Thesleepsite.co.uk, 17 Tayler Court Dorman Way, London (2025)

01/01/2025

It was great to be on air with , Shay Grewal (), , and life coach Carrie Brook. We discussed the biggest health topics of 2024, one of which is undoubtedly the impact of Semaglutide, found in Ozempic and Wegovy. This so-called wonder drug was originally prescribed for diabetes, and the government has now authorized its use for weight loss.

Recent studies have shown that Wegovy may slow ageing and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. One study of 17,604 patients found that 62% lost over 5% of their body fat in 20 weeks, potentially saving the NHS £6.5 billion annually despite rollout costs of £3.8 billion per year.

However, there are challenges, including side effects like nausea and diarrhoea, as well as difficulties in maintaining weight loss due to “fat cell memory” and metabolic changes. Studies indicate that two-thirds of the weight lost is regained within a year after stopping the drug. This regain is still being debated but may be linked to metabolic and behavioural factors.

Instead of relying on Semaglutide and potentially becoming dependent on it, why not start 2025 with positive changes to your health? If the word “resolution” feels overwhelming, reframe it as a New Year Intention or Action. You could begin by removing granulated sugar from your kitchen—an essential first step to cutting empty calories. Then eliminate sweetened drinks, which are a major contributor to weight gain. Finally focus on increasing fresh foods while reducing hyper-processed options. Keep it simple, and manageable, and seek support when needed from friends and family. Remember to acknowledge how well you are doing and celebrate each step and positive change you make daily.

31/07/2024

It is awesome to be working with CBD-brand Provacan. I really like as a brand as they have both in-house and independent lab testing to ensure their products have the best possible quality and purity. Also, their h**p is organic, and their packaging is eco-friendly, so they tick all the boxes in terms of top CBD products. I recommend CBD where appropriate as gummies and oil-drops to help clients reduce stress levels and get a better night’s sleep. It’s also a great pain reliever.

We conducted research into how parents cope with stress levels during summertime school holidays. Not surprisingly a lack of ‘personal time’ becomes a key stressor with a poorer ‘work-life balance’ also a key problem with only 20% of parents getting the recommended 7+ hours of sleep each night. With stress levels increased we found that 40% of British parents turn to alcohol, va**ng or smoking to cope with the family stresses, doing so every or most nights (82%).

The problem here is that relying on alcohol and ni****ne close to bedtime might help parents relax they can significantly affect both the quality and quantity of sleep. Whilst alcohol’s sedative effects can help us nod off, drinking it within three hours of bedtime can then wake you during the night and reduce your sleep quality. We should stop all ni****ne around four hours before we sleep, as it’s a stimulant and makes it both harder to fall asleep and then stay asleep.

It’s far better all around to find healthy ways to relax before bed, such as meditation and breathing exercises or taking a natural remedy such as CBD oil, and using lavender on your pillow all of which are proven to both reduce stress and help you get to sleep, Equally, in the brighter summer days you could get outside and exercise more which will help strengthen your body clock and help you destress both of which will aid a better nights’ sleep.

17/07/2024

It was great to be on air with Shay Grewal & author Christina Ford .inlondon. We covered a lot of ground including the benefits of walking for overall health and sleep. It’s proven that if you walk for 20 minutes three times a week you will improve your sleep. However, even short walks of 10 minutes a day can benefit your health. Researchers from the University of Cambridge, reporting last year in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, found that 11 minutes a day of brisk walking is enough to lower the risk of heart disease, a stroke and even some forms of cancer.

The recommendation for those who don’t currently walk is to start slowly and gradually increase distance and pace. Try to add around 500 steps a day. In terms of an overall target, any fitness tracker will tell you, that a daily total of 10,000 steps is considered a golden goal for physical activity. The figure however is actually an unscientific target and originated in Japan in the 1960s, as part of a marketing campaign to sell pedometers. Of course the more you walk the better in terms of its health effects, however, a University of Massachusetts Amherst study showed that totting up at least 7,000 steps a day after the age of 40 resulted in at least a 50 per cent lower risk of premature death.

With regards to the health benefits of walking versus running, running is more time-efficient in terms of the health benefits, but if you don’t like running you can simply spend more time strolling. In general, you need to walk for at least twice as long as you run to see similar benefits.

Also, there’s a great fitness hack from recent research from University of Massachusetts Amherst department of kinesiology which has shown that when you vary your stride length and chop and change the length, you burn more calories. Equally you could increase the intensity of walking by walking up and down a hill if you are trying to burn.

26/06/2023

Drink more water.

The latest research from Zip Water shows that 1 in 10 Brits never drink water, with previous research suggesting that about 50% of us drink only 1 litre of water compared to the recommended 2 litres a day.

In the hot weather drinking water is of course even more important.

When we are hydrated our brains and body function at their best. Not drinking enough water can lead to headaches and dizziness and reduced ability to think and focus. It affects our digestive system too and can cause constipation. Longer term, there’s a risk of kidney problems too.

The best way of making sure you drink enough water each day is to

1) Carry a reusable water bottle with you.
2) Track your water usage on an app, setting reminders to keep on track.
3) Make it part of your routine, such as having a glass first thing in the morning.

If you find water boring which 25% of Brits admit to, you could always add a slice of fruit to your water to make it more interesting.

If you are finding it hard to sleep in the heat this summer, I have some sleep tips handy too.

https://thesleepsite.co.uk/how-to-sleep-in-the-heat-this-summer/

15/06/2023

Disconnect to reconnect.

It’s fantastic to be in Scotland and due to have a digital detox later on Nairn Beach. With all of the deadlines on our to do list we often forget how good it is to be out in nature. Endless research has shown the positive impact of nature on our wellbeing and happiness. Studies have shown that spending time in nature reduces stress, depression and anxiety whilst boosting all our cognitive functions, and grounding us, boosting our creativity and focus. By connecting with nature, we get the chance to reconnect with ourselves. Why not have a digital detox for a few hours this coming weekend?

15/06/2023

Disconnect to reconnect.

It’s fantastic to be in Scotland and due to have a digital detox later on Nairn Beach. With all of our deadlines on our to do list we often forget how good it is to be out in nature. Endless research has shown the positive impact if nature on our wellbeing and happiness. Studies have shown that spending time in nature reduces stress, depression and anxiety whilst boosting all our cognitive functions, and grounding us, boosting our creativity and focus. By connecting with nature, we get the change to reconnect with ourselves. Why not have a digital detox for a few hours this coming weekend?

11/06/2023

I love sunny days on Primrose Hill especially when I get a chance to interact with nature and unusually today meeting for the first time.

I also love Andrew Huberman PhD recent post telling us to get outside for at least 2 hours a day. One of the reasons was the improvement of our eyesight. Here sunlight and far-viewing that occurs outdoors are important factors. In comparison if you are on your screen and/or inside too much you are downgrading your vision.

So, with the good weather lasting in London for another week we have no excuses!

Not only this but with the recent figure in the UK showing that 10% of the NHS budget is spent on Type 2 diabetes sunlight is an important factor here too. Recent research by Maastricht University highlighted that exposure to bright daytime lighting was associated with better blood sugar control. Participants also burned more calories after the evening meal and overnight, compared with when daytime lighting was dim.

The head of the study, Professor Schrauwen stated that many live with the wrong light conditions; often the light in their houses or offices isn’t bright enough, and they are exposed to light at night from their computers, and so on. Furthermore, these factors contribute to the development of diabetes. It’s not only eating too much or exercising too little. It is our 24-hour culture is a major factor. ”We should boost our daytime light exposure and keep the lights dim during the evening. “We know that a disturbed metabolism is so important in the development of diabetes, so if we have ways to improve that, we should do them,”

27/05/2023

Thanks to for having me on their show last Sunday on to talk about what’s been in the press that week with . One article we discussed was the Princess of Wales's visit to the Anna Freud Centre in London, a charity that aims to help young people to improve their well-being, during which the Princess of Wales warned that emotions shouldn’t be 'over medicalised', suggesting that modern society & the effect of social media had a notable effect on mental health and wellbeing. She advised that children should be encouraged to learn mental health skills that will help them not just in school, but in all aspects of their lives.

The latest Children’s Society Report 2022 highlights that 1 in 6 school children aged 5 to 16 in the UK now have a mental health problem. Furthermore, 55% of 16–25-year-olds report that they had seen their GP for mental health problems in their lives, with 52% of 17–23-year-olds seeing a deterioration in their mental health in the last year. The most at-risk group for mental health problems are 17-22 women. The report doesn’t offer a reason for this, but certainly, social media & being chronically under-slept will be contributing factors in my opinion.

Here, Judith Owens, Director of Sleep Medicine at the Children’s National Medical Centre in Washington recently warned that teenagers with insufficient sleep have an increased risk of anxiety & depression, increased risk-taking behaviours, impaired interpretation of social/emotional cues, & increased vulnerability to stress.

It’s proven that teenagers become super night owls with their body clock shifting two hours later, so when they get up for school at 7 am, it’s equivalent to an adult getting up at 5 am. Teenagers need 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep. With a 7 am wake-up time, to get 9 hours of sleep they’d need to be asleep by 10 pm. From our own experience of being teenagers, we know how hard this is to achieve during the school week. So why don’t Schools Start Later?

18/05/2023

Circadian Rhythm , Day 4 with London tech giant and a real privilege to talk about how far our modern lifestyle is away ftom being in cinque with our natural body clock. Thank you to for inviting me to contribute

-coach wellness

16/04/2023

Campaign to Start School Later.

It was great to be on recently to talk about and how sleep is crucial for teenagers’ academic success, and how the shift in their body clock means that they become ‘super-night- owls’ staying up far later than adults.

This means that in the morning they need to wake later too. In fact, e when a teenager gets up at 07:00 it's virtually the same as an adult waking at 04:00. From startschoollater.net it’s proven that an 08:30 or later can improve students’ overall well-being, attendance, and grades.

Please campaign to prioritize the health, mental wellness, and academic potential of our teenagers by talking about and promoting the need for later school times.

It is clear that many of the 'ancient institutions' in the UK need to be bought into the digital world. It seems scandalous, that given all the science of how and why this later start is needed, and with all the evidence of how badly teenagers are losing sleep, it isn't a priority for those running our education system to start school later for teenagers. It's staggering that this hasn't been actioned especially given the worsening mental health of teenagers in the UK which can in part be tracked to poorer sleep and use of social media amongst other things.

28/03/2023

Get lots of sunlight in the morning.

Hopefully, you’ve adjusted to the loss of an hour’s sleep over the weekend and will enjoy the lighter evenings which we will have with the switch to British Summertime. Make sure you get sunlight in the mornings too as it will help you to get the best possible night’s sleep. This is because the exposure to the blue light wavelength of sunlight in the morning helps regulate and reset your body clock, also known as your circadian rhythm. This in turn improves your sleep quality and quantity at night. In fact, studies have shown that exposure to natural light in the morning can increase the production of melatonin the hormone which regulates sleep.

The advice is to get at least 30 minutes of sunlight in the day ideally before lunchtime. Another benefit of natural light early in the morning is that it promotes the release of cortisol. This hormone amongst its impact on other systems boosts wakefulness in the day and also strengthens your body clock aligning it with the day.

However, at the end of the day, once back home, always dim your lights in the evening and especially close to bedtime. Also, avoid exposure to blue light from technology screens and phones within two hours of bed. This is because it disrupts sleep, blocking your production of Melatonin. Blue light filters and blue light-blocking glasses will help protect your sleep too. However, it’s always best to wind down off tech perhaps with a warm bath, a good book and some meditation. Why not reflect on your day, and relax before nodding off rather than use tech close to bedtime? The latter is proven to keep you awake, especially going on social media in bed which leads to time displacement when using and fear of missing out (FMO) and stress from detachment when offline. One study even showed using social media, including Instagram in bed leads to teeth grinding due to the stress of FMO!

23/03/2023

How to best navigate the clocks change this Sunday

Here are my suggestions to help you gradually move your sleep schedule forward rather than losing a full hour’s sleep in a single night this weekend. The goal is to ease your body clock more naturally into British Summer Time (BST) fully refreshed & ‘sleep wealthy’, rather than ‘sleep deprived’.

Step 1 Friday morning: Set your alarm 15 minutes earlier than usual. Get bright sunlight into your eyes straight away, open curtains/blinds & get outside as soon as possible. Early bright light strengthens your body clock, shifting it earlier too. Exercise during the day & reduce your caffeine intake. Both will make you feel naturally sleepier in the evening.

Step 2 Friday night: Go to bed 30 minutes earlier than normal. If you aren’t feeling tired, try a herb called Valerian which is proven to help us nod off. Avoid alcohol within 3 hours of bedtime as whilst it sedates us this will later disrupt your sleep.

Step 3 Saturday morning: Wake up 30 minutes before your normal time. Eat a good, early breakfast to help lock the change into your digestive system. Keep a reduced caffeine intake, exercise outside first thing or go for a walk after breakfast.

Step 4 Saturday Day: Along with getting earlier and more sunlight, when we eat can also help to naturally shift our body clock. Following an earlier than normal breakfast, set your day out to eat your lunch 1/2 hour earlier, & your dinner 45 minutes earlier.

Step 5 Saturday evening: Get off tech early & take a warm bath with Lavender in it about 45 minutes before retiring. Keep your lighting dimmed & shift your bedtime another 30 minutes earlier. This means you are now 1 whole hour forward, already going to bed in line with BST.

Sunday morning: You will now wake up refreshed as you will be adjusted to BST without losing any sleep. All your mealtimes will also naturally fall into place too. You can therefore start your working week on Monday fully recharged, mentally alert, and raring to go.

Thesleepsite.co.uk

01/01/2025

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