Deep Sleep Supplementation and Strategies (Part 3)

Deep sleep is highly important and a necessary component of sleep. Simply stated, it is comprised of Sleep Stages 3 and 4 and is the portion of sleep where growth hormone rises and peaks. The body repairs and heals during this phase of sleep. Growth hormone requires deep sleep to be optimal. This article will detail some of the science behind improving deep sleep, as well as practical strategies to maximize and improve your body.

‘BANG FOR THE BUCK’ STRATEGIES

Exercise. This may be the most important aspect of improving deep sleep. The easiest way to view this is you must have tissue to repair. If you aren’t ‘stressing’ your body’s tissues, lungs, ligaments and muscles, what will your body need to repair? Human’s thrive by stressing the body (to a certain degree) and growing stronger from the recovery. This holds true for physical exertion as well as mental intensity.

Growth hormone is maximally stimulated via exercise. You can get even more specific by using exhaustive type exercises with heavy weights. German Volume Training is one of the best ways to maximize your deep sleep. Heavy, multi joint lifts for higher rep ranges (6-10) with minimal rest periods (60-90 seconds) seems to be one of the best ways to maximize growth hormone from weight training. Running and cardio based activities do not seem to hold up in the deep sleep equation. Yes, it is stressing the lungs, but does not yield the same post exercise hormonal surge that weight training does, and doesn’t yield the same deep sleep numbers as GVT weight training does. This could be due to the amount of tissue damage as well as the GH response.

The ‘bell curve of change’ is a concept you must remember while training. If you train too far beyond your threshold of recovery, you do pose the risk of having worse sleep. Think of it this way. If you are in a lot of pain and this pain wakes you up, you have went beyond the threshold of improving and maximizing deep sleep. You shouldn’t be sore for 7 days after a workout.

Sleep Time. The time you wake up and fall asleep are highly important for deep sleep. This may be the portion of sleep most affected by your circadian rhythm. We know this from studies on shift workers. It seems deep sleep is highly impacted by the variability of bedtime and wake time. I often have clients wake at the same time everyday. This not only will create a healthier circadian rhythm, but is also creates a healthy hormonal pattern. Your thyroid will kick on and function better, of which we did learn how important thyroid hormone is for healthy sleep in Part 2.

SUPPLEMENTAL SUPPORT

5HTP. This supplement is profound on so many levels. It does cross the blood brain barrier and is the easiest precursor of serotonin you can supplement. It is well tolerated and does have nice mood boosting and appetite suppressing effects when taken at certain doses. We will be discussing the sleep supplemental dosing, which is different than the mood and appetite suppressing dosing patterns.

When 5HTP is supplemented 1-2 hours before bedtime it impacts sleep in a number of different ways. The best time to supplement is 9 hours before the desired wake time, which should be the same everyday. 50-200 mg is considered a great sleep dose, depending on how much you may need. Of course, if you are taking serotonin modifying drugs or have questions, discuss taking amino acid supplements with a knowledgeable doctor (which can be hard to find sometimes).

5HTP is converted into serotonin (with adequate B6 - which is a whole other topic) and eventually into melatonin. This conversion to melatonin can take between 4-6 hours. This means taking 5HTP is the best way to support melatonin during the last 4 hours of sleep. Interestingly, 5HTP also blocks REM sleep. So while it is converting to serotonin it is suppressing REM AND promoting deep sleep, which is more abundant during the first four hours of sleep. This can easily be tracked via the WHOOP.

There is also an interesting correlation with exercise and 5HTP, or serotonin, more specifically. When you are working out, your body releases BCAAs which have a suppressing effect on 5HTP production. Upon finishing working out, the 5HTP will rise in the blood and signal the end of the workout. So essentially, exercising leads to a healthy balance and control of your 5HTP system and ultimately sleep.

Biohack: 5HTP is the supplement for you if you have problems staying asleep during the final 4 hours of sleep.

Glutamine. This is the most abundant amino acid in the body. It is the primary energy source for your gut cells and helps repair and improve gut health. It is the primary amino acid, behind the BCAAs, in muscle tissue. It also is a powerful booster and necessary amino acid for growth hormone production. The more you workout, the more glutamine you use and require. This is one of the main reasons a lot of athletes have digestive issues. When you burn out of glutamine, your gut suffers because you end up prioritizing the glutamine you have for your muscles.

The simplest way to help recover, boost growth hormone and increase your quantity of deep sleep is to add glutamine to your nighttime routine. 10-20 grams added to some water before bed does the trick. Depending on the amount of muscle mass you have and the degree of depletion, you may require more. This may seem like a large dose, and it is by conventional standards. I challenge you all to try and see how you feel.

SUMMARY

These are the simplest and the most effective ways to improve deep sleep. Of course, you may have to address other areas of sleep in addition to addressing the deep sleep components to completely maximize.

My hope is someday everyone has a sleep tracker and uses it with the knowledge of how to ‘own’ their health. This is especially important now with the fear of pandemics, the focus on testing, tracking and vaccines over improving health, decreasing obesity and/or comorbidities and supplementing immune nutrients to maximize the health of a population. I hope you all can maximize yourself, for you are the only one in control of your own health.

-Dr. Kurt