Transcript Of Today's Episode
Announcer: You're listening to the Doctor is In podcast, brought to you by martinclinic.com. During the episode, the doctors share a lot of information. As awesome as the info may be, it is not intended to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent any disease. It's strictly for informational purposes.
Dr. Martin Sr: Well, good morning. Again, welcome.
Dr. Martin Sr: Two studies that came out about sleep that I took note of this week. Let me talk about these two studies [00:00:30] this morning. Both have to do with sleep, and they actually are very much connected. I say this a lot, but approximately 70% of North Americans have trouble sleeping. They don't get a good night's sleep. I mean, this is a big issue. Think about that. 70% of the population. I'm wondering, the way I see it in practice, that if it's not even higher than that, but people just [00:01:00] don't sleep today like we used to. Right? The world is different. There's a lot of factors to that, I believe, but here's some of the results.
Dr. Martin Sr: When you sleep at night, one of the things that happens when you're asleep is that the cleanup crew come in at night. It's just like when you see buildings in your downtown or whatever, and they're busy during the day, but at night, the cleaning [00:01:30] staff comes in. Well, do you know that that happens with your brain when you're sleeping? Yeah. Your brain, the cleaning crew comes in. They are called microglia. Microglia, okay? So, m-i-c-r-o-g-l-i-a, microglia. Okay? Microglia are little neurotransmitters, little nerve cells within [00:02:00] your brain that do the cleanup at night. Isn't that amazing? When you're sleeping, your brain is detoxing.
Dr. Martin Sr: I think maybe about a week or two ago, I talked about, when you don't sleep, how it affects your system. If you go two nights without having a good sleep, and I know many of you know exactly what I'm talking about here, but if you go a couple of [00:02:30] nights without sleeping, your immune system goes for a real spin. One of the reasons is that these mop up guys, microglia, they can't do their job. They're put to sleep by a hormone called norepinephrine. Okay? That is secreted from the hypothalamus, and it wakes you up. You're waked up by cortisol, okay, from... [00:03:00] It's a response to the fight or flight, and you're awake. How many of my patients have told me over the years that they're sleeping. They get to sleep. I mean, a lot of people have trouble getting to sleep and staying asleep, but most people can get to sleep, but can't stay asleep.
Dr. Martin Sr: The problem with that, physiologically, what happens inside your brain is, your brain won't detox. So, the night crew [00:03:30] can't come in and detox your brain, get rid of heavy metals, get rid of yeast, get rid of bacteria, get rid of all the garbage, the debris, the dead cells in your brain. With me, you can imagine what that does to you. Right? What that does to you. Then if you don't sleep, and Shannon has it right, if you don't sleep, your cortisol levels go up. If your cortisol levels go up, you don't sleep. [00:04:00] This is why I'm always talking about the adrenal glands, and it's important that your adrenal glands, you work on that to get that down. Okay?
Dr. Martin Sr: But listen, this is a very, very common problem. It's much more common today than it used to be, and I want to give you some tips on helping you to sleep, but one of the major things that it does is that [00:04:30] these little microglia do not work properly. They go to sleep. They sleep. Their job is to work the night shift. Okay? Can you imagine how your body is made? It's fearfully, wonderfully made. Isn't it? You just think, your body, what it does, it detoxes itself at night, when you're sleeping. That's why sleep is so important.
Dr. Martin Sr: I'm a big guy on trying to help you get to sleep [00:05:00] and get into a good sleep, because... Ladies, it's not that men don't have trouble. Okay? Because a lot of times, men will have trouble when they don't sleep properly. For a man, if they don't get into a good sleep, they oftentimes have sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is not because a deviated septum as why is there so much sleep apnea today? Because of insulin. [00:05:30] It's food. What does insulin do? When you are constantly eating carbohydrates... And men, they often don't listen. Right, ladies? They don't listen? "How you doing?" They come into the office. "How you doing?" "Good." "You feeling good?" "Yeah, I feel great." "Anything wrong?" "Nope." The only time I get the truth is when their wives are with them. They hit them in the office, like, "What are you talking about? [00:06:00] You're not good. You're always tired. You get home. You fall asleep in five seconds. You snore like a bear, and you belch, and you got no energy," and blah, blah, blah. But the men wouldn't ordinarily tell me that, because we're from another planet, in case you didn't know.
Dr. Martin Sr: But men, when they have trouble, usually it's insulin. It's insulin. When they get their insulin [00:06:30] down by lowering their carbohydrates, they do much better. A man, it's pretty simple. Okay? They usually have high levels of insulin, which is the number one cause of sleep apnea. Yeah, you get your insulin resistance down. A man changes his diet, and it's amazing how much better. Look, I don't want to talk about using the machine or not. Look, if the machine helps you, [00:07:00] good for you, but all I'm saying is, what is the root cause of sleep apnea. It's not a lack of the machine. It's high insulin that creates inflammation, and that inflammation is causing a lack of oxygen to go up into the brain. Okay? Remember that. That's for men, mostly, and women. It's not that women don't get sleep apnea, but when they do, it's insulin. It's insulin. You have [00:07:30] to remember that. That's why they improve so much when they change their diet. Okay? That's number one, is insulin, in terms of sleep apnea.
Dr. Martin Sr: But ladies, I want to specifically address sleep with you. Okay? Because sleep in a woman is caused when you have a lack of sleep, or especially when you wake up after falling asleep, although [00:08:00] some women have trouble even getting to sleep, but that is another factor. Let me talk about that, because when your cortisol is high, that's cortisol, guys, inside the body. It's the fight or flight that doesn't get turned off. Okay? That's what cortisol is. It's stress. That can be family stress. It could be financial stress. It could be emotional stress. It could be environmental stress. [00:08:30] All of these things will stress your adrenals, and the adrenals release cortisol. Okay? Cortisol, if it is left on... If I come up behind you and scare you, you're going to punch me, or you're going to run. Okay? That's cortisol, and that's fine. Once it gets turned off, you're back to normal, but what if it doesn't get turned off?
Dr. Martin Sr: I'm [00:09:00] telling you, guys, this has revolutionized my practice, because the world has changed, and I am not kidding you that now, today, one of the number one factors in health overall is insulin. Remember when Tony Jr. and I wrote a book. It's already... What is it? It's got to be 10-years-old now. Serial Killers: Two Hormones That Want You Dead. What were the two hormones? Insulin and cortisol. These are [00:09:30] huge factors. They have a big play in sleep. If you don't sleep properly, your immune system will not be up to snuff. Your detox system, your body's innate ability to detox your body from heavy metal, from yeast, from bacteria, even from viruses in the brain, it sweeps the brain out at night. It cleans [00:10:00] the office. It helps with your brain. Cortisol is a huge, huge factor in that. You have to get cortisol down.
Dr. Martin Sr: Now let me give you another reason to get cortisol down, because when your cortisol is elevated, it does not allow your thyroid to work properly. Okay? It does not allow your thyroid, because your thyroid primarily works on one [00:10:30] hormone. It's called T3. Okay? That hormone is the most important thyroid hormone. I mean, there's T1, T2, T3, T4, and T5, and calcitonin, but you need the conversion to take place. In order for your thyroid to work properly, it needs T3. For a whole year... Listen to this.
Dr. Martin Sr: For a whole year, you only [00:11:00] get about a tablespoon of T3. Yeah. Take a little bit away from that, and your thyroid, which is your gas pedal, which is your metabolism... Ladies, that is why women have so much more trouble losing weight than men. It's not only sleep, but it's trouble losing weight because of the thyroid. It's working, and your [00:11:30] doctor is saying, "Well, look, it's within normal limits, this being high and this being low, and it's within the normal blood test range," but they don't measure the T3. If your T3 is not 100% on, you know what happens? Your thyroid becomes sluggish. Your thyroid becomes sluggish.
Dr. Martin Sr: Now, let me go back. One of the reasons [00:12:00] that your body will not allow T3 to be at its optimal level is when your cortisol is high, because cortisol will not allow the conversion of your T4 to T3 thyroid hormone. Guys, this is key for women. This is key. This is why I'm always talking about cortisol and what it does for a lot of things, but one of the things it does, [00:12:30] it doesn't allow you to sleep, and it doesn't allow your thyroid to work at its optimal level. It's working, but it's not working up to snuff. That's a key, key, key factor. Okay? Cortisol is... What a thing that is. Think about that for a minute, how important that hormone is. Okay? So, cortisol is a very, very important hormone, and it's [00:13:00] a very important hormone in sleep.
Dr. Martin Sr: Let's talk for a minute here, just, how do you get your cortisol down? Okay? How do you get your cortisol down so that you get into a better sleep? Now look, ladies, just into the cortisol, let me just tell you, too, that your primary hormone in a woman is not estrogen. It's progesterone. It's your pro-baby hormone. From the day you [00:13:30] ovulate, ladies, until the day you die, you need progesterone. Progesterone is the master hormone in women, and progesterone, it has to be balanced with your estrogen. Estrogen makes you a woman, progesterone is pro-babies, and they need to be equal.
Dr. Martin Sr: All of your life, ladies, they need to be equal. When you're young, they're high. If they're equal, [00:14:00] though, you have wonderful periods. Everything is good. A man one period, and we go shoot ourselves. Okay? So when I say wonderful periods, what does a man know about a period? I mean, can you imagine our menses? Men would shoot themselves. That's why God didn't give us a period, because there would be no men left. We'd be all dead from suicide. Okay? I'm telling you. Men are the biggest babies in the universe, are us. [00:14:30] Put your hand up if you're a man. You're a big baby. You are. We are. Okay? Women are tough. Women can have babies, because a man... Well, if he could, he'd have one and never have another one, because we're big babies. We're the baby, not the baby.
Dr. Martin Sr: Number two, men had never had a period. Holy jumpin', but ladies, you need balance between estrogen and progesterone in order to have [00:15:00] regular periods, and the fact that they wouldn't be too heavy, and the fact that you wouldn't have too much PMS, do you understand what I'm saying? It's got to be equal. They have to be equal. As long as they're equal, everything is good. Now, a lot of times, what happens, okay, if they get out of balance and you get bad periods or whatever, doctors have a tendency to put you on the birth control pill. Okay, look, I'm [00:15:30] not talking about birth control pill for birth control. I'm talking about it when doctors use it to regulate bad periods.
Dr. Martin Sr: The problem with that is, it's only masking. It's like you're driving down the highway, and you hear a knock in the engine, and then you just turned the radio up. That's not fixing it. It's not fixing the imbalance. They're actually, most doctors, will give you estrogen when the problem is progesterone is not high enough. Your estrogen is already [00:16:00] at a good level, but your progesterone is not high enough. Ladies, this becomes much more significant the older that you get. As you get into perimenopause, and I've seen 18-year-olds in perimenopause. I'm not kidding you. Women have a hard time today comparatively, comparatively. Okay? Getting [inaudible 00:16:26] today, because there's so much estrogen. The world is full of estrogen, [00:16:30] the plastics and every chemical, anything that's in your kitchen that's got a long... Read the label, and it says it's got... You can't even pronounce the names. Those are xenoestrogens.
Dr. Martin Sr: Xenoestrogens are everywhere. You can't escape it. So, what happens? That drives the estrogen up. Progesterone can't keep up. What happens? Now you have an imbalance. That could put you in perimenopausal. [00:17:00] Look, if the balance, of course, it's natural, but if it's not balanced, you don't feel good, you gain weight. You just look at food, and you gain weight. Your thyroid doesn't work properly, again, without progesterone. Cortisol, stress, and then progesterone, a lack of it, comparatively to estrogen, these two things [00:17:30] will mess your hormones up. If you mess your hormones up, you're not going to get into a good sleep. You will not feel great. Your immune system goes down.
Dr. Martin Sr: If you fill out a questionnaire from my clinic and I talk about cortisol, one of the things we talk about is cortisol can affect hair. You can get hair loss with high levels of cortisol. [00:18:00] You can get weight gain with high levels of cortisol. You can get one infection after another with high levels of cortisol. Why is that? Because it affects your sleep. Your immune system gets destroyed when you don't sleep properly. Do you understand what I'm saying? Ladies, for you, it's hormones. Okay? It's hormones. If you [00:18:30] can just remember that, that is so, so, so important. Okay?
Dr. Martin Sr: Let me just talk to you now for a minute about what you should do. Listen, hormones are confusing. Okay? They are, but I try and simplify them. Maybe I didn't simplify it enough for you. Okay? Look, you know what the word, doctor, means? It means teacher. Can I [00:19:00] just give you some teaching on this this morning? You guys are great. You always put up with me and my teaching. Right? What do we do? Okay, so what do you do if you're not sleeping properly? I'm going to talk to you, and men, too. Men, if you're not sleeping properly, get your insulin down.
Dr. Martin Sr: The first thing you do is food. Okay? Food. Get [00:19:30] your insulin down, because insulin, if your cortisol is high, it'll elevate your insulin because it wants to elevate your blood sugars because of this, and then what goes up must come down. So, your blood sugars fluctuate. What is the best thing to do in terms of diet? Lower your carbs. Lower your sugars. I don't know. Can you hear that knocking in the back? Somebody is working on the condo [00:20:00] next to us. I don't know if you hear it or not, but lower your sugars. Okay? Lower your sugars. Lower your carbohydrates. This has a profound effect on lowering your insulin. If you lower your insulin, it helps to lower your cortisol. If you lower your cortisol, you're going to help with sleep. Diet is very, very, very important. [00:20:30] Okay?
Dr. Martin Sr: Now, some of you will, because of the fluctuations of the blood sugar, you know I'm a big guy on intermittent fasting, but for some, if you're waking up, your blood sugars might be going too low, it's not a bad idea if you have to take a little bit of a protein snack before you go to bed. Think about that. You might need a little bit of a protein snack, just a small amount of cheese [00:21:00] or something that's low carb, but high enough in protein and fat. Okay? That's really important. Okay?
Dr. Martin Sr: Number two, you want to get a lot of fat into the brain. Okay? Because for your brain health, you need fat. That's why I'm a big guy on high DHA. I'm a big guy on fat. I'm a big guy on omega-3. [00:21:30] It lowers your inflammation in the brain. If you lower your inflammation, you're going to get a better sleep. Lower your carbs. Increase your fat. Increase your good fats. Okay? This is very important. Don't mind me. I'm having a little bit of coffee. By the way, coffee is good for you. Right? You know that. I don't have to tell you that. Insulin, get that down. Increase your fat. [00:22:00] Okay? Increase your fat, very, very, very important.
Dr. Martin Sr: I take DHA every day for my brain. I know if I lower all my marker... and DHA lowers your... Remember, if someone calls you a fathead, take it as a compliment. These things are important for your brain. When they look at autopsies of Alzheimer's brains, you know what they see? A shrunken brain. The brain just dries up like a prune. You want a fat [00:22:30] brain. Your brain is fat. Your brain is DHA. What is DHA? It's a long chain fatty acid. It's only found in animal foods. Okay? It's only found in fish, and it's even found... DHA, higher amount, in grass-fed beef. It's higher than fish, but I take fish every day in a capsule. Okay? I always tell people, I wish I liked fish better, [00:23:00] but I take fish every day. I have to take it in a capsule, because I don't like fish. I wish I did. I'm fussy about that, but I love beef. I love beef, man. I'm a beef guy.
Dr. Martin Sr: Protect the blood brain barrier. This is very important for your brain. Even for a good sleep, protect the blood brain barrier. Remember, you've got a gut. You know this. Your gut has got a barrier. [00:23:30] It's got a lining. Right? I always like to show this. Okay? Linda says, "Coffee gives me heartburn." Too bad for you. I feel sorry for you, Linda. I love my coffee. Okay. You got a barrier here. Okay? See this? Okay? This is a barrier that you have between your gut and your blood. It keeps garbage that goes in your gut and sends it on into the toilet where it belongs. [00:24:00] Okay? What makes up that little thin endothelial cells is bacteria. The more good bacteria you have, the more your lining between [inaudible 00:24:14] and your blood.
Dr. Martin Sr: This is important. The blood brain barrier is the same thing. Okay? It's the same thing. You've got a barrier. It's very, very thin. It's so submicroscopic [00:24:30] that nobody even knew it existed years ago. We didn't even know it existed, that barrier, but you have a barrier between your brain and your blood. There's guards there, and they're bacteria, too. They're friendly bacteria. Most of that is in the gut, though. What the blood brain barrier is made up, it's the connection between your vagus nerve, your tenth cranial nerve and your gut. [00:25:00] The microbiome, the bacteria between that, is a protective barrier, except if you don't have a good barrier because you have too many bad guys, especially yeast or fungus. You guys know me. I always talk about fungus, candida. It's yeast. It's fungal. We live in a fungal world because of sugars that [00:25:30] feed yeast. And so, you really help when...
Dr. Martin Sr: Protect the blood brain barrier. You know me and probiotics. Change your diet. Watch your sugars. Watch your carbs. Keep your brain healthy by DHA, especially, and get your cortisol down because that's going to affect your thyroid. It's going to affect your sleep. Lower your cortisol levels. [00:26:00] That is very, very, very important. And so, meditate helps. I pray. Okay? Somebody asked me the other day, "Do you count sheep at night before you go to bed?" No, I count red blood cells, because I've been looking at blood for so many years. I see little red blood cells running around, and I start counting them when I fall asleep very quickly. Anyway, I'm very thankful I don't have too much trouble sleeping. I'm a big baby if I miss [00:26:30] a day or two of sleep.
Dr. Martin Sr: Isn't that something? Think about that for a minute, how important your sleep is, even for detoxing your brain. When you keep your brain clean, and you keep your insulin down, your risk of Alzheimer's is down to almost nothing. You see, that's the key. You want to get your insulin down to lower your inflammation. You want to get your cortisol [00:27:00] down to lower your inflammation. Like Tony Jr. says, "Inflammation is not Houdini. It doesn't come from anywhere. It comes because of elevated levels of insulin and elevated levels of cortisol." I mean, make sure your room is dark. If not, put something over your eyes. Dark, dark, dark. No blue light. Get off your computer [00:27:30] about an hour before going to bed. Get away from that blue light, guys. Okay, those are other factors. Make sure your room is cold. They've proven that. A colder room, the better sleep. When I'm back home in Sudbury, Rosie and I, in the wintertime, you can see our breath. The frost is coming up because we keep the room so cold, but you [00:28:00] sleep better. I'm telling you. You sleep better.
Dr. Martin Sr: Ladies, one thing, a good trick is magnesium, relaxing, and one way to get your magnesium before, go take a hot bath with Epson salts, like maybe a half an hour before going to bed or whatever. Take a nice hot bath, and that helps. Those are things. Try not to get on sleeping pills. The problem with sleeping pills is, they sedate you. [00:28:30] You're not getting into a... The night shift doesn't come on and repair your brain when you're on sleeping pills. You'll sleep, but you're sedated. When you're sedated, you're not getting a recuperative sleep. These microglia, they're not working. Okay? For a lot of people, that Epson salts makes a big, big difference because of that. [00:29:00] Take a nice warm bath, hot bath, before bed. These are wonderful tricks to help. Okay?
Dr. Martin Sr: Folks, send in your questions. I'm going to try and do questions and answers. I've been doing that on alternative days between Monday and Thursday, because I do my normal videos. Monday is a shorter video, usually. Thursdays is the longer one, and then every day, though, I am going to do a [00:29:30] video while I'm here. I'm going to try and answer your questions. Okay? Love you, guys.
Announcer: You've reached the end of another Doctor is In podcast with your hosts, Dr. Martin Jr. and Sr. Be sure to catch our next episode, and thanks for listening.