Transcript Of Today's Episode
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Dr. Martin: Well good morning, everyone. I'm going to talk to you about a few studies. One of them we're going to be more specific about sleep, because the new study had come out showing that 70% [00:00:30] of the population get insufficient sleep and compared to 40 years ago, people in North America are sleeping two hours less on average. So that's pretty incredible. We'll talk about the significance of that. A couple of studies that came out. I would just wanted to tell you something that you'll find a little bit interesting because I'm actually going to tie it in. So just a little bit of interest in because I don't know if you got to see it. If not, [00:01:00] if you are a member of our Facebook group, [inaudible 00:01:05] Facebook Martin Clinic Group. Yesterday, I did a little bit of an update on the Corona virus.
Dr. Martin: I did an update on it and just put it into perspective a little bit because it's getting a lot of ink and it really is making people panic. I looked up something yesterday and I [00:01:30] don't think I mentioned this on the podcast, but what I said is, in the United States alone, 10,000 people already this winter have died from the flu. 10,000. So keep that into perspective when they talk about the Corona virus, because the media is making an ... Look, I'm not trying to minimize it, so don't come after me for minimizing this. I realize that it's a virus. It's probably going to be pandemic. But [00:02:00] what I explained yesterday is that most people, even if you get it, will have no symptoms of that virus. And in the United States, I looked this up yesterday, in the United States alone, so far in 2020, a little bit of 2019 at the end of 2019, 10,000 people have died from the flu.
Dr. Martin: Now when you die from the flu in the United States and Canada, it's because your immune system, it's people that are already [00:02:30] unwell. Generally that's 99.9% of the people. You ever die from a flu, it's because you're very unwell, your immune system's not working. So let's put things into perspective. That's all I'm saying. Like a lot of people, "Dr. Martin, you're not taking this seriously." I take it seriously only on the effect that they're panicking. And in Italy, you can't go to the grocery store. In a lot of parts of [00:03:00] Italy, there's no more food. People are panicking and 14 Americans were on that ship that was quarantined in Japan. And when all 14 had the Corona virus, none of the 14 were sick. So it's your immune system. And I just wanted to, this is something I read yesterday in the flu pandemic of 1918, [00:03:30] 1919, where thousands and thousands of people died, because they didn't have modern medicine.
Dr. Martin: The fatality rates were the lowest. Listen to this, the fatality rates were the lowest where there was the most sunshine. Like Florida, Texas, California where they had the most sunshine, less people died of the flu. And I'm talking about 1918, 1919. Well, I wonder if the sunshine is very important. [00:04:00] Absolutely it is. This is why Dr. Martin's always talking about vitamin D, vitamin D. It is the first line of defense, that and probiotics, are your first line of defense. What do probiotics do? what do probiotics have to do with your immune system? Well, most of your immune system is in your gut and the more good bacteria you have, the more they fight the bad guys. So if you got a bad virus that's coming into your body or a [00:04:30] bacteria, guess what, the main battle is going to happen in your gut.
Dr. Martin: And so when you have a good micro biome, a microflora and your gut is healthy, guess what? Guess what? You have a better immune system. So this is what I'm saying, this is the stuff and you know, like I said in these pandemics, wherever they have the most sunshine and people would [00:05:00] get in the sun, because a lot of people are scared of the sun. Like down here, I love my Florida neighbors here, but most of them, they never go in the sun. They're scared skinny of it. And you know what? I don't even talk to them about it because look, what I mean? You're never a prophet in your hometown, right? Like you guys, I think, listen, I don't think you'd tune in for any other reason that you're just trying to get the information.
Dr. Martin: So I [00:05:30] just wanted to touch on the Corona virus this morning because it's in the news. It's not going away anytime soon. The World Health Organization, apparently, is going to declare it a pandemic, meaning pandemic means it's everywhere. But it's going to be a tough one to contain, per se, because most people like us say they don't even have symptoms. So if you come off a plane from China or anywhere else where there's the Corona virus, if you don't have any symptoms, you don't [00:06:00] have a fever or whatever, well, unless they quarantine you, right, like they did on that ship, even though those people weren't sick, they quarantined them. How are they going to stop this? But for you as an individual, you know what to do. Number one, probiotics and vitamin D, I get that it's one A and one B. That's the most important thing that you can do because it's not the virus.
Dr. Martin: It's you. You got it? Remember the [00:06:30] American commercial, Uncle Sam wants you with the finger stuck up? It's you guys. It's you. It's your immune system. Take care of your immune system because that is what is going to prevent you and your family from any virus. Nevermind, look and it doesn't mean you'll never get sick. Come on, right? I [00:07:00] mean, people brag to me, they never get sick. I go, that's by the grace of God. Okay. Like, come on, everybody gets sick, somebody's going to get a cold or whatever. It's how fast you get over it, right? It's your immune system fighting. Generally I'm very healthy, in terms of my immune system is usually very, very good. But every once in a while I get a sinus colder or whatever and it doesn't happen often, but when it does, [00:07:30] I can come out of it quickly and that's the key.
Dr. Martin: So I just wanted to touch on that this morning before I get into sleep because this study came out [inaudible 00:07:42] and I flagged it right away because it was of great interest to me. And I think you'll find this fascinating. So 70% ... listen to this guys. Now, I've been saying this for years, that sleep, 70% [00:08:00] of the population in North America don't sleep well. 70%, that's incredible. 99% of the time I sleep very well. The odd night, it takes me longer to get to sleep. I can't turn the brain off. That's usually with me. I'm thinking about something or whatever and I can't turn the noggin off. Okay. Well [00:08:30] that, okay, but that's very rare for me. Okay. And I sleep generally very well and I'm well refreshed in the morning. You just give me coffee.
Dr. Martin: Okay. You give me my coffee in the morning. I have a bottle of water first. Dr. Martin always has a bottle of water first before I have my coffee. I won't allow myself to have coffee before I have a bottle of water. But 70% of the population suffer from insomnia, some form [00:09:00] of insomnia. They can't get the sleep or they can't stay asleep or both. And that's a, I mean, in the office it's absolutely an epidemic. A lot of it is hormones. Especially in women, it's hormones. They don't sleep well. It's horror-mones. I'm writing a new book right now and that's one of the chapters. Horror-mones. Because the body changes and we talk about hormones all the time.
Dr. Martin: [00:09:30] So let me just tell you what a lack of sleep does and then I'm going to give you some tips on helping your sleep. But here's what a lack of sleep does. Number one. Number one, it affects your brain. Why, because we've done some teaching on this in the past, but I'll refresh your memory. When you sleep at night, the night shift comes in and your brain, they're [00:10:00] called glial cells, G-L-I-A-L, glial cells. They only come out at night when you're sleeping. Glial cells come in and they clean the brain. They get all the debris out of your, and they regenerate. They help regenerate your brain cells. They sweep it out. You know, it's like when you're in a big city or whatever, right? And you see the odd little light on in a building [00:10:30] downtown Toronto for example. That's the night shift. They're coming in to clean, right? All the office's staff has gone home, but there are people in there cleaning on the night shift.
Dr. Martin: That's what happens in your brain when you're sleeping. And let me just say this because I think this is very significant. You have to understand this. Sleeping pills, sleeping pills do not allow the glial cells [00:11:00] to come in, so all dark. I can't sleep without a sleeping pill. Well, you know what? You're not really sleeping. You're knocked out. That's called sedation and sedation does not allow your glial cells to come in and to regenerate the brain. This is why if you go back on a podcast a long, I don't know how long ago, I talked about when you take sleeping pills, you're not sleeping, [00:11:30] you're not getting into the recuperative sleep. Your brain is not regenerating and that is why you are 50% more or higher likely to get dementia when you're on sleeping pills. "Doc, I can't sleep without sleeping pills", but you're not sleeping. You're sedated. It's different.
Dr. Martin: You ever gone had an operation where they sedated you? Yeah. How do you feel after that? I got [00:12:00] sedated, because they had to go in and do an operation. Were you sleeping? You were in Lala land, but you weren't sleeping. You were sedated. That's different. Your brain only regenerates when you're getting actual sleep, and that's when the night shift comes in, the glial cells, and they come in and they clean up the brain. They take the toxins out and regenerate your cells. Isn't that amazing, how your body is fearfully and wonderfully made and how it [00:12:30] does it, but it only does it when you're sleeping and then the population don't even get a good night's sleep. How crazy is that? How crazy is that? So one, you're not regenerating the brain. The brain needs to be regenerated. It needs a night shift to come in. This is why it's so important. Significant.
Dr. Martin: Okay. Number two. Number two is inflammation. So when you don't sleep, your body's [00:13:00] inflammation response is elevated. Now you guys know this. Inflammation in the body is not Houdini. It just doesn't come out of nowhere. There's always factors that cause inflammation, and one of them is a lack of sleep. And the physiology is this, you don't sleep, your cortisol goes up, your cortisol goes up, your inflammation goes up. That's how it works. [00:13:30] So you don't sleep, it's a vicious cycle. If you don't sleep, your cortisol goes up. If your cortisol goes up, you don't sleep. And that creates inflammation in the body and that can be very damaging to your heart, your blood vessels, your brain. We talked about that and sleep is important. It's really important, but you need a natural sleep.
Dr. Martin: What else happens? Well, [00:14:00] with elevated cortisol, it can mess up your hormones because cortisol is a big factor. Even in your, what I talked about the other day, in your estrogen and progesterone, ladies, of the balance of that. Cortisol can mess up your progesterone and that will allow you to have estrogen dominance and that can affect you in a myriad of ways too. So it messes you up hormonally [00:14:30] because you need to get a good night's sleep. I get it. 70% of the population don't sleep well. Here's another factor. If your cortisol is up, it doesn't allow you to convert T4 to T3s, which your thyroid needs to work at 100% level. So you get an oftentimes sleep, a lack of sleep can affect your thyroid, especially [00:15:00] in women. And they don't feel well.
Dr. Martin: Their thyroid is out of balance, but yet their numbers are all right because you don't know the conversion of T4 to T3 and your TSH might be normal, but if you're not feeling good, that's your thyroid. So sleep affects the thyroid gland. Another thing it does in men, it affects their testosterone. If men don't sleep well, their testosterone goes down. If [00:15:30] your testosterone goes down in men, it affects every part of a man from depression to heart disease and whatever. Testosterone is a male's best friend and it should be optimized. But if you don't sleep, your testosterone goes down. You see how important sleep is. It's crazy. And then we talked about the glial cells, we talked about the low T, testosterone, [00:16:00] and then women there, it can mess up your hormones. Horror-mones. Okay, so that has a big effect. So what do we do? What do we do, doc? What do we do?
Dr. Martin: Okay, well you do everything you can to optimize your vitamin D, because one of the most popular products on the market for sleep is what? What is the number one selling product [00:16:30] for sleep in North America? What? What is it? Well, Diane, you just said it. Melatonin. Melatonin is the number one selling natural product for sleep. Am I against melatonin? Nope, but your body makes melatonin. It's a hormone. How does your body make melatonin? If I did this test or this little questionnaire [00:17:00] to 99% of all physicians, they wouldn't know. They wouldn't know it. They wouldn't know the answer to it. You guys are that stinking smart. You are, you know it's vitamin D. Without proper levels of vitamin D, you do not make enough melatonin.
Dr. Martin: Your body makes melatonin. Your body produces melatonin. Melatonin is an antioxidant [00:17:30] and it is very good for you, but your body produces it, but it needs vitamin D, the produce it. You see why the sun is so important? When do you sleep well usually. Okay, Go and lie on the beach. Go out on a summer day and work in your garden all day. Right? And the sun's out. Usually sleep like a log that night. Why, because you produce a lot of melatonin to put you to sleep. Sun was down, we create melatonin. Well you create [00:18:00] melatonin during the day to put you to sleep at night. Okay, so isn't that incredible how your body works? And guys, this is so significant.
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.