Transcript Of Today's Episode
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Dr. Martin: Well, good morning, everyone. And once again, welcome to another live this morning and hoping you're having a great day. This morning we're going to [00:00:30] talk about sleep. New study came out, found it very interesting. Now it is estimated that this is crazy and probably a statistic that's about five years old, that 70%, 70% of North Americans have difficulty sleeping. It's crazy when 70% of the population estimated has trouble sleeping, [00:01:00] that I don't think you're underestimating it at all by calling it an epidemic. And nights are pretty long when you're not sleeping properly. Last night, I did a Zoom webinar with the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario. And I talked about two things. Remember yesterday, I was saying that I was going to present them [00:01:30] the teaching on insulin, which I did by the way. But I actually talked about a book that Tony Jr. And I wrote, it's several years ago now, Serial Killers, Two Hormones I want you dead. And you know what, it's still true. There's two hormones that want you dead, insulin and cortisol.
We're going to look at that this morning because the study on sleep talked about a metabolic change that occurs [00:02:00] in your gut if you don't sleep properly. And the study is based on what a lack of sleep does to your microbiome and specifically creating inflammation because of the changes in your microbiome. I mean, it's just stuff we didn't know. I mean, if you'd talked to me 20 years ago about sleep and the microbiome, I would've thought you were coming [00:02:30] from another planet. What are you talking about? But isn't it interesting how we know so much more now about that invisible war that goes on inside your body, between your good and bad bacteria, your microbiome it's called, and how that has to be in balance.
And there's a lot of things that can disrupt it. I talked about yesterday, the sugar, what sugar does. [00:03:00] And sugar disrupts the microbiome and especially feeds yeast and candida, and that's a big, big issue. Study after study now is coming out, showing what an overgrowth of candida, an overgrowth of yeast. People think, "Just a yeast infection," but it's much more serious than that. And so this is something to really look at. But for the purposes of today's [00:03:30] podcast, we are going to talk about four things that happen metabolically. One of them will come back to the microbiome. Four things that happen metabolically in your body when you don't sleep properly. And then we'll give you some tips on improving your sleep, okay, and we'll touch on that. And some of the things that happen metabolically [00:04:00] will be some of the things that if you correct that, it will help you with your sleep. And I've seen that time and time and time again. Okay?
So let's talk about the four things that get disrupted metabolically, okay, when you don't sleep properly. If you don't get that six to about eight hours on average. Everybody's a little bit different in that area, but generally you need [00:04:30] that six, eight hours of going through your four phases of sleep. And without that, you don't get the recuperation and some of the things that we're going to talk about this morning. So when you have a lack of sleep, I don't know if I'm put putting them in order, but let's just talk about where I wrote them down and where it's affecting you. One of the things metabolically that happens [00:05:00] when you don't sleep properly in general is weight gain. Weight gain, okay? I mean, this is not fun because what happens is your metabolism changes. One of the reasons is, people don't realize this, but one of the worst things you can do is snack at night, snacking at night. One of the best habits you can get into, I mean not only [00:05:30] for digestive issues and other issues, one of the best habits you can get into is practicing what we call intermittent fasting.
Now, one of the best ways to do it, or at least the best way to start doing it is stop eating at night. Allow your body two, three, four, five hours before you go sleep, get [00:06:00] your digestion over with, okay? Get the digestion part of it over with. So this is very important to do that, okay. This is very important to do that. So metabolically, what happens is that it's not just the snacking at night, by the way. If you don't sleep properly, your metabolism slows down. One of the reasons for that is that your cortisol is going [00:06:30] up. As cortisol goes up, your belly fat will go up. One of the areas where you get the weight gain, ladies, is in the belly. It's in the belly. This is no fun. But not only that, when you think of what belly fat does, belly fat is a different fat altogether. [00:07:00] And the reason is that belly fat it's called visceral fat is a dangerous fat. It releases cytokines. It releases inflammation and nevermind that it doesn't look good. It's what it does even inside that you don't even realize that you're getting inflammation.
It's almost like it's a separate organ altogether when you get belly fat. [00:07:30] So when you don't sleep, your cortisol goes up. When your cortisol goes up, you don't sleep. One of the biggest things in this whole COVID area, one of the biggest side effects, I've been saying this and you know that since way before March, is the unintended consequences. The coming tsunami. The coming tsunami of anxiety and [00:08:00] depression. People are meant to communicate with each other. We're human beings. We communicate. And I understand why they're saying it. I don't necessarily agree with it, but that's not the point. The point is you and I are meant for each other. One of the worst things they're doing, and I understand why they're doing it, is to long-term facilities and senior homes and this and that, [00:08:30] they're shutting these places down to visitors and things like this. What's worse, the virus or these people being lonely? I don't know. I don't know. It's the unintended consequences.
One of the unintended consequences of anxiety is you won't sleep. Your brain won't turn off. That's cortisol guys. That's cortisol and cortisol brings you [00:09:00] a whole gamut of symptoms. Lack of sleep obviously, brain fog, memory loss, fatigue. It's a double whammo. Cortisol you're uptight and then the brain doesn't turn off. You don't sleep properly. Well, you can imagine metabolically, what that does. It elevates your blood pressure even. So one of the things is [00:09:30] the weight gain when you don't sleep properly, and part of it is snacking. That's one of the things that I recommend is that people stop ... eat an early supper as much as you can. Look, it's not always possible. I understand that. But as much as possible, try and stop eating because what's happening if you're digesting, your body is still working when you're going to sleep.
I [00:10:00] always use the illustration of my cellphone. You're supposed to turn it off or you get on an airplane. They tell you put it in airplane mode. What's happening in airplane mode? You're not getting any data coming in. The problem if you've eaten, you've snapped at night, your body is still in working mode. Your gut is still working. Your body is digesting. It's separating your food. It's absorbing [00:10:30] your nutrients and this and that. And your body is supposed to be in airplane mode, no data coming in. It's amazing how your body works. So that's one thing that happens in a lack of sleep.
The second thing that happens in a lack of sleep, and these studies have been ongoing for years. And that is your insulin is elevated, even when you're not eating. Your [00:11:00] cells are becoming more and more resistant to insulin. Now let me make you understand that. Your cells are supposed to listen to insulin, because insulin it's doing its job. When you eat, it must clear, we talked about this yesterday. It must clear that sugar out of your bloodstream. And then it knocks on the cell [00:11:30] walls and says like open up, man. I got energy for you. But when insulin comes around too often, your cells say, "Hey, I'm tired of you." Like I said, yesterday, a bad neighbor. Have you ever had one of those? They're always hanging around. They're coming over to your house all the time.
My mother used to say, "Visitors are like fish. After three days, they start to [00:12:00] stink." That was an expression my mother used, okay? You don't want to outdo your welcome, right? So all I'm saying is that imagine we live in a world where insulin, insulin, insulin. People eat more and more and more carbohydrates. A lot of people think that those carbs are actually good for them, but they're turning to sugar rapidly. And then your cells need to respond to that. Remember insulin [00:12:30] is the traffic cop. It must take sugar out of your bloodstream. Sugar left in your bloodstream is extremely toxic and your body does everything it can to get sugar out of your bloodstream. That's how your body works. But when you use that insulin too much, your cells become insulin resistant and if you don't sleep properly, your cells [00:13:00] become even more insulin resistant.
Man, you can't win. You can't win. Not only is it food, but it's also a lack of sleep. Isn't that crazy? So sleep is important, guys. It's important. Now, thirdly, what else happens metabolically? We talked about the microbiome. There are changes that occur when you don't sleep where the microbiome gets disrupted. [00:13:30] You're much more susceptible when you don't sleep to a condition that is one of the greatest problems in our society today, and that is the problem of what we call leaky gut. Leaky gut, leaky brain. Leaky gut, leaky skin. Leaky gut, leaky lungs. Leaky gut, leaky sinuses. Leaky gut, leaky joints. Leaky gut, leaky kidneys. [00:14:00] Leaky gut, leaky liver. Because your microbiome, we're finding out today it's every bit as important as your cells are in your body. It's those bacteria.
It's not a matter of let's kill all the bad guys and the good guys win. As a matter of fact, when you kill your bad guys, you killing your good guys too. This whole idea with COVID is 100 [00:14:30] times a day people are putting these chemicals on their skin. You're killing your friendly bacteria. You're creating toxins inside your body. One of the best ways to put stuff inside your body is to put it on your skin. A lot of medications are delivered via a patch today. They go right in the epidermis, get into your bloodstream. I go [00:15:00] into stores and I watch people putting those chemicals. I can't stand that. 100 times a day at workplace. I feel sorry for people that work in hospitals and those areas. Even people in the grocery store, you see them 100 a day spraying and cleaning their hands.
But they're showing now that sleep, a lack [00:15:30] of it, disrupts the microbiome. That's incredible. That's very important to understand that. Now fourthly, so we know one that it affects weight gain because of the effect that a lack of sleep has on cortisol. Secondly, we talked about what it does to insulin resistance. It makes you more resistant to insulin. Thirdly, [00:16:00] we talked about the microbiome and now fourthly, we're going to talk about what it does upstairs here in the brain.
Now again, repetition, repetition, repetition cements. Repetition is the glue that cements your understanding of these things. So I'm going to do a repetition of your, what we call, glial cells. You have what they discovered in the last [00:16:30] couple of years fascinating, fascinating. We didn't even know this, that your brain has its own cleaning system. We didn't know this. We know what lymphatics do. It's where your body drains all its garbage. But the brain has its own lymphatic system, they're called glial cells and they're the night shift. When [00:17:00] you sleep and you put your body in airplane mode and no data is coming in, your brain repairs itself. The night shift come in and they clean. It's like when you'd see in an office building, it's empty except for the janitors. Schools, the janitors come in and clean it at night. So isn't that incredible how your body is made fearfully and wonderfully made?
[00:17:30] So what happens is that these glial cells repair. It's very important. And one of the factors in dementia, memory loss, Alzheimer's, of course insulin. We've talked about that, what insulin does to the blood brain barrier. But now we know that when you have a lack of sleep, your brain is not repairing itself. It's not cleaning out the dead cells [00:18:00] and the garbage that's in the brain. That occurs when you're into a recuperative sleep. So that's the fourth thing. Metabolically, what happens? Your inflammation is high. Your cortisol is high. The problem with cortisol, like I said, it's a double edged sword. Cortisol it's for the fight or flight, but if that doesn't turn off, you see your cortisol should be high in the morning. It's getting [00:18:30] you going. It goes on what we call the circadian rhythm. But as the day winds down, your cortisol is coming down, or at least it should be. And then when you get to sleep at night, your cortisol should be break down. Problem is a lot of people, especially with COVID, we found this out to be even worse. It's one of the main, main side effects, a lack of sleep. People are so uptight their brain doesn't [00:19:00] turn off.
So what do we do? Let me give you some tips. I already talked about stop eating, allow your body to rest the digestive tract. There's a lot of things that go into digestion. The secretion of a lot of enzymes and your acid in your stomach and your gut. The bile coming out of your gallbladder and all these things that occur. So one, please try [00:19:30] as much as you can, no snacking at night. That's not easy. It's not easy. We're used to it, right? Especially when you're watching Netflix. The world's gone crazy. Oh, I can't handle it. And folks be consistent. Point number two, okay? One, try and stop eating. Two, be consistent. Try and get to bed at the [00:20:00] same time every night. Start winding down, okay? Start winding down and get yourself ready for bed and then another thing with sleep, let's talk about melatonin.
Now, I'm just going to tell you right upfront, I'm not huge on melatonin as a supplement. Okay? Because a lot of people don't realize melatonin is a hormone that your body makes. [00:20:30] I love melatonin, but you know what? I'm not that big on a supplement of melatonin because I found this is just my clinical experience over the years, I found it works a little bit for some, but it doesn't work for a long period of time. Here's what I know about melatonin because your body makes it. You know how your body makes melatonin? The sun. The sun. [00:21:00] Melatonin is produced by the sun during the day. So you might not get any vitamin D if you're living in Northern Ontario or whatever, because it's too cold. But on a sunny day, you will make melatonin. Get outside if you can on a sunny day. Don't wear sunglasses. No sunglasses for a bit. Let them rays come in, [00:21:30] even in your eyes. It's one of the ways your body makes melatonin from the sun.
Remember what I said, that you're a human solar panel? You're thinking of vitamin D, and so do I by the way, right? Vitamin D, vitamin D, vitamin D. But melatonin, your body makes it. You're a human solar panel. It makes melatonin from the sunlight. You want to know why sun is so good for you, [00:22:00] and one of the reasons that people don't sleep anymore is they never see the sun. They work indoors, especially in the winter time. They get up it's dark and they get out of work and it's dark. Or they work at home and they're in front of a screen. You want to deplete your melatonin, get on the screen all day. That blue light, that disrupts your melatonin. So it's very important. [00:22:30] Try and get the sunlight, like the sun's coming in today and I'm enjoying it. I know I'm making melatonin. You ever had a day at the beach and you sleep like a log? That's melatonin.
Now, the other way your body makes melatonin, isn't this incredible? When you are in a pitch black room, I mean zero light. So even [00:23:00] for your kids, your grandchildren, get them used to pitch black. They're going to be scared. Nah, get them used to it. There's no boogeyman. All your lights, cover them up. You know when they tell you to wear a mask today? "Eh, I don't like them. I don't think they work." But that's not the point. I wear a mask when I go to bed at night. I cover my eyes [00:23:30] because you make melatonin when it's completely dark. Isn't that amazing how your body works? Sun during the day increases your melatonin and dark at night, very dark. I mean pitch black you make melatonin. Melatonin puts you into a deep sleep. But a lot of people they're on Facebook. I know it's so tempting. You're on your social media. [00:24:00] Turn that stuff off. Get that blue light off. Get your body prepared. And then dark, dark, dark, dark, dark room, no lights, not even a nightlight. "Oh, doc I got to go to the bathroom. I don't want to stub my toe." I know,, lift your mask.
Okay. Like I said, one of the best things, okay? And this has been a consistent finding, is on the reset. [00:24:30] People that do the reset, find themselves sleeping better. Well, there's reasons for that. Obviously you're fixing, you're helping to fix her insulin resistance. Do you know that you regenerate those cells, the surfaces of yourselves within 30 days? You get rid of insulin resistance. It's gone. You put it to bed. I get a lot of flack on the reset because a lot of people, they don't understand it. Well first of all, [00:25:00] they can't understand how you can live without fruits and vegetables for 30 days. They think that you can't live without that. Yes you can. But the reason I'm doing it is that I'm trying to change your cells. I change yourselves at the cellular level. I want to get rid of insulin resistance. Remember what I told you. I am sending your pancreas to Hawaii for a month. It's on holiday. It's not working.
[00:25:30] And what happens is that your cells, they regenerate. They're not resisting insulin anymore. Now you don't want to go back to eating crap after that, of course. You'll get insulin resistance back in a heartbeat. But the idea is you can fix it. And people find, especially when they're eating eggs, meat, and cheese during the day. First of all, they can do intermittent fasting a lot easier because your blood sugars are not fluctuating. [00:26:00] Listen, I could go into detail, detail, detail why I created the reset. It started with diabetes, my diabetic patients. And I found out that you can put diabetes into remission in 30 days. It's gone. It's in remission. It won't come back unless you, of course, go back on a bad diet. But you [00:26:30] see this is important. Even insulin's important for your sleeping. And of course we've talked about this.
And let me finish with this. We talked about this. When you do the reset, your tongue shrinks. "Oh, doc I thought my tongue would shrink if I stopped talking," nah. Your tongue is a muscle, but it actually becomes obese. People [00:27:00] don't realize that and that's why we see so much sleep apnea today. It's food. It's not a lack of oxygen. A lack of oxygen is the effect of having a big fat tongue. I did a whole podcast on that. It's incredible when you shrink your tongue. "How do you shrink your tongue, doc?" Cut out the carbs and the sugar, [00:27:30] and now you got more oxygen going up to the brain. Why do you think we see so much sleep apnea today? Oh, we have sleep apnea because we don't have enough machines. Nah, you have sleep apnea because you got an obese tongue. Incredible. Yeah, that's why we didn't see. Sleep apnea, was there a cases of it? Probably, but [00:28:00] not many. I never studied sleep apnea in the 1970s. I didn't. It wasn't part of my training. I never heard of it until, I don't know, 1990s or every second person has got a stinking sleep apnea machine today.
They got clinics. You go to the clinic, you got to spend a night at the clinic. You get diagnosed with sleep apnea, they'll pull your driver's [00:28:30] license if you don't buy a machine. And I understand why they do it, but they're not looking at the cause of it. What's caused that? Part of this whole metabolic syndrome guys, that occurs, that occurs. With insulin, double whammo. You have insulin resistance, you get a fat tongue. Okay. Another thing you might look at doing too, [00:29:00] I like Epsom salt baths. You get a magnesium bath. One of the best ways to put magnesium in your body. Do that about a half an hour or an hour before you go to bed at night. A nice, hot bath, just get into a habit of doing it.
Okay, so I hope you enjoyed the program this morning. Tomorrow, Lord willing, we'll talk about question and answers Friday. And so it's not too late. You want to send your questions in, I'm happy [00:29:30] to try and cover all of them. Okay? If you're not part of the Martin Clinic Facebook private group, please join us today. We'd love to have you, join us. Get your friends, invite them to join, and your family. Okay? You guys have a great day. Love you.
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 [00:30:00] and thanks for listening.