchy vegetables (potatoes)
Dairy
Chemical additives
This is precisely the diet that was on our ancestors plate 20,000+ years
ago. And its the diet that our genes are predominately accustomed to.
We didnt start eating grains until 10,000 years ago. All grains, beans,
starchy vegetables, and dairy products must go through a refining process
before becoming edible. Grains require milling and cooking. Grains and
legumes are slightly poisonous and mostly inedible in their raw states.
Humans did not start consuming milk from domesticated animals until about
6,000 years ago.
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Again, on our 2.5 million year history, these changes are very recent.
Theres a bit of confusion over some Paleo diet details, so keep these points
in mind as well:
Eggs are animal products, not dairy products, and were eaten by
hunter-gatherer tribes, but they probably didnt eat them often.
Peanuts and cashews are legumes (beans), thus are not part of
the Paleo diet.
Hunter-gatherers ate the organs of animals, including the heart,
liver, and even bone marrow.
Hunter-gatherers ate more raw food. First evidence of cooking
and fire usage dates back ~300,000 years ago, but most cooking
was slow and low-temperature.
Corn is a grain, not a vegetable. Its not a Paleo food.
Most people have a hard time imagining life without grains no bread,
pasta, rice, etc.
Despite this, the Paleolithic diet is fairly popular. Theres definitely a Paleo
movement, even if it doesnt get much limelight. (Much of this movement is
due to Dr Cordains book, The Paleo Diet)
I first tried this diet several years ago. The first 2-3 weeks were a bit
dreadful, but I slowly started to gain more and more energy. Lots of other
strange things happened too: my skin started to glow, my hair got thicker,
my eyes became whiter, my senses improved, my occasional and mild panic
attacks disappeared, and more.
P a g e | 45
Based on common wisdom, grains, beans, and dairy are required for
optimal health. So instead of justifying why removing them (or mostly
removing them) is a good idea, lets instead take a look at what happens if
you do so.
I have gathered numerous anecdotal claims that the Paleo diet improves
energy levels. It only takes a quick Google search to find them
Again, I want to try to sell you on the diet before explaining why it works.
This testimonial section will be a little wordy, but read it carefully.
The next few pages are nothing but testimonials from people who follow the
Paleo diet. They werent written to me; I found them all online.
For example, take this discussion thread on the CrossFit forums. Here,
various Paleo dieters answer some basic Q&A about their lifestyle:
Erin Davidson
Q: What types of foods did you eat before you started the
Paleo diet?
A: Oh anything - but lots of processed stuff that I thought wasn't
processed because it said "whole grains" on the front or some
such thing. Very little veg, low quality meats if that at all.
Q: Prior to the Paleo diet were there physical limitations
you experienced (i.e. fatigue/low energy, sore muscles,
digestive issues, irregular bowel movements, skin
problems, holding onto weight etc...).
A: I couldn't not eat every 2 hours. I would get headaches and
feel nauseous before and during training sessions. Generally
very unpredictable digestive patterns, low skin quality, and
definitely holding onto a lot of umbilical and supra-iliac fat.
P a g e | 46
Q: What was it like for you to transition to the Paleo diet?

A: At first I think mentally it was hard for me to feel "deprived"
of things. Eventually though I came to see the good foods I was
eating as being what I was ACTUALLY deprived of before. I felt
better when I ate what was good for me - not when I ate
whatever the hell I wanted. I don't think my insulin levels were
used to not having a huge sugar spike every hour and so had a
little trouble at first feeling kind of sleepy and hungry all the
time. [Note: well talk about insulin soon] I used to have to eat
LOTS of fruit every day to manage the lower insulin levels I
think. Eventually levelled out though through the use of zone.
Q: What physical improvements have you experienced
since you began the Paleo diet (i.e. increased energy,
weight loss, etc)?
A: Much better energy levels leading to better
productivity, clearer skin, less stress, less moodiness, better
body composition in general, almost complete loss of any kind of
cramps during menstrual cycle, sound sleep.
Well see that much better energy levels is a fairly unanimous result of
going Paleo. Heres another testimonial:
David Khutzen
Paleo diet?
A: I ate more or less anything I could get my hands on. I
typically leaned towards whole grains and similar type foods,
mostly because I prefered the taste over the white stuff. But I
was very carb heavy, didn't pay too much attention to fat, and
ate a fair amount of meat.
P a g e | 47

since you began the Paleo diet
A: I am a CF [CrossFit] beast, I look really sexy, and once I'm
awake, I'm never drowsy. Eating paleo gives me a much
better outlook on life, as I get very moody and [sour] when
I've got too much processed carbs in me. I'll be eating this way
for the rest of my life, as long as I'm in control of my diet
Another common theme is that many Paleo dieters previously ate healthy
whole grains, such as whole grain bread or cereals, etc.
Samantha Aurelio
Paleo diet?
A: I ate strictly "low-calorie"/"heart-healthy grains" before hand.
Lots of wheat pasta, low-fat/fat-free yogurts, LUNA BARS!,
significantly less veggies than now, protein shakes, etc.
since you began the Paleo
A: All around energy. My awareness has increased, my skin
cleared, I had dropped like.. 5 lbs once I started eating Paleo, my
stomach has settled (used to get stomach aches/bloating after
meals), I stress less (significantly... hah), and have seen
tremendous improvements in my ability as a CrossFit athlete
P a g e | 48
Brian Doll
Paleo diet?
A: Looking back, I ate a ton of bad carbs that I thought were
healthy. Wheaties every morning. Lots of whole wheat bread.
Whole weat pasta. My diet was dominated by cheap carbs, with
meat pulling in second and fruit and veggies were way at the
bottom. Tons of dairy as well in milk, cheese, yogurt, etc.
you experienced?
A: Constant hunger, energy highs and lows, weight gain.
Q: What was it like for you to transition to the Paleo diet?
A: For some reason it was much easier than I expected. I
transitioned from Wheaties every morning to eggs every
morning and never looked back. The rest of my food followed
suit. I've been able to find a wide variety of paleo foods I really
like, so that's made it very easy.
since you began the Paleo diet (i.e. increased energy,
weight loss, etc)?
A: I lost 50 pounds in 5 months. My energy is much more
consistent throughout the day. I eat and feel full. I've also lost
that "fog" that I can only now experience if I eat a really bad
cheat meal. It's amazing how you get used to that sluggish
foggy feeling when you eat bad food. Eating clean leads to high
performance in everything and mental clarity is surely one of
them.
P a g e | 49
Dough Blankenship
you experienced.
A: I was hospitalized three times with stomach problems, had
some anxiety attacks, super high cholesterol, I had bad
headaches. I started the Paleo diet, no more stomach problems,
no more anxiety attacks, cholesterol is 111 currently, no more
headaches and I no longer weigh 329 pounds, Im at 191 as of
today. Only took 1 year and 5 months. CF [CrossFit] and the
Paleo Diet works.
since you began the Paleo?
A: I lost 139 pounds in a year and five months I can out
perform 99.9% of people I run into at physical competition,
doesnt matter what it is, running, cycling, picking up concrete
bags, pushing there vehicle, doesnt matter what it is, I can work
harder and longer than the people who lift three times a week
and do two hours of cardio a day and then after I get done out
doing them I still have room in the tank for a [workout of the
day].
Oh yeah and I don't have the Carb Fog anymore and my energy
levels are higher than those that drink redbull and smoke crack
all day.
Before going Paleo I dont think I would have believed that making a change
to your diet could give you energy levels higher than those that drink
redbull and smoke crack all day.
Now that I eat Paleo, I completely understand that statement.
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Joe Bernard
since you began the Paleo diet?
A: I got ripped like no tomorrow, seriously. I stayed the same
weight for a year, but during that time I got a six-pack, and
became defined all over. Even though I am skinny, which helps
with definition, but still. Paleo also helped me have much
more constant energy levels, as well as more energy
because I was off of the all the processed crap I used to
eat. As a result, performance increased significantly, and I just
feel better and lighter whenever I eat Paleo. Even when I get
no sleep (college), I still feel pretty good.
Read those testimonials carefully. Notice that the most common

improvement is more energy. Some people noted better sleep as well.
Others have noted that a Paleo diet removed their depression, anxiety, and
panic attacks. Could this be due to an improved serotonin system and more
stable serotonin levels? Yes, and Ill explain this one later.
Clearer skin is also a common result of the Paleo diet. Theres a
lot of research by Dr. Cordain that covers thisone of his studies
analyzed around 3,000 people from hunter-gatherer societies
and not a single pimple was found.
When it comes down to it, the biggest difference between the Paleo diet and
the standard healthy diet is the removal of grains. Even though you
probably heard that whole grains are healthy because they contain
complex carbohydrates (which is just another term for starches)it is
certainly interesting that as humans we went 2.5 million years, or 99.5% of
our history, without them
P a g e | 51
Alternatively, lets take a look at a study that followed several raw foodists.
While I dont particularly recommend eating only raw food for the sake of
eating raw food, the raw food diet does share some similarities with the
paleo diet its free of every thing artificial.
This 2006 study followed the results of over 500 raw foodists. (source)
Here are the summarized results of the study:
Long-term raw foodists reported sleeping 1 to 2 hours less compared

to when they were on their previous diet.
31% reported having good or excellent energy levels prior to the
raw food diet. After switching to a raw food diet, that portion raised to
88%.
Those reporting having a lot of stress in their lives dropped from
56% to 20%. (hence less cortisol at nighttime and better sleep)
Subjects reported a noticeable increase in their mental energy and
focus.
Subjects even reported more frequent feelings of ecstatic bliss (could
this be due to improved serotonin and dopamine systems?)
How does this raw food diet fit in to our Paleolithic framework?
Nutritionist and Author Nancey Lee Bentley writes:
While there is a growing consensus today that eating raw food is
healthier, the fact is, throughout history all cultures have
modified, "cooked" or altered the energy field of their foods in
some way. This is one of the 11 fundamental Characteristics of
Traditional Diets, based on extensive research on so-called
primitive cultures throughout the world by Dr. Weston Price in
the 1930s. Even the most primitive tribe discovered in our time,
The Tasaday of the Philippines, who had no wheel or weapons,
P a g e | 52
did have fire, which they started with wooden sticks and used to
roast wild yams and other foods.
But lets keep things in perspective: the raw food diet, like the Paleo diet,
promotes the complete removal of grains, refined sugar, and other
processed foods. The raw food diet is essentially the Paleo diet without the
meat. That, in my opinion, puts it very close to a diet that optimizes gene
expression by mimicking the pre-agricultural environment of 10,000 years
ago.
Again, I dont recommend dogmatically following a paleo diet just for the
sake of doing so. I only started out by mentioning testimonials to give a
sample of what typical results might look like.
In order to optimize our sleep and energy, we need to next focus on why
ancestral diets give the results they do. Well look at the biochemistry behind
it, so that we can adopt specific rules without having to only resort to the
nebulous big picture approach.
Given the astronomical scope of your bodys biochemical reactions, theres
really no way to carefully analyze each and every aspect of diet and how it
relates to sleep. However, there are two concepts that play a very big role,
and well look at them in detail.
Those concepts are:
1. Blood sugar, insulin, and ketones.
2. Insulin and serotonin.
Lets take a look at the first concept:
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Generally speaking, your body has two main sources of energy:
Glucose
Fats
Glucose is a simple sugar and can be easily derived from most

carbohydrates. Certain fatty acids (or, just fats) can also be used as fuel.
Glucose can be considered a high octane fuel. Due to its efficiency as a fuel
source, your body evolved in such a way to preserve glucose for
mostly the brain and muscles.
Your brain, by the way, consumes about 20% of your bodys energy despite
weighing just 2% of your bodys mass. Its a true powerhouse and requires
precise care when it comes to feeding it with fuel. Unfortunately, the modern
diet is anything but precise and ends up flooding the brain in too much fuel,
which can lead to all sorts of problems. Let me explain.
Most people are unaware of how the body uses food as fuel. There are three
macronutrients found in foods:
Carbohydrates
Fats
Protein
Your body has impressive ways to convert all three of these nutrients into
either glucose or fatty acids to be used as fuel.
But lets just focus on glucose for now.
Your glucose fuel comes primarily from carbohydrate intake (glucose itself is
a carbohydrate). All carbohydrates come in one of two forms:
P a g e | 54
Simple sugars (glucose, sucrose, fructose)
Starches
Starches are simply chains of glucose molecules. You have probably heard
the term complex carbohydrates. A complex carbohydrate is simply
another name for starch both are simply chains of glucose.
When you eat carbohydrates, your body converts it fairly quickly into just a
bunch of glucose molecules. If you eat a piece of bread, which is mostly
carbohydrate, its only a matter of minutes until all those starches become
glucose molecules.
Your body also converts all the simple sugars into glucose (and if you
consume glucose itself, theres no need for conversion). So when you drink
soda, which might contain glucose, fructose, or sucrose, it all ends up as
glucose pretty quickly.
So far, so good. Your body loves glucose. Your brain cells love it even more.
Heres where it gets messy:

Your body has very precise mechanisms in place to ensure that the amount
of glucose in your blood is constant. Not too much and not too little.
The mechanism includes two hormones: insulin and cortisol.
When glucose levels are too high, insulin is released to lower glucose
levels.
When levels are too low, cortisol is released to raise it (by helping the
body turn available protein into glucose).
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Note: Just to reiterate, although cortisol is referred to as the

stress hormone it actually has a multitude of functions, such as
increasing glucose levels in the blood when they're too low.
Either way, the side effect of having too much cortisol floating
around in your system (that is, at bedtime, not in the morning)
is decreased sleep quality due to the stimulating effects of
cortisol.
By using insulin and cortisol, your body keeps glucose levels just right. This
finely tuned balance ensures that your brain always has the fuel available to
survive and thrive. Given that the brain is just as active in sleep as in
wakefulness, a steady stream of brain fuel is critical for high quality
sleep.
Certain diet and lifestyle habits, however, can throw off this finely tuned
balance.
What happens when you consume too many carbohydrates at once? (Say,
you just ate 3 pieces of cheesecake).
Your body goes into panic mode. Glucose, because it is a high octane
fuel, is actually toxic at very high levels.
So what does your body do? It secretes massive amounts of insulin to lower
blood glucose levels as quickly as possible. Your body tends to overshoot the
insulin response and blood glucose drops far below normal levels, after
which it must secrete cortisol to raise it back up.
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Sound confusing? Heres a sample timeline:
Consume a large amount of carbohydrate (3 pieces of cheesecake)
All those carbs are converted straight into glucose -- too much glucose
is released in the blood
Your body panics and secretes insulin to lower glucose
About 1-2 hours after the meal, glucose levels are now below normal
levels.
From 2 to 5 hours after the meal, your body secretes cortisol to slowly
raise glucose back to normal.
This is called the blood sugar roller coaster.

Many people go day to day on this roller coaster. Here are some symptoms
that you might be on it as well:
You become irritable if you skip a meal.
You have energy highs and lows
You gain weight easily, particularly around the abdominal region
You have excessive cravings for food
Note: I sometimes use glucose and blood sugar

interchangeably. Theyre the same thing
The blood sugar roller coaster sounds bad, and it is. To restate one of the
points I made a couple pages ago:
Given that the brain is just as active in sleep as in wakefulness, a
steady stream of brain fuel is critical for high quality sleep.
A steady stream of glucose can keep your brain sharp and focused. A roller
coaster will flood your brain with high octane fuel one hour, then deprive it
the next. The term brain fog often refers to a lack of brain fuel, which is
why you might get brain fog 1-2 hours after a heavy meal.
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So thats one problem with the roller coaster, but there are two others.
In the core concepts section we talked about how cortisol decreases deep
sleep amount. Eating foods that induce the blood sugar roller coaster will
cause an increase in cortisol 2-5 hours after the meal. You want cortisol to
decline gradually throughout the day, so roller coaster meals should be
avoided.
The last, and perhaps most detrimental, problem of the roller coaster is
something called insulin resistance. Although you probably heard of insulin
resistance as something only people with diabetes experience, the truth is
that nearly everyone in an industrialized society has some level of insulin
resistance.
Heres what it is:
Insulin resistance is when your cells become tolerant to insulin. This is when
insulin becomes less effective at what it does (which is lower glucose levels
in the blood).
Think of it this way. When you drink lots of caffeine day after day, the drug
starts to lose its effect, so that you need more and more caffeine to get the
same boost in energy. This is because your brain cells become tolerant to
the caffeine molecule, thus caffeine itself becomes less effective.
The same thing can happen with insulin. Your insulin levels can reach high
levels day after day and insulin itself becomes less effective. This is where it
becomes troublesome:
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Insulin is required to move glucose out of the blood and into cells to
be used as energy. When your cells become resistant to insulin, your
cells become less able to utilize glucose.
But your brain cells need glucose for fuel. When your brain cells become less
able to use glucose, your brain overall becomes less able to think
clearly and even less able to conduct powerful sleep.
All of this might seem a bit confusing, but lets put it in perspective.
Back to the hunter-gatherer example. Their diet consisted of meat, nuts,
seeds, vegetables, and fruit.
No grains, no sodas, no cookies, no cakes.
Hunter-gatherers got nearly all of their carbohydrates from fruits and
vegetables.
Generally speaking, thats not a lot. It might have amounted to at most 150
grams of carbohydrates per day.
However, like I said, the body evolved to use glucose primarily for the brain
and muscles. 150 grams per day was plenty for the brain and physical
activity.
An interesting component of the carbohydrates found in vegetables and fruit
is that they dont spike blood sugar much at all. Because they dont spike
P a g e | 59
blood sugar, they dont cause an insulin spike. Thats good that provides a
steady stream of glucose for the brain. No sugar crashes.
Now when you take a look at modern day foods such as grains and junk
food, they are known to spike blood sugar quite aggressively.
Even though you have probably heard that whole grains are healthy
because their starches are more complex, the truth is that even many
whole grains spike blood sugar considerably more than vegetables or fruit.
If you want a more in-depth look at how specific foods spike
blood sugar, take a look at their glycemic load. A quick look at
a foods glycemic load (charts can be found online) reveals that
most hunter-gatherer foods have low glycemic loads, while most
grain-based or modern foods have high glycemic loads.
So if ~150 grams or less of plant-derived carbohydrates were used for the
brain and muscles, what was used for the other organs in the body?
The answer is fats. One specific fat-fuel, called ketones, are actually
preferred over glucose by many organs in the body. Your heart, for example,
runs more efficiently on ketones than it does on glucose (See the work by
Dr. Eades)
The problem arises when you consume excessive carbohydrates per day. If
you eat 400 grams per day (which is about average in the modern diet),
then most cells in your body will be in glucose modeketone production
will go down because so much glucose is available. Generally speaking, its
smarter to leave just enough glucose (carbs) for your brain and muscles so
that other organs in your body can run on ketones (or technically a mix of
the two fuels).
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With this in mind, it makes sense to focus on a diet that your body was
designed for: meats, nuts, seeds, vegetables, and fruit.
In summary, a Paleo or raw food diet will do several things to promote

powerful sleep and high energy levels:
1. It will keep blood sugar levels in check so there will be a
steady stream of glucose available for the brain. No sugar
crashes after meals (more energy during the day), and no sugar
crashes while asleep (more energy for the brain to conduct powerful,
efficient sleep).
2. It will allow cortisol to decline naturally throughout the day.
Remember that cortisol is a brain stimulant. The blood sugar roller
coaster will cause cortisol to be released in unnecessary amounts at
unnecessary times, leading to poor sleep and occasionally the racing
mind that prevents sleep onset.
3. It will help repair insulin resistance, meaning more energy
overall not only for the cells in your body, but also your brain cells.
Clearer thinking, more mental energy, and of course better sleep.
At the beginning of this section I mentioned that there were two concepts to
understand about diet and sleep:
1. Blood sugar, insulin, and ketones (which we just discussed)
2. Insulin and serotonin (which we will now discuss.)
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In this section we will really start to connect some pieces of the puzzle.
Serotonin, which was discussed in the core concepts section of this guide, is
absolutely important in sleep and energy levels.
Most cases of insomnia, anxiety, depression, and/or panic attacks
have some relation to a poor serotonin system in the brain.
With regards to diet, lets take a look at one last Paleo testimonial. I pulled
this from a Paleo diet website called MarksDailyApple.com. It serves as a
very good example of how diet can turn your life around:
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Keenan - High Fat, Less Cardio Transformation

I have two pictures of me and two stories. The first was taken in
2005 at age 20 after I finished a big bulking session. I had spent
the previous 4 years working out like a bodybuilder. I ate little to
no sugar, only complex carbs (brown rice, baked/sweet
potatoes, wheat bread, etc) and followed typical bodybuilding
low-fat high-carb diet. I worked out 4-5 times/week, did steady
state cardio (swimming, usually), etc.
Around this time, I started developing severe anxiety and panic

attacks, both of which are disorders of serotonin regulation.
Serotonin is largely affected by insulin and messed up
serotonin often goes hand in hand with insulin resistance.
You can barely tell from the picture that I had substantial
musculature, because it is so covered by fat. I weighed about
175lbs and I could bench 240 and squat 300. Not bad, but not
great either. A week after this picture was taken, I had
appendicitis and then an appendectomy, followed by the mother
of all panic attacks. For over a month, I was completely
incapacitated and could only sleep for 1-2 hours each night.
After months of trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with
me, I stumbled upon the Paleo diet on Art DeVanys website.
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I dropped the complex carbs, upped my fat consumption,

worked out less, and did less cardio.
After only 2 years of this, heres a second picture taken a few
months ago at age 22
I weighed about 160 in the 2nd picture, and my lifts are the
same as when I was 175, except that I have more power and
control of them now. Panic attacks are non-existent because my
insulin levels are low and regular, keeping my serotonin levels
low and regular. There is much, much more to the Paleo lifestyle
and diet then getting big; its about physical and mental
health, sustainability, and quality of life.
Source
His story isnt unique either. Theres a strong connection between messed
up insulin and messed up serotonin. Those complex carbs from whole
grains simply arent as useful as theyre made out to be.
You may have heard somewhere that carbohydrates increase serotonin.

This is true, though its more accurate to say that insulin signals the
production of serotonin. This is why a high-sugar food makes you feel so
goodthe insulin spike causes a spike in serotonin. This is also why many
foods are considered comfort foods (and notice how all comfort foods are
high-carb).
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Since insulin and serotonin levels are closely associated, when you eat a diet
that puts you on the insulin roller coaster (or the blood sugar roller
coaster), youre also taking a ride on the serotonin roller coaster.
Theres nothing wrong with the serotonin-insulin connection, but our bodies
can have too much of a good thingwhen you induce an artificial serotonin
high, your brains serotonin receptors can burn out. Day after day of carboverload will put enough pressure on your serotonin receptors that you can
become serotonin resistant. This is like insulin resistance discussed
earlier.
Although high-carb foods make you feel good in the short term, over time
they can do damage to your serotonin system which means poorer energy,
poorer sleep, or perhaps insomnia and panic attacks like in Kenneths
example above.
Eating a Paleo or raw food diet will likely improve your serotonin function. It
will keep serotonin in its healthy range (not too high). It will keep serotonin
receptors from burning out, which will allow your body to run on a steady
stream of serotonin instead of requiring frequent carb-induced boosts every
3-5 hours.
So, yes, something like cheesecake will increase serotonin for the next hour
or so. But its an artificial increase. Youre better off letting your body
regulate serotonin levels in a way it was designed.
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Many non-Paleo carbohydrate sources (grains, refined sugar, etc) cause

insulin highs and lows, which lead to serotonin highs and lows, which
ultimately can damage your overall serotonin system (e.g. serotonin
resistance).
Paleo carbohydrates (those from fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds)
do not cause the insulin roller coaster and allow your serotonin
levels to be steady and regular.
Now that you understand some of the dietary puzzle pieces, put it all
together and reread some of the Paleo diet or raw food testimonials. The
energy improvements associated with these diets should start to make
sense.
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I hope this discussion convinced you of the strong connection between diet,
energy levels, and sleep quality.
I mentioned the Paleo diet and the raw food diet because both have wellestablished communities. You can easily learn more about either just by
searching the Internet. But diet doesnt have to be rocket science. You dont
have to follow any specific diet to improve your energy levels. I prefer
looking at my diet as a real food diet, which Ill explain now.
The premise of the real food diet is this: eat foods that my body recognizes
as food. Avoid fake foods completely. Eat semi-real foods in moderation or
only when necessary. And eat real foods in as much quantity, whenever you
feel hungry.
Heres a sample breakdown:
Real foods (eat plentifully):
Meat our ancestors ate meat and our body recognizes meat as food.
Vegetables particularly organic, leafy green vegetables
Fruit especially berries.
Nuts
Seeds
Semi-real foods (eat occasionally or only out of social convenience):
Bread, pasta, rice, corn etc humans went 99.5% of their

evolutionary history without grains. Its a food in a sense that our
bodies can extract nutrients (mostly empty carbs), but not a food in
the sense that our bodies are not genetically programmed to
sufficiently handle their macro/micro-nutrient profile. I make little
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distinction between whole grain and refined grain because all

grains are refined in some way (unless you sprout your own grains,
but thats another topic entirely!)
Raw milk similar to grains, dairy products (milk from domesticated

animals) only entered the diet very recently (6,000 years ago). Raw
milk and cheese is better than pasteurized milk, as it is closer to its
natural state.
Beans just like grains, all beans are indigestible unless processed
and cooked. Due to their higher amounts of nutrients, they are better
than most grains (their carbs arent quite as empty), but still a
recent addition to the diet.
Processed meats from poorly fed animals Not all meat is created
equal. High quality meat requires the animal be fed its natural diet
(grass, seeds, etc not corn), with no preservatives, antibiotics, etc.
Unfortunately, the majority of meats available at restaurants or the
grocery store fall into this category of semi-real foods.
Fake foods (avoid completely):
Any type of junk food if you cant recognize any of the ingredients on
the label, its probably not a real food.
Pasteurized milk some people would consider this a semi-real food,

but the pasteurization process puts milk too far from anything truly
natural.
anything containing trans-fats or hydrogenated oils
soy-based fake meats
Sodas The natural human diet has never in its 2.5 million year
history encountered any food remotely resembling soda.
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If transitioning to a Paleo-like diet seems like too much, there are two
changes that can give you the bulk of the benefit upfront:
removing sugar and refined grains
adding more leafy green vegetables
Those two steps alone represent a huge stride in the right direction.
Even though I consider myself a health fanatic, I realize theres more to

life than just optimizing health through diet. Most Paleo dieters and raw
foodists I know are equally realistic and give themselves some wiggle room.
This is why I recommend the 80% rule: eat perfect 80% of the time, but
give yourself some flexibility.
Some people might say include some cheat meals into your week. But I
dont like calling them cheat meals I love eating a Paleo diet and the only
reason I cheat is because of social convenience, not because I have sugar
cravings or the like.
For example, here are some of my flexibility rules:
When out with friends at restaurants, some corn or rice is OK.
A few ciders or mixed drinks once in a while (I dont drink beer due to
its gluten contentIm quite gluten sensitive).
A little cheese on omelets once in a while.
Despite the occasional cheating I still do quite well. I never have carb
cravings like I used to. And I sleep incredibly well, have more energy than I
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know what to do with, and rarely (if ever) experience symptoms of messed
up serotonin (depression, anxiety, etc).
Ill only make a quick mention of this, but its very important:
No two people are exactly alike, thus no strict dietary regime can perfectly
apply to all people.
In other words, what works for some people is not guaranteed to work for
you. Across the population, there is such a wide array of food sensitivities
some people cant tolerate grains at all, some people cant tolerate milk,
some people tolerate nuts better than others, and some people are allergic
to a few real foods like tomatoes or even strawberries.
Finally, some people seem to tolerate high fruit diets better than others. And
some seem to tolerate high meat/protein diets better than others. Some
experts believe that your recent ancestral history might offer an explanation
for this. If your ancestry comes from equatorial regions where plants were
available year-round, then you might do better on a high-fruit diet; if your
ancestry comes from extreme-latitude regions where meat was the only food
option during winter seasons, then you might do better on a highmeat/protein dietand might in fact do very poorly on a high-fruit diet.
Take control of your own health and find what works for you. Be open
minded and avoid dogmatic perspectives.
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Diet is perhaps the most important component of The Power Sleep Program.
If you have never encountered these concepts before, your head might be
spinning from information overload. So heres a quick summary with all the
key points:
Many people following a Paleo diet or raw food diet experience a huge
boost in energy, sleep quality, and mood.
Hunter-gatherer tribes (who naturally follow a Paleo diet) experience
almost none of the Western ailments, including insomnia, anxiety,
panic attacks, chronic fatigue syndrome, etc.
Our distant ancestors did not eat grains, legumes, or dairy. Our genes
have yet to fully catch up.
Carbohydrates are converted into glucose, regardless of the
complexity of the carbohydrate.
A high carb meal (or a meal with a high glycemic load) will spike blood
sugar levels.
This will require the body to enter panic mode it will spike insulin
to bring blood sugar down.
This will result in a blood sugar crash, which explains the brain fog
and tiredness following some meals.
2-5 hours after the meal, the body will secrete cortisol to raise blood
sugar back up. This might cause cortisol levels to be too high at
nighttime, thus interfering with sleep quality.
Over time, these frequent insulin spikes will cause insulin resistance.
Since your brain cells can be insulin resistant just like your other cells,
this may result in chronic brain fog or even poor sleep.
Serotonin problems go hand-in-hand with insulin problems.
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Eating real foods will promote healthy genetic expression. Eating

real foods will stabilize your glucose levels, insulin levels, and
serotonin levels. It will help reverse insulin resistance, which will allow
your body to get more energy per glucose molecule. It will help
reverse serotonin resistance, which will improve serotonin function
overall, and make you less dependent on serotonin highs. It will allow
your body to utilize both ketones and glucose as fuel, as per natures
intention, which will eliminate carb/sugar cravings completely.
Overall, eating real foods and eliminating processed foods will improve
your energy levels and optimize the brain chemicals necessary for
powerful sleep.
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Exercise is a difficult topic to cover. Generally, exercise is good for energy

levels and sleep quality, but there are many variables at work. The benefits
of exercise depend on things like the time of day or the type of exercise
youre doing.
Believe it or not, sometimes exercise can actually be counter-productive.
In a general case, exercise helps sleep in the following ways:
It reduces stress.
It increases bloodflow to the brain. Some sleep experts say that the
quality of your sleep is only as good as the quality of your day. When
you're mentally active and excited during the day, you sleep better at
night. Increased bloodflow to the brain increases mental alertness
faster brainwaves, and improved glucose and oxygen delivery to brain
cells. By the time you sleep at night, the brain will be better primed for
efficient, high quality sleep.
It raises body temperature, allowing for a stronger drop in body
temperature at night. A cool body increases deep sleep amount.
Also, exercise improves your bodys glucose metabolism, meaning
your body will be better at maintaining glucose levels in the blood (this
benefit goes hand in hand with the concepts covered in the diet
section).
And lastly:
Certain types of exercise boost dopamine and serotonin

production.
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Think back to the dopamine & serotonin section of this guide this is by far
the biggest benefit of exercise (technically, many other feel good
hormones are involved, such as epinephrine and endorphin. But, hey, the
more the merrier).
Thats the good aspects of exercise, now heres the bad:
Certain types of exercise can drastically increase cortisol.
Certain types of exercise can actually deplete dopamine/serotonin,
Cortisol needs to naturally decline throughout the day, and every time we
give it an artificial boost were damaging our sleep quality.
The thought that exercise can be bad is absurd to most people, but the idea
is not anything new.
If we go back to our concepts of the hunter-gatherer lifestyle, and how it
represents our optimal gene expression, its clear that exercise, not just diet,
has changed drastically in recent years.
Our hunter-gatherer genes seem to be optimized for certain types of
exercise:
lifting heavy things
long durations of low-intensity movement such as 10-mile daily

walks.
quick sprints (e.g. running from a predator)
What humans did not do is run marathons, or even spend 30 minutes

jogging on treadmills.
Studies have shown that, after running a marathon, runners sleep as much
as 2-4 hours more than usual. Many people assume that this is because the
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muscles need to recover, but this most likely due to increased cortisol
levels.
Remember, one of cortisols functions (other than being a stress hormone)
is to increase the amount of glucose in the blood. Excessive exercise
requires so much glucose that the body has no choice but to elevate
cortisol levels, hence stressing out the body and ultimately reducing
sleep quality.
Our goal is to find types of exercise that:
Optimize dopamine and serotonin boosts
Minimize cortisol secretion.
Generally, its the Paleo exercises that do just thatlong walks, short
sprints, and lifting heavy things. Not 60+ minute treadmill sessions.
Heres a quote from The Mars and Venus Diet and Exercise Solution by John
Gray
What is too much exercise? Running for seven miles for most
people is too much, even though it may make them feel high as
a kite. I have too many friends who at fifty need knee surgery
from jogging. The golden rule for everyone is, If your exercise
gets you out of breath or causes you to feel sore afterwards, you
are doing too much.
A little moaning and groaning in the gym is great, but if you are
not enjoying every bit of it, then it is too much. Even if you
enjoy it, if you are sore the next day, you are damaging your
body and inhibiting the proper production of brain
chemicals. You will also know you are exercising too much if
you feel tired or bored at other times.
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The triangular type [referring to body type] tends to

overexercise because too much exercise produces a high from
endorphins in the brain. This is a false benefit, because
overexercising uses up the amino acids in the blood and
blocks the continuous production of dopamine in the
brain, which is associated with a mans energy and
intelligence levels.
With intense exercise, all the amino acids go to the
muscles, and none are left to produce the feel-good brain
hormone dopamine. In addition, all the blood sugar is
metabolized and little is left for the brain. The brain gets all its
energy from carbohydrates. When these are gone, there is
nothing left for the brain.
Overexercising is particularly harmful for students. It is no
coincidence that athletic types in school often have difficulty
keeping their grades up. The jock is a stereotype, though body
type, just like gender, has nothing to do with intelligence. But
overexercising can make you less focused, less motivated, and
less attentive. Too much exercise will lower dopamine levels and
decrease the activity of the prefrontal cortex in the brain.
Bottom line:
Most types of exercise stimulate serotonin/dopamine production.
Overexercising gives you an endorphin high, which is a good thing,

but it comes at the cost of using up too much dopamine and
increasing cortisol levels.
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Paleo exercises the ones that are right in the middle and dont overstrain
your body give a huge boost in both serotonin and dopamine production
without the cortisol boost.
If youre trying to lose fat, then this Paleo lifestyle works well for
many people. Spending 30 minutes on the treadmill depletes
your body of glucose and causes you to crave carbohydrates,
which will cause an insulin spike and put your body in fat
storage mode. Look back to the Paleo testimonial from Kenneth.
In the before-and-after pictures, he actually lost fat from doing
less cardio. Exercise and eat like a caveman and your body will
switch to fat burning mode its very simple, and its how your
genes were designed.
Lets take a look at a popular form of exercise called High-Intensity

Interval Training (HIIT). HIIT involves fast springs followed by slow
walksfor example, a series of 60 second sprints followed by 120 second
walks would be HIIT. HIIT is really just Paleo cardio, but people who follow
HIIT typically dont think of it that way.
Nevertheless, HIIT has the advantage of being studied scientifically. When it
is compared to chronic cardio we know that:
HIIT produces a smaller cortisol response than long durations of

jogging/running.
HIIT produces a testosterone boost (another energy hormone

important for both men and women), while chronic cardio can reduce
testosterone levels.
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HIIT expends more calories in a shorter duration of time, thus is more

effective for fat loss.
HIIT produces less oxidative damage to your cells.
Dont get caught up in the details of how to do HIIT just do an intense

sprint for maybe a minute or two then walk for a while until you feel like you
can sprint again. Its a good Paleo exercise, and is (in my opinion) the only
option when it comes to intense cardio.
Overexercising and chronic cardio arent the worst things in the

world; they give you an adrenaline/endorphin high, which feels great.
But this high comes at the cost of an artificial boost in cortisol, which
will damage sleep quality. It may increase your sleep need by 1-3
hours. It also comes at the cost of depleting the nutrients that are
used to create dopamine and serotonin.
Doing Paleo exercises short sprints, long walks, HIIT, and lifting
heavy things will give a huge boost in serotonin and dopamine
production, while minimizing the cortisol response. These are ideal for
energy, sleep, health, and longevity.
Not exercising at all is likely worse than overexercising. No exercise

means no dopamine and serotonin boost.
As always, find what works for you. If you spend 30+ minutes jogging on
the treadmill every day, but feel unmotivated at other times during the day,
you may be inhibiting proper dopamine balance, in which case I would
recommend switching to Paleo exercises. If you dont exercise at all, then try
to throw in something, anything, to give a healthy serotonin and dopamine
boost.
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Resources
Case Against Cardio This is an article from a website called Marks Daily
Apple. It gives you the basics of why long sessions of high-intensity cardio is
counterproductive to good health. Although the article doesnt directly
mention sleep, it does mention how excessive cardio drastically increases
cortisol levels.
http://www.sleepwarrior.com/link/case-against-cardio
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Consider this section to be a quick detour before we get into topics like
circadian rhythm, light exposure, and caffeine.
In this section we will talk about two common energy robbers two
conditions that are associated with excessive tiredness and poor sleep.
Keep in mind that even if you feel these conditions don't apply to you, you
can always take the same measures to reverse their effects and notice a
boost in sleep quality and energy levels.
Adrenal fatigue is estimated to affect 90% of industrialized people on some

level at least once in their lifetime.
Your adrenal glands are responsible for the fight or flight response, and
they're responsible for overall energy levels and even waking you up in the
morning (its your adrenal glands that produce cortisol). They become
extremely active in times of physical or psychological stress.
If you live a highly stressful lifestyle (e.g. youre a University student), then
your adrenal glands are likely working overtime. Theyre working too hard,
and its possible that they will eventually burn out.
When the adrenal glands burn out they can no longer produce the proper
levels of hormones that your body requires (e.g. cortisol).
This is called adrenal fatigue. It can be characterized by any of the
following symptoms:
difficulty waking up in the morning
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lack of energy until the late evening
highly pronounced feeling of tiredness during the afternoon
light-headedness upon standing up
cold hands and feet
inability to muster the motivation to do work
everyday activities feel like a chore
decreased productivity
Although adrenal fatigue is mostly attributed to a stressful lifestyle, its

cause can be from just about any lifestyle factor that overworks the adrenal
glands, such as:
sleeping less than your brains required amount for extended periods
of time
too much caffeine
too much sugar
too many refined carbohydrates
lifestyle stress
death of a loved one
working too hard
etc.
For most, adrenal fatigue is 100% reversible. By limiting stress, caffeine,

sugar, and getting lots of sleep, the adrenal glands will heal over the
course of a few weeks to a few months. Fully functional adrenal glands
will give you the energizer hormones your body needs to stay mentally
focused and alert throughout the day.
I recommend for anyone to watch their caffeine and sugar intake, as well as
watching day-to-day stress levels. Improving these things will help the
adrenal glands return to 100% functionality, which, to you, means:
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a huge jolt of natural energy in the morning
increased motivation
increased productivity
It turns out the same steps to reverse adrenal fatigue are precisely the ones
covered throughout this guide. In terms of diet, the main cause of adrenal
fatigue is foods with a high glycemic load (i.e. foods that causes the blood
sugar roller coaster). A real foods diet will solve that problem.
The second main contributor is overconsumption of caffeine, a topic we will
cover in a later chapter.
I mention adrenal fatigue because the condition is so prevalent. Take note at
the signs of adrenal fatigue. If you become light-headed after standing up,
or if you have particular difficulty waking up in the morning, or if you have
very low energy in the morning hours, then you might need to watch your
grain, sugar, and caffeine intake much more closely than someone who
doesnt have these signs.
Toxic metal poisoning is certainly overlooked in terms of overall health.

And despite the discouraging name, toxic metal poisoning is surprisingly
common.
Some of the most common toxic metals are:
mercury
lead
aluminum
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cadmium
Although these metals have been associated with an increase risk in just
about every disease, one of the first signs of overexposure is excessive
tiredness, sleepiness, and/or insomnia.
In 1992, a study published in Environmental Neurotoxicity reviewed the
number of chemicals that have been linked to various conditions. Of all the
chemicals they studied, they found that 87 different chemicals have been
linked to fatigue, and 119 have been linked to sleep disturbances.
Another study showed that factory workers have a significantly increased
risk of insomnia and fatigue. The reason is their increased exposure to heavy
metal toxins in their work environment.
Few people understand just how toxic some metals are. Mercury, for
example, becomes toxic at one part per billion. That's the same
concentration of one grain of salt in a swimming pool.
Since I started the SleepWarrior.com website, Ive received several e-mails
from people detailing their struggle with excessive tiredness, some of whom
found through tests with their doctor the cause to be mercury poisoning, or
some other excessive exposure to environmental toxins.
Through what Ive researched, Im convinced that everyone living in an
industrialized environment could improve their energy levels and sleep
quality by limiting exposure to environmental toxins.
Remember that the modern environment is very different than what it was
just 100 years ago. Its not that theres anything inherently wrong with
modern chemicals, its that our bodys genetic makeup and process of
genetic expression were not designed to handle these chemicals.
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The primary source of harmful toxins is food and contaminated water.

However, the same substances can enter your bloodstream through your
lungs and through your skin. Anything you put on your skin has the potential
to enter your bloodstream; your skin is not an impenetrable barrier. (Im
often reminded of those who are allergic to gluten, the protein found in
wheatthey cannot use certain lotions or shampoos that contain gluten or
else they get noticeably sick).
The good news is that your body is capable of removing toxins. Generally,
we want the rate of removal to be faster than the rate of exposure.
Now, with that said, theres a point where you have to draw the line. Not
everyone has the money or desire to buy 100% organic food, organic skin
care products, organic shampoo, organic household cleaners, etc. I dont
think its wise to become too stressed about every little toxin in the
environment, so Ive developed just a few action steps to follow as part of
the Power Sleep Program.
Increase your bodys rate of removal:
Healthy eating is your best line of defense; nothing beats a real food
diet. (Specifically, vegetable intake and antioxidant intake are very
important in maximizing your bodys toxin removal ratethere are
specific biochemical reasons for this.)
Exercise is next up in importance; again, due to the minimal amount

of oxidative damage, Paleo exercises are preferred.
Reduce your bodys exposure to harmful toxins:
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Drink filtered water. Most tap water contains excessive amounts of

chlorine, which has (like most toxins) been linked to tiredness and
fatigue (as well as heart attacks, strokes, premature senility and
sexual impotency). Chlorine is used to kill bacteria and other
microorganisms to make tap water safer, but it acts equally on our
own cells.
Avoid cosmetics and antiperspirant with aluminum bases.

Always check the label and look for Aluminum Chlorohydrate or any
other aluminum ingredient. Aside from being linked to (surprise),
fatigue and insomnia, aluminum poisoning has a strong correlation to
the development of Alzheimers disease (its neurotoxic and can pass
the blood-brain barrier).
Avoid aluminum cookware. For the same reasons above. When

aluminum is heated, it becomes slightly volatile and some aluminum
molecules will enter the food, thus enter your mouth, and then
bloodstream, and then your brain.
Buy organic produce wherever possible. Some experts say that

inorganic vegetables are better than no vegetables at all, but if you
can afford organic, then the decreased level of pesticides will help your
energy levels.
Avoid mercury contaminated fish. Just 100 years ago, fish were a
great source of nutrients. Todays lakes, rivers, and shorelines have
been contaminated by industrial pollution (mostly from coal power
plants). As I mentioned, mercury becomes toxic at very, very small
concentrations. It doesnt take much to do damage, even if its subtle.
Generally, the larger the fish the more mercury it probably has (due to
buildup from eating smaller fish). This makes tuna one of the worst
culprits. Some experts recommend eliminating fish altogether, unless
youre absolutely positive it comes from a safe source, or unless youre
eating small fish like sardines.
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A note about fish: The reason fish are considered so healthy is

because of their omega-3 fats. People in industrialized societies
are dangerously deficient in omega-3s. Low omega-3s has been
linked to things like poor heart health, poor brain function,
depression, anxiety, and even increased rates of homicides.
There are numerous reasons why an omega-3 supplement can
not only be good for your overall health, but for your sleep
quality and energy levels as well.
Krill Oil is perhaps the best source of omega-3s. Learn more
about Krill Oil and the benefits of omega-3s in the Sleep and
Energy Supplements booklet included with The Power Sleep
Program.
The whole toxin thing can be a bit tiring to hear, as it seems some people
blow it out of proportion. But I truly believe that no matter where you stand
on this spectrum, taking the above action steps can improve overall energy
and sleep quality. For some, the effects might be subtle. For others, it really
might be the missing piece to their tiredness.
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Have you ever wondered how your body knows when it is time to sleep and
when it is time to be awake?
Your body uses two clocks to control the entire sleep-wake cycle. (The
sleep-wake cycle is often referred to as the circadian rhythm)
One clock is a tiny bundle of neurons deep inside your brain called the SCN.
There is a long wire connecting the SCN to your retinas. The SCN always
knows what time it is based on exposure to light.
The other clock is a sort of chemical buildup-and-decay clock throughout
your brain. This clock determines the time based on how you control your
sleep schedule. Certain chemicals build up while youre awake and decay
while youre asleep. More build-up of these chemicals in the brain indicates
that its later in the day. In other words, this clock knows its late if you
havent slept in a while.
When both of these clocks are working perfectly and in sync, you will
wake up at about the same time every morning (usually with the sun). You
will go to bed at about the same time each night. Your sleep will be
incredibly efficient lots of deep sleep and REM. You will sleep less
and feel very alert throughout the entire day.
The problem is that these clocks don't always run perfectly, and don't always
run in sync.
Overexposure to artificial light at night, as well as underexposure to

true sunlight during the day, will confuse the first clock (the SCN),
and it will sometimes run faster or slower than 24 hours.
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A random sleep schedule will confuse the second clock, the chemical
build-up-and-decay mechanism in the brain. Excessive, inconsistent
daytime napping, combined with inconsistent wake-up times and
inconsistent sleep times cause this clock to reset itself at awkward
times.
If both clocks run too slow, we feel a tendency to live on 25 or 26-hour

days. If one clock runs faster than the other, the whole sleep-wake system
suffers. If you've ever lied awake at night, feeling very tired but
unable to fall asleep, it may be because one clock is telling you it's
bedtime, while the other clock is keeping you awake.
Likewise, if youve ever felt tired during the day, it may be because one
clock is in sleep mode while the other is in awake mode.
Our goal is to get both clocks running at a 24-hour pace, and to run
consistently from day to day. We want both clocks to be in sleep mode at
the same time and awake mode at the same time.
For most people, this isnt a difficult goal.
To stabilize the first clock we will focus on bright light exposure during
the day, and keeping our rooms pitch dark at night. This will be
discussed in the next section.
To stabilize the second clock we will simply focus on keeping our sleep
schedule consistent, which well discuss now.
Stabilizing the second clock can be as simple as waking up at the same time
every day. This will cause the chemical build-up and decay to follow a set,
predictable rhythm.
To Stabilize your 2nd sleep clock:
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Spend a week or two waking up naturally, whenever your body tells

you to. Take note of the approximate time you wake up.
Use an alarm clock to keep your wake-up times within a 15-minute

window, even if you are waking up late.
If you need to shift your circadian rhythm (i.e. become an early riser),
then follow the advice in the next section to slowly turn back your
wake-up time.
I find that a lot of people have difficulty waking up at the same time every
morning because they try to use self-discipline to wake up a good 2-3 hours
before their natural wake-up time. Instead, work with your bodys sleep
clock by first waking up at set times each morning (even if its late), then try
to turn your clock back if you want to become an early riser.
Why is circadian rhythm so important in sleep quality?
Its often said that the BEST way to improve sleep is to stabilize
your circadian rhythm (that is, get both of your clocks running in
sync on 24-hour schedules).
This is because your clocks tell your brain when to be in deep
sleep and when to be in REM sleep. When the clocks are
stabilized, then they will tell the brain to include lots of deep
sleep at the beginning of the night, and lots of REM in the
second half of sleep.
If you manage to fall asleep when your clocks are not
ready for sleep, then the brain will mostly sleep in stages
1 and 2.
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As mentioned in the previous section, one of your sleep clocks is the SCN,
which knows the time of day based on light exposure. It works like this:
During the day, your eyes are exposed to light. Your retinas send a
signal to the SCN that theres light, and the SCN interprets this as
daytime. The SCN knows to stay in serotonin mode, giving you the
mental energy to stay alert.
Once night falls, it becomes very dark. The SCN tells your pineal gland
to start producing melatonin. Melatonin is the sleep hormone. It can
help your brain slow down.
Your pineal gland takes available serotonin and start converting it to

melatonin. It takes about 1 hour before melatonin levels become so
high that you feel overpowered by drowsiness and sleep becomes
inevitable.
Throughout the night, the melatonin promotes Deep Sleep and REM.
Once the sun starts to come up, the SCN notices the light and tells the
pineal gland to stop producing melatonin. The SCN now switches the
brain into serotonin mode. The brighter the light, the more powerful
the signal.
As you can see, light is your bodys ultimate timekeeping device.

Whereas your wake-up time is your main determinant in your 2 nd sleep
clock, its the light exposure and melatonin/serotonin rhythm that stabilizes
the 1st sleep clock.
Light also stimulates the production of dopamine. So light
exposure can actually stimulate your motivation, goal-oriented
behavior, productivity, and even libido throughout the day.
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To get the highest quality sleep and the most energy during the day, you
really want to take advantage of this melatonin/serotonin cycle (as well as
the dopamine-producing effects of light).
You want plenty of serotonin and melatonin at night (the serotonin is good
because it helps with some of the sleep processes; and the brain also
converts it to melatonin).
While during the day, you want plenty of serotonin, but no melatonin.
Remember, melatonin induces drowsiness, which is good at night, but bad
during the day. If you dont let your brain fully switch to serotonin mode
when you wake up, you may feel slightly tired for the first few hours of the
day.
Back to our hunter-gatherers. Our ancestors lived outside and were only
exposed to bright sunlight. Depending on season and latitude, darkness
could last for 8-14 hours per 24-hour period.
Fast forward to now. We live in a 24-hour culture. We work in dimly lit office
buildings. We expose ourselves to artificial light well past sundown, and we
flood our sleep environments with ambient light.
There are three main consequences of this type of environment:
1. Indoor lights are very weak compared to true sunlight. In the
morning, these indoor lights will not fully switch your brain into
serotonin mode. You will have a bit of melatonin lingering in your
brain, making you drowsy, possibly throughout the entire day.
2. Indoor lights, as dim as they are, still tell our brains to stay in
serotonin mode even when the sun goes down. The result: we try
to go to bed with very little melatonin in our systems either
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inhibiting our ability to fall asleep or decreasing deep sleep/REM

amounts when we do fall asleep.
3. Ambient light from alarm clocks, computers, street lamps, etc,
cause our brain to never enter the 100%, full melatonin mode
at night.
When we start playing with our serotonin/melatonin cycles, were
confusing our SCN and it never knows what time it truly is. This can cause
difficulty falling asleep and/or 25-hour days.
Our goal is to make our melatonin/serotonin cycles as big and deep as
possible. We want our brains to enter 100% melatonin mode at night, and
100% serotonin mode during the day. This will optimize sleep quality and
energy levels.
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Melatonin
Night - Complete
Darkness
Day - Sunlight
exposure
Melatonin
Night - Ambient
Light
Serotonin/Dopamine
Serotonin/Dopamine
Day - Dim Indoor

lights
We want our hormone cycles to resemble the top graph. Lots of

serotonin/dopamine during the day to maximize energy levels. Lots of
melatonin at night to maximize sleep quality.
The good news is that we dont have to shun artificial light completely. But
we should take the appropriate steps to mimic our hunter-gatherer
environment for optimal sleep and energy.
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The amount of light exposure is measured in lux. One lux is the brightness
emitted by one candle.
Here are lux values for various light sources.
Brightness level
Light source
0.004 lux
Starlight at night with overcast sky
0.02 lux
Clear night with no moon.
0.27 lux
Clear night with full moon.
50 lux
Family living room
300 lux
Office lighting
1,000 lux
Overcast day
10,000+ lux
Full daylight
As you can see, there are some surprising numbers here.

Even on a full moon night, light exposure is only 0.27 lux next to nothing.
Our ancestors slept in essentially complete darkness.
And artificial light is extremely weak. A bright lit office room might seem
bright, but its not even 1/10 as bright as true sunlight. Daylight provides
10,000-25,000 lux. Even on an overcast day (1,000 lux), the brightness is
much stronger than indoor lighting.
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So if our goal is to maximize the serotonin/melatonin cycle and dopamine

production, how exactly do we go about it?
When you wake up you should expose your eyes to as much

bright light as possible. The first two hours of the day are the most
important. During the first two hours is where most of the serotonin
and dopamine production occurs. Bright light exposure in the
afternoon isnt quite as effective as in the morning.
You can expose yourself to bright light by:

a. Taking a walk outside.
b. Avoiding the use of sunglasses on your drive to work
c. Use a light therapy sun box (more on this later).
Its understandable if you cannot go for a full 2 hours of bright light

exposure. Most of us need to crawl indoors at some point. Unfortunately, our
social obligation to spend time indoors does not excuse the fact that our
genes spent 2.5 million years living outdoors, and that such an environment
gives us the optimal brain chemistry boost.
If 2 hours of light exposure is not achievable, then 30 minutes of morning
sunlight will give a sufficient boost. Even though 30 minutes wont give as
large a serotonin/dopamine boost as 2 hours, its still scientifically proven to
be a better mood-booster than Prozac.
You can take several steps throughout the day (though especially in the
morning) to increase your bright light exposure:
1. Dont use sunglasses. Exceptions: while skiing, eye protection is
necessary since so much sunlight reflects off the snow; also, driving
headlong into the sun or other times when youre forced to look nearly
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directly into the sun. Otherwise, sunglasses arent necessary and only
inhibit serotonin/dopamine production.
2. When youre indoors, open as many window blinds as possible to let
natural sunlight seep in.
These are simple tricks, but they go a long way. Just remember that natural
sunlight on an overcast day is still brighter than most indoor environments
and your eyes & brain prefer that light to keep the melatonin/serotonin cycle
strong.
Just as we have to switch on serotonin/dopamine production in the morning,

we need to switch on melatonin production at nighttime.
Generally speaking, in complete darkness it takes the brain about one hour
to produce optimal amounts of melatonin. This is why it can be sometimes
difficult to fall asleep at night if you spent all evening looking into a
computer monitor with the room lights on.
The best rule that has worked for me is this:
Limit light exposure as much as feasibly possible during the 1
hour window before bedtime.
So if your expected bedtime is midnight, then turn off all lights at 11:00PM.
This isnt just for insomniacs, but all power sleepers.
In that last hour before bedtime you have several options:
1. If you use the computer before bedtime, then turn off all lights and
turn your monitor brightness down all the way. Then put on some
sunglasses.
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2. Turn off all lights and read by candle light, or by a dim night lamp.
3. Turn off all lights and listen to audiobooks, audio programs, etc.
4. Turn off all lights and meditate (meditation has other benefits, such as
reducing cortisol levels, which will improve sleep qualitythis is
perhaps the best option if youre looking for the ultimate in sleep
quality).
Remember, upping your melatonin production is not just about falling asleep
faster; its about increasing the deep sleep and REM once you do fall asleep.
Fortunately, technology isnt all bad. Although artificial light has messed with
our serotonin/melatonin cycles, technology has also given us light boxes.
Light boxes are often recommended to those suffering from Seasonal
Affective Disorder (SAD).
During the winter months, nights are longer and days are often overcast. If
youve read this section carefully, you should now fully understand why you
get the winter blues its because the lack of bright light exposure inhibits
healthy serotonin and dopamine production. Less serotonin and dopamine
means you feel slightly more depressed and lethargic. Nearly everyone with
SAD experiences huge mood/energy benefits from bright light therapy.
Bright light therapy is fortunately very, very simple. You first purchase a
light box (which arent too expensive) and you use it every morning upon
waking up.
It is recommended to use the light box for at least 30 minutes and up to 60
minutes. Thats really all thats needed to stimulate an adequate
serotonin/dopamine boost.
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Light boxes are also small and portable. And most models produce about
10,000 lux of light, which is about equivalent to a sunny day outside.
Although SAD is quite common, its unfortunate that the use of light boxes
has been limited to people with this condition.
Even if you dont experience the winter blues, its very unlikely you are
getting optimal amounts of bright light during the day, which is
compromising your serotonin and dopamine production. And of course this
means youre compromising your happiness, productivity, motivation, etc.
Again, you have the option to use natural sunlight instead of a light box (my
favorite method is to simply head outside for a 30 minute walk or bike ride
before doing anything else that day), but light boxes can be used for when
you are pressed for time, or if its overcast outside.
In the serotonin/dopamine section of this guide we talked about how

dopamine is your main productivity chemical. Most productivity gurus
might lead you to believe that true productivity comes from having some
obscenely complicated system of manila folders and to-do lists or whatever.
They tell you that productivity comes from having a system and from using
large amounts of self-discipline to apply that system.
But the truth is, when your dopamine levels are naturally high, productivity
just happens. When youre in the right state of mind, life really doesnt have
to require so much effort.
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Your dopamine levels are supposed to receive a boost every morning. Thats
how our bodies were designed, because we always woke up with the suns
rays. It seems absurd to forego our bodys natural mechanism to increase
energy, mood, productivity, and libido (all due to dopamine), but thats
exactly what we do when we wake up and spend the first few hours of the
day in a dimly lit office.
Ideally, we would spend as much time outside as possible. But since that is
not practical for most of us, its nice to have a light box to fall back on. Its a
small investment for such a huge benefit.
Can bright lights improve your grades?
One recent study in Wetaskiwin, Canada equipped several
classrooms with full-spectrum lights (which produce more lux
than normal fluorescent lights). The students in the fullspectrum classrooms attended more classes and scored higher
grades than students in classrooms with ordinary lighting.
If you are traveling eastward, it is normally very difficult to reset your

circadian rhythm. But light therapy makes the process easier.
Prior to traveling you can wake up 60 minutes earlier each morning (which
will reset your second sleep clock) and you can use a light box immediately
upon waking up (which will reset your first sleep clock, aka the SCN).
By using light to control your melatonin cycles, you can trick your SCN to
believing that days are longer or shorter than they really are. By using bright
lights immediately upon waking up, it should only be a day or two before
youre adapted to the new time zone.
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There are several light boxes available on the market. The most expensive I
found was over $600. Fortunately, most arent that expensive.
The best one I found (and use myself) is the SunTouch Plus. Its one of the
more affordable models, yet still emits a healthy 10,000 lux (the same as
outdoors on a sunny day).
Benefits:
Emits 10,000 lux of bright light.

Small, compact.
Affordable (~$160).
Includes a negative ion generator (more on this in chapter 15)
Purchase, or read more here (Amazon.com):

http://www.sleepwarrior.com/link/suntouch
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Its fairly common knowledge that both caffeine and alcohol inhibit sleep.
But for some people, caffeine and alcohol really arent the biggest
detriments to sleep quality. Instead of advising you to eliminate both
completely, lets take a look at exactly how they affect sleep so that we can
make an informed decision about how and when to include them if need be.
One of your brain's sleep-inducing chemicals is adenosine. Adenosine levels

build up gradually in your brain cells throughout the day, and once a
threshold level is reached, adenosine activates and turns on the sleep
switch in your brain (by slowing firing frequency of brain cells, allowing the
brain to enter slow brainwave states).
Note: Adenosine plays a part in the second circadian clock
discussed in the previous section (i.e. the chemical build-upand-decay clock).
Caffeine inhibits the activity of adenosine, which artificially keeps
your brain in awake mode.
Since proper adenosine function is required for sleep, if you have caffeine
in your system at bedtime, then youre inhibiting your brains natural
sleep-wake cycle.
This is why caffeine is considered bad for sleep.
By eliminating caffeine you allow your brain to follow the natural ebb and
flow of the sleep-wake cycle, which will ultimately improve sleep quality and
energy levels.
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Additionally, caffeine activates the adrenal glands, causing a

surge of adrenaline. This is a good feeling in the short term, but
you don't want your adrenal glands overactive during the late
evening hours.
The unfortunate truth about caffeine is that even in small amounts it will
have these physiological changes on your body. Well after the buzz wears
off, caffeine will cause disruptions in your body's sleep mechanisms,
even if you don't feel it happening.
Even though caffeine is notorious for keeping people awake at night, its
lesser known evil is that of compromising deep sleep amount even if you do
fall asleep (the graph is just an example for illustration):
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In my honest opinion, however, I believe there are greater health evils in

this world than caffeine. Given that caffeine boosts mood and productivity in
the short term, its not all bad, and with the right techniques there are ways
to reduce caffeines negative effects on sleep while not avoiding caffeine
entirely.
When drinking caffeine, keep in mind the following rules:
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The earlier you drink caffeine, the better. Caffeine levels in your system
will decrease exponentially, not linearly. What that means is that caffeine
levels fall off gradually, and tapers off, never fully reaching 0:
The above curve shows what I'm talking about. Dont worry about the
technical details of the graph. It basically works like this:
When you first drink caffeine, it takes about 20-30 minutes for it to fully
enter your bloodstream (the absorption phase).
After that, caffeine reduces gradually, at a rate defined by its half life.
The half life of caffeine in your body is (for the average adult) about 5 hours.
What that means is this:
It takes your body 5 hours to remove half of the caffeine already in
the system.
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Example: If you drank 200mg of caffeine at 6:00am, then at

11:00am there will be 100mg in your system.
At 2:00pm there will be 50mg.
At 7:00pm there will be 25mg.
At midnight there will be 12.5mg.
Lets assume that you sleep 8 hours each night. Thats 16 hours of being
awake. Assuming you drink all your caffeine immediately upon
waking up, then approximately 10% will remain in your system at
bedtime.
Note: The half-life of caffeine varies from person to person. For
most adults, its between 4 and 6 hours. For those with poor
liver functions (such as those with a history of alcoholism), the
half life can be significantly longer. In one study, a 49-year old
lady with a liver disease had a caffeine half life of 168 hours.
Its possible that people who suffer from poor sleep metabolize
caffeine more slowly.
As you can see, even if you drink caffeine early in the morning, your body
will still have some left by the time it's bedtime.
This is why you should follow the rule: the earlier the better, and the
less you need, the better.
Many sleep experts might suggest to not drink caffeine 6 hours before
bedtime. Assuming you metabolize caffeine at a normal rate, and assuming
that you dont drink excessive amounts of caffeine, this is a decent rule of
thumb. But its a simplified rule that doesnt work in all situations.
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Caffeine Content (per cup, in mg)

140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Coffee
Black Tea
Matcha Green Coke (12 Oz)

Tea
Green Tea
Yerba Mate
Although coffee is the most popular caffeinated beverage, there are healthier
alternatives that might even give a larger energy boost while containing less
caffeine.
First lets take a look at coffee:
Coffee
Benefits: huge amount of antioxidants
Drawbacks: high caffeine content. Coffee is considered very acidforming, meaning it drastically reduces the pH balance of your cells,
which can lead to fatigue problems in the long run.
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Black tea
Benefits: contains enough caffeine to give a noticeable boost.
Drawbacks: Lacks the antioxidant power of other drinks.
Matcha Green tea (Matcha is one of my favorite secrets)
Benefits: contains over 100x the antioxidant power of normal green

tea. Comes in powder form so it can be easily added to smoothies.
Contains enough caffeine to give a boost, but not too much. Most
grades arent very expensive.
Drawbacks: high quality grades can sometimes be difficult to find

and are a bit pricey.
Coke and other sodas
Benefits: none
Drawbacks: high in sugar, which causes a larger-than-average insulin

response, which of course leads to poor glucose metabolism (even in
your brain cells). The sleep quality damage caused by the caffeine in
Coke is negligible when compared to the damage caused by its sugar
content.
Brewed green tea
Benefits: lower caffeine content than Matcha and black tea. Higher
antioxidant content than black tea. Very cheap.
Drawbacks: Minimal antioxidant content when compared to Matcha

or Yerba mate.
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Yerba mate. Another secret that is certainly one of the better coffee
alternatives. Yerba mate is like tea, and you drink it like tea, but its
technically not made from the tea leaf so its given its own name.
Benefits: According to yerba-mate.com: In 2005, researchers at the

University of Illinois studied 25 different types of mate. They found the
tea to contain "higher levels of antioxidants than green tea"... and,
based on cell studies, "may help prevent oral cancer." Other studies
have shown yerba mate to possess up to 90% more metabolismboosting catechins than green tea!
Yerba mate boosts your metabolism and contains significantly more
antioxidants compared to brewed green tea. Great taste (similar to
most teas, but better).
Drawbacks: Somewhat difficult to find
Antioxidants are nutrients that prevent oxidative damage in the

body. Oxidation is one of the processes involved in aging.
Oxidation is what happens when something goes rancid, or
even when old metal rusts. Oxidation is natural and happens
simply as a result of your cells being alive, but a large amount of
antioxidants can minimize the damage.
Antioxidants are usually mentioned in their ability to preserve
long-term health. But whats not often mentioned is their shortterm benefit: more energy.
The biological process is complicated, but heres the basics:
Every time your cells use glucose (or ketones) to produce
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energy, they produce oxidation. Its the antioxidants job to

come and clean up the oxidation so that more energy can be
derived from glucose.
When you consume a large amount of antioxidants you may
notice a temporary boost in energy and mental clarity. This is
believed to be the result of a more efficient energy production
within your cells under the presence of antioxidants.
Both Matcha Green Tea and Yerba Mate contain massive amounts of natural
antioxidants (50-100x more than brewed green tea), yet are still light on
caffeine content. The slight caffeine combined with the antioxidants give a
more natural high than coffee theres also less crash.
I highly recommend switching to either of these drinks if you can find them.
Despite their lesser caffeine content, they can actually produce a larger
energy boost than coffee.
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Alcohol inhibits sleep in two ways: first, it depresses the nervous system,
and secondly it robs your body of a lot of energy as the liver works hard to
remove it.
Many people use alcohol as a sleep aid. It knocks you out by suppressing
brain activity, so it gives the illusion of promoting sleep. In reality, any
amount of alcohol in the system will fragment your sleep stages, meaning:
Less continuous time in deep sleep.
Less REM.
More middle-of-the-night awakenings.
For example, WebMD states:

Alcohol often is thought of as a sedative or calming drug. While
alcohol may induce sleep, the quality of sleep is often
fragmented during the second half of the sleep period. Alcohol
increases the number of times you awaken in the later half of
the night when the alcohol's relaxing effect wears off. It prevents
you from getting the deep sleep and REM sleep you need
because alcohol keeps you in the lighter stages of sleep.
If you ever felt less refreshed after a night of drinking, you now know why.
One study has shown that long-term alcoholics may have damaged the
sleep centers of the brain beyond the point of full repair that is, longterm alcoholics continue to experience fragmented, inefficient sleep even
after abstaining.
But I have to admit: For most people, the social benefit of light drinking
simply outweighs the negative impact on sleep.
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What I must emphasize, however, is that alcohol should never be used

as a sleep aid. If you have difficulty falling asleep, then follow the
healthy sleep habits outlined in this guide, which will eliminate such
difficulties.
Now what about a glass of wine with dinner? Will that disrupt sleep?
Well, alcohol is metabolized differently than caffeine. Caffeine has a halflife, while alcohol amount decreases linearly, so it takes a set amount of
time until alcohol is 100%, completely removed from the body after
drinking.
BAC Level
Metabolism Time
0.10
6.66 hours
0.08
5.33 hours
0.05
3.33 hours
0.02
1.33 hours
According to the above table, if your blood alcohol content is 0.02, it will
take 1 hour and 20 minutes for the alcohol to be completely removed.
Generally, one glass of wine will induce a BAC of 0.02-0.04 depending on
your weight. As long as you drink that glass 2-3 hours before bedtime, the
alcohol will be completely out of your system and sleep will not be impaired.
Alcohol is by no means good for sleep, but a glass of wine in the
evening mixed with the occasional social drinking might (for some)
be much less of an evil when compared to, say, sugar, excessive
carbs, lack of exercise, or lack of bright light exposure.
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A 2005 article in the International Journal of Neuroscience analyzed the

benefits of massage therapy. The scientists found that massage therapy
causes the following changes in the bodys chemistry:
On average, cortisol decreases 31%
Serotonin increases 28%
Dopamine increases 31%
The fascinating aspect of massage therapy is not so much the fact that it
decreases cortisol (i.e. reduces stress) and increases the energizer chemicals
(serotonin and dopamine). The fascinating part is that these changes are
huge a 31% increase in dopamine has a very, very noticeable effect on
your mood and energy levels.
I mention this study because many people think relaxation techniques are
too simple and dont produce noticeable results. But they do. Whether its
massage therapy or meditation, these relaxation tricks can be a truly
useful addition to your daily routine.
There are three types of tension that we experience different relaxation
techniques help different types of tension:
1. Psychological tension feeling mentally agitated, having thoughts
buzz around in your head.
2. Muscular tension grinding teeth, pacing the floor, and tapping your
fingers are all signs of muscular tension.
3. Sympathetic arousal an overworked sympathetic nervous system
(adrenal glands, etc). You may feel an increased heartbeat, faster
breathing, and cold feet and hands (because adrenaline constricts the
blood vessels in the fingers and toes).
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I recommend adding as many relaxation techniques to your arsenal as

possible, since each technique will ease a different type of tension.
Here are a few relaxation techniques that can apply to everyone, insomniac
or not:
Create a beautiful mental picture Use this one while lying in bed, just
prior to falling asleep. Instead of counting sheep or letting your mind
wander aimlessly, focus instead on creating a serene environment in your
mind.
For example: I love the beach (who doesn't?), so I often imagine
a beach environment. Build the visual imagery deep red
sunset, white sand, reflective water. Then build the auditory
component waves lapping against the shore, birds, etc. Then
feel the sand under your feet, and the cool air on your skin. This
picture primes your psychology to feel pleasant emotions, and
helps the gradual entrance of sleep. The more visual my thinking
becomes prior to sleep, the more I experience hypnagogic
dreams I love it.
Abdominal breathing This helps with all three types of tension. Lie down
and notice the rhythm and depth of your breathing. Simply observe, don't
try to change it.
After a minute or two of observing your breath, start breathing more with
your stomach, and less with your chest. This will feel weird at first. You
want your stomach to move up and down, not your chest. You should notice
a slight change in physiology. You'll feel a slightly different sensation.
After a few minutes of this, now pause for a half a second after each out
breath. While you pause, try to observe the previous breath was it
smooth, fast, or slow?
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Next step is to notice the air as it comes out of your mouth or nose. Does
the air feel warm? Cool? Just focus on that spot where you can feel the air
coming out.
This whole process might sound nonsensical, but it works you'll feel your
whole body chemistry change. You can use this prior to falling asleep.
Meditation There are many different types of meditation, but they all
produce the same result: a feeling of inner harmony and calmness.
Meditation can be performed at any time during the day. To meditate, you
find a comfortable sitting position and either concentrate on a set phrase
(transcendental meditation), concentrate on your breathing, concentrate on
a still item such as a leaf or candle (Zen meditation), or put on some
headphones and listen to a meditation CD.
Progressive relaxation This technique works very well for muscle
tension. You lie down and tense a certain muscle group, such as the arms,
then slowly release the tension and observe how your muscles feel. Move
onto another muscle group, say, your legs. Don't rush, and take your time.
Tip: Remember, the idea is to try as many different relaxation
techniques as possible and find which ones work for your specific
types of tension. Build a large arsenal of relaxation techniques so
that you can use them easily at will.
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Everyone knows that your sleep environment is important. Probably the two
biggest factors are light and air quality, although noise and temperature
are also important.
Some people prefer absolute quietness, others prefer white noise, others
prefer music. It turns out that a bit of noise does not negatively affect sleep
so long as your mind does not find it distracting (based on several studies).
Many people find that once they move to a big city, the nighttime noise is
distracting. But after a few nights their minds become accustomed to it and
no longer experience difficulties with sleep. There are some studies to
confirm this. As a rule of thumb: if you personally dont find the noise
distracting, then it is not negatively affecting your deep sleep and
REM amounts.
I nevertheless recommend experimenting with different noise environments.
You might be surprised that you sleep much better with white noise or soft
music, for example.
Here are some recommendations for experimentation:
Music. Johann Sebastian Bach wrote the famous Goldberg Variations

for a prince who needed a piece to sleep to. In fact, I highly
recommend the piece for sleep.
White noise. Many insomniacs use white noise machines to help them
sleep.
A fan or air conditioner. Both produce white noise.
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Specially designed sleep CDs. Many sleep CDs use brainwave

entrainment technology which can aid in the brains process of slowing
its brainwaves into stage 3 and stage 4 sleep.
Absolute quietness.
Temperatures below 55 and above 75 degrees Fahrenheit have been

shown to disrupt sleep. (Below 13 and above 24 Celsius). People rarely
keep their rooms below 55 degrees F, but commonly keep their rooms above
75 degrees F thats why its more common to hear the advice to cool down
your room. Try to keep your room from becoming too hot or else it will
fragment your sleep and decrease deep sleep amount.
Again, its interesting to go back to our hunter-gatherers. They slept outside
in the cold, and it appears that the brain simply evolved to sleep better in
mild temperatures.
If your hands and feet are unbearably cold, put on some socks. This will
actually help alleviate some of the extra energy the body requires to keep
the extremities warm.
Additionally, if your hands and feet are always cold it is likely caused by
adrenal fatigue and sometimes poor serotonin levels. Either way, it is usually
a sign of a hormone imbalance of some kindand this can be fixed by, of
course, reprogramming your genes through optimal diet, exercise, and light
exposure.
Weve already discussed the importance of light. Remember that at

nighttime you want your brain to be in melatonin mode. Unfortunately, your
P a g e | 116
eyes are fairly sensitive and your brain will produce less melatonin even in
the presence of dim night lights.
A full moon typically produces about 0.27 lux, while the street lamp outside
your window might fill your room with 10-40 lux. In the presence of too
much artificial light your brain will never enter 100% melatonin mode.
This has bad consequences not just for sleep quality, but for long-term
health as well. Remember that melatonin is your bodys most potent
antioxidant (with 60 times the antioxidant power of vitamin C).
Keep your room as dark as possible at night and use the rule of thumb: you
should not be able to see your finger when you hold it in front of your face.
If you can see your finger, then your brain wont fully switch to melatonin
mode.
To make your room dark, just follow these two rules:
Turn off electronic devices that produce light, or turn them away so
the lights do not face you.
Purchase blackout curtains to block incoming light from the window.

You can purchase any black fabric (for cheap) at a local fabric store.
Negative ions are something we have not yet discussed in this guide, but we
will do so now.
Have you ever noticed a subtle boost in mental clarity after opening a
window? Do you feel more energetic after rolling down a window in a car, as
opposed to using the air conditioner?
Theres a reason for this:
P a g e | 117
The air is full of ions (charged particles). Natural air has a high
concentration of negative ions. Negative ion concentrations are particularly
high near waterfalls and other water sources.
For various reasons, an indoor environment has higher concentrations of
positive ions. Large electronic devices in particular are known to deplete
negative ions and produce positive ions in the surrounding air.
Ion concentrations in the air for various environments:
Highest concentration of negative ions:
Near a waterfall, spring, or beach.
High concentration of negative ions:
Outdoors, away from an urban area.
Neutral:
Outdoors in an urban area.
Low concentration of negative ions:
Indoors.
Lowest concentration of negative ions:
Indoors, sitting next to several electronic devices.
So what does this all mean? For a while, scientists suspected that higher
negative ion concentrations improved mood, energy, and mental focus
because several experiments showed this to be the case. It was not entirely
clear as to why negative ions improve mood and energy, but some details
are beginning to be discovered.
According to Pierce Howard, PhD, author of The Owners Manual for the
Brain, Generally speaking, negative ions increase the flow of oxygen to the
P a g e | 118
brain; resulting in higher alertness, decreased drowsiness, and more mental

energy.
Air quality has a direct and immediate effect on how the brain functions. As
a rule of thumb, the better the air quality of your sleep environment (the
more negative ions), the better you will sleep. We will get to the connection
between air quality and sleep in a moment, but for now lets just take a
general look at how negative ion concentration affects mood and energy
levels during the day. The following is a snippet from The Brain Diet, by Alan
Logan, ND, FRSH:
Negative air ions are natural components of air and breath,
which are depleted within polluted, enclosed, and air-conditioned
rooms. Negative ions are also lowered by electronic devices,
particularly those found in homes and offices such as computer
screens and televisions. Negative air ions are known to influence
mood in a generally positive way, and are much higher in natural
settings, after rain, near oceans, waterfalls, and inside
woodlands. According to researched published in the journal
Indoor Air (2004), negative air ions have been shown to promote
our antioxidant defense system, lower blood lactate, and
improve aerobic metabolism by enhancing blood flow. Research
shows that small machines that generate negative air ions
indoors are effective in treating seasonal affective disorder (SAD
or the winter blues), and a recent study in the journal
Psychological Medicine (2005) indicates that they can help lift
nonseasonal depression as well. Research published in the
International Journal of Biometeorology (2005) shows that
patients prone to panic attacks are much less likely to
experience panic after rain when negative ion count is high.
P a g e | 119
During my travels to Japan I happened to notice that some of

the computer monitors were equipped with negative ion
generators. I couldnt resist checking to see if there was some
research to support this practice. Sure enough, in the pages of
the International Journal of Psychophysiology (2002) there was a
study by researchers from Nagoya University. They placed
healthy students under stressful computer operating tasks with a
negative ion generator either on or off. During the stressful
situations, those exposed to negative ions had much lower levels
of stress hormone [cortisol] in the saliva and reported lower
levels of anxiety. In addition, performance was enhanced while
the ions were generated.
Other research has noted that negative air ions can prevent migraine
headaches, act as anti-depressants, combat fatigue, enhance mental
performance, and even enhance physical performance.
So how do negative ions do this?
Aside from improving oxygen delivery, negative ions act on your brains
serotonin system.
Negative air ions prevent the overproduction of serotonin. They let serotonin
build up and break down in a more natural manner. Positive ions on the
other hand appear to stimulate the overproduction of serotonin and prevent
its natural breakdown.
For example,
Dr Sulman undertook a study of 'weather sensitive'
volunteers and showed that, during the time of the Sharav winds
P a g e | 120
[which carry positive ions], their bodies would produce up to ten

times their normal level of serotonin
Source: prodigy.net
Also,
Negative ions accelerate the oxidative degradation of serotonin
whereas positive ions have the opposite action and inactivate the
enzymes which break down serotonin.
We have considered serotonin to be a good chemical for most of this
guide. And this is true, serotonin is good. But when its levels are too high
(such as ten times their normal levels) then we experience the roller
coaster effect. That is, there are serotonin highs and lowsthe body has a
difficult time keeping serotonin in its healthy range. In the diet section we
talked about how this can even lead to serotonin resistance, meaning the
serotonin receptors in your brain are burned out.
When serotonin levels are unnaturally high, this can lead to an
overstimulated mind (remember, its an energizer chemical).
As you might imagine, negative ions are quite good for sleep.
In 1969, French researcher found that the overproduction of the
neurohormone serotonin caused sleeplessness and nightmares.
In using a negative ion electronic air cleaner to treat a group of
people experiencing sleeping problems as a result of serotonin
overproduction, he found that most of them were able to sleep
better (Soyka, 1991).
Source: Indoorpurifiers.com
P a g e | 121
I believe that negative ions help sleep by improving the conversion of

serotonin into melatonin. As mentioned, too many positive ions inhibit
certain enzymes that are required for the breakdown (and thus conversion)
of serotonin into melatonin.
In other words, it seems that sleeping in a room with too few negative ions
and too many positive ions are indirectly reducing your melatonin levels,
thus your deep sleep and REM. In the worst case, positive ions may
contribute to outright insomnia.
Negative ion generators are available, but there are a few tips to start off
with that dont require the investment:
Sleep in a room without electronics, or be sure to turn all electronics

off (small alarm clocks are probably harmless, but large desktop
computers with large monitors certainly are.)
Open the window. Even if you live in an urban environment (which,

due to the pollution, has less negative air ions), the outdoor air is
better than indoor air.
If possible, do not sleep next to an air conditioner. Air conditioners

deplete negative ions more than anything. If you need to keep the
room cool (which improves sleep quality), then try not to sleep directly
adjacent to the air conditioner.
P a g e | 122
Negative ions are not just good for sleep quality, but for energy levels during
the day as well. A few pages back I quoted the Japanese study that showed
that negative ions improve concentration significantly in computer work
environments.
As someone who works several hours at a time at a computer, this really hit
home for me. I have always noticed that working at a computer for too long
left me exhausted. Strangely, I think the effect was stronger when I used
large CRT monitorsnow I use small laptops, where the exhaustion effect
isnt as bad, but still noticeable. (Several companies, by the way, started
using negative ion generators in their work environments to improve mood
and productivity of employeesthe smart companies use wide-spectrum
bright lighting as well).
A few tips:
Get a breath of fresh air throughout the day. Just take a few moments
to step outside. Take in the negative ions to prevent serotonin
exhaustion.
Spend as much time outside as possible.
Open windows.
In the car, roll down the window instead of using the air conditioner.
P a g e | 123
And lastly, you can use a light box that has a

negative ion generator built in. To my knowledge,
there is only one such model. It was mentioned in the
light exposure section of this guide (chapter 12).
More info can be found at the products Amazon.com
page:
http://www.sleepwarrior.com/link/suntouch
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If you follow the information in this guide you should truly see a huge
change in not just your sleep quality, but your overall quality of life.
The information only works when you put it into practice.
By following good health practices you can reprogram your genes and step
off all the body chemical roller coasters that lead to highs and lows in
energy and mood. You can stabilize your blood glucose, insulin, serotonin,
dopamine, melatonin, and cortisol once these chemicals are working
properly you will experience energy levels and sleep quality like youve
never experienced before.
I know all this information seems like a lot. It may be overwhelming. But
making these changes is often easier than you might think.
My energy problems I experienced several years ago were severe, and I
hope that you dont have to go through the same thing I did. I couldnt
focus, I couldnt stay motivated, I slept way too much, I was always tired,
and the progress in my life slowed to a crawl.
But I slowly started making changes. After a few dietary changes I noticed
my energy returning. After a few more tweaks in diet and exercise I felt
back to normal. But I didnt stopI became happily obsessed with finding
every trick to improve my health, energy, and sleep. With carefully tuned
diet, exercise, light exposure, and sleep schedule, I now feel a
serotonin/dopamine high so strong that I literally have more energy than I
know what to do with. My energy is given a cortisol jump-start when I wake
up in the morning and it remains consistently high for a good 16 hours
more. In the last couple hours of the day I notice my brain slowing down, at
which point I simply relax, read, or meditate into a gradual transition into
deep sleep.
P a g e | 125
Im now 100% convinced that this is the way humans are supposed to feel.
Im convinced that this high-energy state was normal to our hunter-gatherer
ancestors.
Some of the lifestyle tricks can be implemented immediately. Bright light
therapy (for energy and productivity enhancement, not just for SAD) will
give benefits right away. Paleo exercises also give immediate benefit that
can be implemented today. (Isnt it nice to know that doing less chronic
cardio and more enjoyable exercises actually gives a bigger energy boost,
takes less time, and does less oxidative damage to your cells?)
Other changes will manifest over time. Some adrenal fatigue experts say
that extreme cases of adrenal fatigue can take 1-2 years to fully heal.
Dietary changes, especially, require persistence. If you are coming off a
standard Western diet (lots of bread, fake foods, etc) then an immediate
switch to a real food diet wont be pleasant. For the first two to three
weeks, your body will be:
Adapting to a smaller glucose intake, which requires the

reprogramming of your cells to utilize more ketones as energy.
Adapting to less serotonin. In a modern diet, serotonin levels are
highly dependent on carbs and insulin. When you make the switch,
your serotonin levels and receptors will take a few weeks to restabilize (mood and emotions become much more stable when you let
your brain handle serotonin production instead of making it reliant on
high-carb meals).
Adapting to a much lower intake of toxins. All foods have some level of
toxins (fruits and veggies come equipped with natures pesticides),
so a toxin-free diet is impossible. But the toxin levels in fake foods
(grains have extremely high phytate and tannin levels) is so high that
switching to a real food diet will come with its fair share of detox
effects.
And theres also the psychological adaptation that goes along with eating
new foods. Nevertheless, I find the change to be worth it.
P a g e | 126
With regards to diet, not everyone prefers the band-aid approach of

getting the pain over with at the start. A gradual change can work just as
well. Start by removing refined sugar and adding leafy green vegetables (by
eating salads or green smoothies). Make other changes along the way.
And lastly, remember that the benefits of these lifestyle changes extend far
beyond energy levels and sleep quality. Just to give you an idea, ever since I
started following these rules of diet, exercise, light therapy, air quality
(negative ions), caffeine intake (via yerba mate and Matcha green tea), and
relaxation techniques (meditation), Ive noticed the following changes:
super clear skin

whiter eyes
thicker, healthy-looking hair
depression and mood swings are nonexistent
more feelings of being happy for no reason
better sense of smell (weird, I know)
greater ability to think creatively
more physical stamina
increased focus, easier to enter the flow state
productivity requires little thought or self-discipline, it just happens
When you optimize your genes and body chemistry, amazing things just
happen. Its not that hard, and the effort it does take is paid back tenfold.
Thank you for reading.
To your health and happiness,

Jeff Munroe

The Power Sleep Program

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The Power Sleep Program

Copyright Jeff Munroe

This book provides health advice concerning sleep practices. It is not a

Copyright Jeff Munroe

Hello. Im Jeff Munroe.

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Part 1: Core Concepts

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Copyright Jeff Munroe

Or bookmark the references for further reading.

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Copyright Jeff Munroe

Anyway, back to history.

10,000 years ago: humans started consuming grains, legumes, and

Copyright Jeff Munroe

Past 100 years: huge increase in the amount of environmental toxins

Past few decades: huge increase in the amount of processed food

Copyright Jeff Munroe

Copyright Jeff Munroe

Copyright Jeff Munroe

Regardless, when you compare similarly-aged individuals from industrialized

In terms of overall health and wellness I love the hunter-gatherer context.

Copyright Jeff Munroe

Copyright Jeff Munroe

Copyright Jeff Munroe

ancestors sleptapproximately in two 3- to 5-hour sessions, but still totaling

Woke up gradually, not instantaneously.

This picture of natural human sleep is very different from what we

That 8 hours of sleep is absolutely essential.

That taking 1 hour to fall asleep is necessarily bad.

That the wake-up process is instantaneous, and should be facilitated

Copyright Jeff Munroe

Because artificial light forces us to live in perpetual summers, its

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Copyright Jeff Munroe

Note: When I say that stage 3 and 4 are characterized by slow

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Im sure youve seen one of these images before.

Copyright Jeff Munroe

Copyright Jeff Munroe

Take a close look at both of these graphs

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Copyright Jeff Munroe

The process of sleep is complicated, and, as I already mentioned, not

Copyright Jeff Munroe

Melatonin is considered the nighttime hormone. Its main function is to

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To help wake you up in the morning with a jolt of energy

To stimulate the brain and increase alertness in the early morning

To increase alertness during times of stress (fight or flight)

To heal the body from physical stress (an injury).

And that's just a few of its functions...

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Because cortisol stimulates the brain, it is one of the greatest

Low cortisol at the start of night lots of deep sleep.

However, cortisol is necessary to stimulate the brain in the morning hours.

A healthy spike of cortisol in the morning a jolt of energy to wake

Many cases of insomnia may be simply due to heightened cortisol

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The Power Sleep Program will aim to fix both problems.