Monday, February 23, 2009

Sleep..... interview with Lights Out author T S Wiley


One of the things I keep coming back to on this blog is the need for enough decent sleep in the dark. Way back on this blog I mentioned a book - Lights Out - which went into some of the detail:

one of the key problems we face in the world today is that we do not get enough sleep nor - importantly - enough darkness. It looks at how various hormones in the body are promoted by sleep and darkness and how others are released in response to light. The premise is that today we live in an environment where we are almost always in the light. Our bodies and their hormones think we are living in a perpetual summer.

Anyway, Jimmy Moore has just put up an interview with the author of the book. It is worth a listen!

By the way I find Jimmy really frustrating. He is a nice guy and gets some great interviews, but his own diet drives me mad as it is full of artificial sweeteners and "pretend carbs". He could do so much better if he sorted his food out and started exercising a bit more sensibly....but it is his life.

13 comments:

Jimmy Moore said...

THANKS for the link to my interview with T.S. Wiley, Chris. And I appreciate you sharing your concerns about my personal diet and fitness routine. I'm doing what I feel like is best for me right now. I'll tell you what--e-mail me a week's worth of menus and an exercise routine that you feel would benefit my weight and health the most. I'll take a look at it and consider taking it on as Operation Conditioning Research at my blog. How about it, buddy?

Anonymous said...

Jimmy's caught in the trap that caused the first low-carb efflorescence to die out -- there's huge money in sweets (and sweet carb substitutes.)

And not so much $ in telling people to eat eggs, meat, water, and some spinach.

Anonymous said...

Disclaimer: I own Lights Out, and thought it made a lot of good points (although it is sometimes a bit too dramatic in its claims).
But I'm troubled by the seemingly dodgy background. See http://wileywatch.org/ts_wileys_credentials

Chris said...

Jimmy - sorry if the comments in the post came across as a public criticism. You are a good guy and I really appreciate the work you do on your site with gathering some great info.

Most of the people that come here regularly tend to be from an Art DeVany style background - much of what I post is about exercise and conditioning for sports although there is a low carb / paleo diet bias to what goes up. It was in that context that I mentioned your diet.

I'll have a think about drafting something for you, but it wouldn't be complicated: get a walk in everyday - at least an hour - and once or twice a week either do some sprints, a bodyweight exercise routine (pushups/lunges/squats) or an intense weights session in the gym. Diet - I'll draft something.

Marc said...

Chris,

If you provide the exercise part, I'd be delighted to help with the menu.
What say you?

Marc

Chris said...

OK Marc - I'll email you later....

Richard Nikoley said...

On my drive up from SoCal yesterday, I heard this interview of Jimmy's with Pete Bils, a sleep expert:

http://www.thelivinlowcarbshow.com/pete-bils-episode-177/

Also, in some of the recent podcasts of Jimmy's, he has mentioned going sweet free and that it has been effective in taking off some of the weight he gained.

Jimmy, if you're still listening, I would say avoid not only sweet, but all processed foods. Just eat natural fat (animal, coconut, olive), meat, fowl, fish, veggies (excluding starchy ones), limited fruit (berries, mostly, but in extreme moderation), and nuts. I'd also keep cheese to a minimum, i.e., as a spice only.

Chris said...

Richard

although his "sweet free challenge" was successful, Jimmy abandoned it and is now back to diet coke, low carb ice cream, low carb chocolate bars, low carb wraps etc.

I have been advising him for months to adopt the sort of diet you outline but he is not interested.......

Matt said...

I have been using Melatonin tablets now for a while and have found that I am sleeping better than I ever have, at least that I can remember. If anyone is having trouble sleeping Melatonin tablets are a viable answer to sleeping tablets. I do agree with your post though, I switch everything of or at least have light sources hidden and have blackout curtains. Also things on standby have slight ambient noise and may impact getting to sleep. A couple of things on stanby can contribute enough to that annoying noise which could be keeping you awake and you just don't realise it.

Jimmy Moore said...

I'm still listening and appreciate all your input, guys. THANK YOU! It's not so much I'm not interested in going completely Paleo with my diet, but I can't find satisfaction eating that way just yet. However, that may change after I interview Loren Cordain at the end of March.

Richard Nikoley said...

I'll look forward to that, Jimmy.

BTW, lots of us subscribe to the Paleo approach in a modified way to what Cordain advocates. Some use dairy -- though I myself have dropped the raw whole milk and cheese (except as as occasional "spice" in very moderate amounts and have gotten a lot of benefit to that. Also, I think Cordain's stance on sat fat is just plain wrong. He has no problem with fat making up 50%+ of calories, but he wants it to be mono or pufa.

I personally take zero measures to watch saturated fat content.

Also, he advocates canola oil, which I think is utterly insane. How he can condemn natural saturated fats and square a frankenoil with Paleo is beyond me.

That said, The Paleo Diet is really an excellent resource, by and large.

Richard Nikoley said...

BTW, Jimmy:

Off topic, but I just profiled your greatest interview ever, that of Dr. Steven Gundry.

http://www.freetheanimal.com/root/2009/02/enlightened-heart-surgeons-and-cardiologists.html

Anna said...

Ditto on what SB said.