The Sleep Hacker

BACOPA: THE AMAZING HERB Bacopa monniera (also called brhami) comes from the waterhyssop plant. It's an ayurvedic plant used for brain and mood boosting that also has indirect effects in sleep quality, mainly because of its effects on the stress levels

Its main benefits are:

Antioxidant. Bacopa monnieri contains powerful compounds that may have antioxidant effects by neutralizing free radicals and prevent fat molecules from reacting with free radicals.

Mood booster. Bacopa increases serotonin levels in the hippocampus.

Anti inflammatory. It suppresses the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines. These are molecules that stimulate an inflammatory immune response.

Nootropic. It boosts brain functions, spatial memory, the ability of processing information and memory consolidation.

Reduction of ADHD. It improves attention, cognition, and impulse control in children with ADHD.

Reduction of anxiety and stress. Bacopa monnieri helps reduce stress and anxiety by elevating your mood and reducing levels of cortisol (a hormone involved in your stress levels). It hacks how our genes respond to stress, specificially the HSP70 biomarker.

Blood pressure management. Bacopa monnieri reduces both systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels by releasing nitric oxide. Nitric oxide dilates blood vessels so blood flow is improved.

So, although is not a true sleep aid, it can help to improve your sleep and definitly your mood and cognition.

Have you ever tried it? What are your experiences with Bacopa? Let's share it in the comments!

CAN YOUR SMARTPHONE MEASURE YOUR SLEEP? I’ve been testing a lot of different ways to measure my sleep performance.

It’s almost impossible to know the quality of your sleep without a way to measure it.

Although you can notice how awake you are in the mornings, you can’t know the different stages you have been through.

Sleep scientists have fancy machines to measure them with accuracy but for common people without any medical problem, there are affordable ways to do it.

The most affordable way is using free apps. Well, more or less free. You have the basic version for free and then you need to pay for the other upgraded options (usually, quite unnecessary).

I tested the apps against, smartbands wearables (like the ) or specifically designed devices (like sleep sensor).

The conclusion for me is that apps aren’t as precise as other options but have some advantages:

You always go with your telephone everywhere.

They give you free data.

They have a build-on alarm that wakes up in the “best moment”.

The cons are:

You need to have them turned on (you can have them in flight mode).

They can use a lot of battery (especially in sonar mode).

You need to place them in a specific place.

Do you use one? Which one? Why does it work for you? Share with me your thoughts and soon I will prepare a post comparing the best options in the market!

WHITE NOISE COULD MAKE YOU SLEEP. One of my best aids when I have noisy neighbours in a hotel is white noise. But, what is white noise?

White noise is when sound waves of a broad spectrum of frequencies are combined, forming a sound similar to the constant hum a fan creates when it’s blowing air or an engine car is on.
Some people even use the sound of old propeller aeroplanes as white noise.

White noise helps to sleep in two different ways:

By blocking distracting noises
By producing soothing sounds that are relaxing and help to induce sleep.

Somehow these kind of sounds help to sleep better through all the night and it's used to help premature babies to sleep.

How to create white noise:

White Noise Machines: White noise machines may generate their own white noise or play it back in a loop.

Nature Sound Machines: Many people find nature sounds like rainfall and ocean waves more relaxing than white noise.
Apps: There a many apps in the market that make exactly the same although the telephone's speaker is not powerful enough and you have to use headphones that might be uncomfortable while sleeping.

Be aware: Falling asleep with the TV on or music playing in the background can interfere with sleep plus the blue light emitted from the TV and other electronics suppresses melatonin production.
sleepdisorders