We All Love New Toys–Here’s One that Helps Improve Sleep Quality (and therefore overall health)
I have a fun new toy! It’s an Oura ring. This ring tracks activity, sleep quality, and heart rate variability.
Each morning, I eagerly wake up to look at how Oura grades my sleep quality. Good sleep is important for healthy aging, healthy brain function, and better stress management. Back when I was still suffering with fibro pain, I used to say, “I can handle the pain or I can handle the lack of sleep, but I can’t handle both.” So, good sleep became a big priority for me.
Practice Good Sleep Hygiene
I practice good sleep hygiene by avoiding screens before bed, avoiding caffeine later in the day, by eating a low glycemic diet, by getting regular exercise, and having a regular bed time. I’m committed to getting great sleep because good sleeps boosts my resilience throughout my days.
I’ve had my Oura ring close to a month. One of the first things I noticed about my sleep quality was that I was getting very little deep sleep. Deep sleep is when our bodies recover. The average adult gets between 15-20% of our sleep as deep sleep. I was getting a mere 3%. REM sleep is great for the brain and the average adults gets 20-25% or more of our sleep in REM. I’m doing good with REM sleep.
Deep sleep is when our bodies recover and since people with fibromyalgia consistently have trouble with sleep, I was a bit disturbed by my low levels of deep sleep. I’ve been determined to find ways to boost my deep sleep. I tried eating smaller evening meals, eating a higher carbohydrate meal before bed and exercising harder during the day.
None of that worked.
I decided to try acupuncture, one of my favorite therapies. Sure enough, after each acupuncture treatment, my deep sleep would jump up to double digits, but I was still only 10% or 11%.
I decided to keep looking for other ways to get more deep sleep.
Supplements Support Our Health and Wellness–and as it Turns Out, Our Sleep Quality!
If you are a regular to my blog then you know I’m serious about taking supplements.
With my SNPs like MTHFR and other methylation SNPs, I need certain targeted supplements to reduce my elevated risks for diseases like colon cancer, breast cancer, heart disease, stroke, and Alzheimer’s. I also have a need for higher intake of magnesium. Magnesium is critical for a healthy heart, kidneys, and muscles. Historically, I have low intracellular magnesium levels so I take magnesium on a regular basis. I usually take magnesium in the morning, but I decided to take second dose of magnesium in the evening.
The result of taking a second dose of magnesium was amazing! My deep sleep went from a low of 3% up to a high of 22%. I feel great about my better sleep quality. I could have tried lots of other supplements such as L-theanine, but there was no need to add a new supplement to my protocol. I just needed to adjust the timing on my current protocol.
If you struggle with chronic pain or poor sleep, I encourage you to invest in an Oura ring and give me a call to help you maximize your sleep and your health.
I was able to reach out to the folks at Oura Ring and get a 10% discount for you, so if you want to purchase a ring when you get to the shopping cart be sure to use the coupon code “kristy10”.
In full disclosure, I want you to know that I will also receive a small commission if you buy using this code. However I only recommend products that I believe in 100%, and I wear my Oura ring all the time and fully believe in it.
