Today we return to Medical News Today, one of many shill websites that are in bed with our charlatan governments and Big Pharma, and thus promotes the inverted and pseudo-scientific approach to healthcare, medical science and treatment we see in today’s backward society. Most of the time they are completely wrong, or they twist the truth to fit the narrative. This time however, the article actually has a correct message, as in the fact that going to bed late will negatively affect your mental health. So, let’s see what they say and whether they try to deceive you or not.
They start with three bullet points to establish the main focus of their article and the ‘research’ they’ve looked at.
- “Going to bed after 1 a.m. may have a negative impact on mental health, according to a new study.”
Actually, going to bed after around 10 p.m., as in after 22:00 hours, will have a negative impact on your health – as you will miss out on the natural raise in growth hormone which will also lower your sleep quality which has an impact on your mental health and mental/stress recovery. And the later you go to sleep, the less of the important (for mental health) REM sleep you’ll get.
- “Researchers say an individual’s chronotype — whether they are a morning person or evening person — had little to do with these findings.”
Yes, that is because the idea of “chronotypes” is pseudo-science. There is no clear scientific consensus on the definition and classification of “chronotypes.” Most studies on the made-up idea of “chronotypes” relies on correlations based on self-reported data from small sample sizes, biased sampling, and inadequate control groups. Also, the concept of “chronotypes” has been commercialized and used to sell products and services, such as sleep trackers and personalized sleep coaching. In reality though, it’s really simple and just common sense.
All humans function the same way as we are the same species. We are governed by our Circadian rhythm. In healthy people, this means that we should normally go to bed between 8 and 10 pm, and wake up between 4 and 6 am. In our modern society with artificial lightening and blue screen light everywhere, bad eating habits, and stress, this has been pushed to a “normal” bed time of 10 pm to 12 pm and waking up between 6 am an 8 am, which is not ideal or healthy at all.
With that said, the fact remains, the later you go to bed, the worse it is for your physical- and mental health. And instinctively, and with some logic, all of us should know and understand this simple fact. Yet, people consume crap all day long and go to bed late. Figures.
- “Later bedtimes may result in less REM sleep, which helps the brain to function optimally.”
Yes, I already mentioned this.
“If you go to bed later than 1 a.m., you could be at a higher risk of developing mental health issues, whether you are a morning person or a night owl.
The study finds that people who go to bed before 1 a.m. are generally healthier mentally, with fewer reported cases of mental, behavioral, and neurodevelopmental disorders, depression, and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).”
Funny thing is that if you would compare those who go to bed later than 10 pm with some really healthy animal-based people who go to bed before 10 pm, you would find the exact same thing. And the later you go to bed, the worse the results. So, this “1 a.m.” is just a red herring. It’s an attempt to marginalize the problem, as most people go to bed before midnight, and now they will feel safe because you mention “1 a.m.”
Again, while it’s true that going to bed this late is incredible unhealthy, you hide the fact that it’s already unhealthy to go to bed after 10 p.m. and that the negative impact on your health increases for every minute and hour thereafter.
“Sleep researchers have been intrigued for years with the concept of chronotypes, meaning one’s preference for the time of each 24-hour day they prefer to be awake or sleeping.
Individual circadian rhythms may lead to personal preferences for sleep. Some people seem to prefer getting up and going to bed early, while others prefer to get up late and go to bed late.”
Again, this is pseudo-science. Your “preference” for sleep comes from conditioning, mainly the habits that you were exposed to when growing up and/or when you moved out from your parents and got to live on your own. Those who think that they are “night owls” are simply unhealthy and have developed that habit from being wired during evenings from very poor nutrition and then lethargic and tired in the mornings.
It has absolutely nothing to do with you being differently built from other humans. We are all the same, we are all the same species, and we all function the same when healthy. Only unhealthy people differ from the norm as they have damaged their physiology. However, that is easily corrected by nourishing the body and slowly correcting your sleep patterns.
“A surprising finding of the study is that when evening people go to sleep after 1 a.m. — which would be in alignment with their chronotype — they experienced the poorest mental health. The group with the fewest mental health diagnoses were morning people who got to bed by 1 a.m.”
Surprising? You do realize that you actually debunked the idiotic “chronotype” pseudo-science just now, eh?
Again, we humans all functions the same way. Just because you have conditioned yourself to go to bed later does not mean that you have “hacked” or “altered” your physiology. It still works the same way as every other human. If you stay up late, you take damage. Simple.
How sleep affects mental health
“Senior study author Jamie Zeitzer, PhD, professor of psychiatry and sleep medicine at Stanford University, suggested a theory called “The Mind After Midnight,” which suggests the brain works differently late at night, which could have an impact on mental health.
We think that it has to do with people being isolated when awake late at night, so they lack the guard rails and support that come with socialization or even knowing that someone else is awake.”
That ‘theory’ is pure bollocks. While socialization is important for mental health, it has nothing to do with being up later than you should be. It’s a nice try to get more funding for useless research though.
“Sara Wong, PhD, research associate at the Franks-Wisden Lab at Imperial College London, noted that sleeping late in the modern world often results in a restriction of total sleep duration. This particularly affects rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which occurs the most with gradual increases during the second half of the night.”
There you go. The more you deviate from our natural sleep cycle, from our Circadian rhythm, the worse your sleep will be – and the worse off you will be. There you have it. Mystery solved.
“REM sleep has a strong linkage with mood regulation — i.e., less REM, worse mood — with REM sleep changes seen as a risk factor for many neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression, [general anxiety disorder] and PTSD.”
Well, both REM and Deep sleep are important for recovery, healing, detoxification and anything brain-related. This is why I always state that sleep quality trumps sleep duration. And the only way to achieve high sleep quality is to follow our natural sleep cycle, our Circadian rhythm. In short, do not eat anything closer than 4 to 6 hours before bed to make sure that you are going to sleep in a fasted state, so your body can heal and detoxify. Then make sure to wind down and avoid lights an hour before bed time to stimulate the release of melatonin. And third, always make sure to go to bed before 10 pm, preferable earlier especially in the summer when the sun rises early.
Evening types associated with poorer health
“With the prevalence of artificial light, and other factors such as nighttime work shifts, one could argue that our society is still in many ways maladapted for evening types, Jonathan Cedernäs, PhD, researcher in the Department of Medical Sciences at Uppsala Universitet in Sweden, told MNT.”
And there you go again. No such thing as silly ‘chronotypes,’ it’s simply conditioning due to a badly functioning and very unnatural society that we find ourselves in. However, as I said earlier, this is easy to fix. Eat better, go to bed earlier. You are actually in charge of yourself and your life. Just change it to the better.
“Wong noted that evening chronotypes are often associated with poorer health outcomes. Even so, the study’s findings calls the concept of the chronotype into question. This was quite surprising, and against our hypothesis, Zeitzer said.”
Yes, it’s pseudo-science, as I’ve already explained in detail – and all this I’ve written here has been part of my coaching for more than 15 years, as sleep is that important that my guides include a chapter on sleep quality. It’s not something new, it’s common sense. Still Medical News Today insisted of using ‘chronotype’ in almost every single sentence and this “researcher” Wong says that it’s a “surprising” finding. Jeez!
“Optimal bedtimes may vary”
“A specific optimal bedtime would therefore probably need to take both season and time zone into account. For example, some regions, such as Spain and Iceland, are not ideally located within their timezones, and so many sleep-wake behaviors are much later in such regions, Cedernäs said.”
No, not really. We are still the same species. The variations depending on seasons might make you tired an hour earlier or so. Going to bed before 10 pm is still a good rule, and if you feel tired earlier than usual, and depending on available sunlight, then go to bed. It’s not that hard to figure out. Personally, I go to bed between 8.30 and 9.30 depending on how I feel and how my day has been. Most of the time it’s before 9 pm, which is quite optimal.
“Zeitzer was not so sure, however. “I do not think it would be shifted much by the timing of the morning light, more along the lines of seasonal shifts in social patterns,” he said.”
Social patterns have nothing to do with what is natural. That is conditioning, social programming, as in following the herd.
As for “optimal bedtimes,” as stated above, they vary very little. Once you become healthier it will sort itself out. You will be tired and ready for bed before 10 pm, and you will likely fall asleep within 5 to 10 minutes.
To conclude, MNT did report on the health issues of going to bed late, although they made a mess of it and tried to hide the problem behind a magical “1 a.m.” excuse.
With that said, also keep in mind that the only way to be healthy is to eat according to our species, as in following our natural animal-based carnivorous diet.
If you consume plant-based toxic slave sludge and/or processed food, you will be very unhealthy and your sleep will suffer even if you go to bed at the right times. Always fix your nutrition first, and most other things will fall into place, including sleep.
And if you still need help, or help with anything else related to health and nutrition, I’m available for coaching and consultation.