Sleep Optimization Go-To’s

I am keeping a growing list of my “go-to’s” for sleep optimization et al. I have zeroed in on these over the last couple year(s) during my N-of-1 trials. Many of these below are fairly top-end. Kirsten and her friends often call me fancy - sorry! - but by no means do you need all top-shelf items. Of course anything that approximates these are worth exploring for your own journey. I just prefer high quality tools, and typically research a ton before purchasing. If something isn’t useful, I move on. Fail-fast as I learned in the late-90’s while at Affymax. Please note, I have no commercial affiliation with any of the companies other than being a customer.

Deep Dive Summary

Wearables

Apple Watch Ultra 2 - A bit heavy but powerful. I try to alternate between this and my Oura Ring as much as possible. I was fortunate to get under the wire of Apple’s removal of the blood-oxygen sensor. Those data are especially useful.

Oura Ring Gen 3 - This light-weight, long-battery life wearable complements sleep data gathered from my Eight Sleep below. Frankly I trust Eight Sleep more, though, as the bed is full-body tracking. I typically wear the Oura Ring on my left, index finger during the day, and swap to my right index finger for sleep. It likely messed with their algorithm a bit; but if their AI is as robust as it should be, it should readily learn this change. Doing the switch helps prevents what initially appeared to be a slight burning of my skin when they introduced the blood oxygen sensor. Note: when Oura updated their algorithm, a significant mis-alignment of sleep data resulted between it and my Eight Sleep data. I let Apple Health “Or” the data, which for me improves likely accuracy of Deep and REM sleep detection. As mentioned below, every one awakens between sleep cycles. I have been (un)fortunately able to remember these awakenings. Embracing them though, has helped me to dial into things that seem to improve my Deep and my REM sleep. But at the end of the day, these trackers are probably best at summarizing how much actual total sleep you have been fortunate to experience. They are useful measurement devices to help my N-of-1 trials as I strive to optimize sleep (and other key pillars to feeling good - i.e. wellness). I switch the Oura Ring to airplane mode at night for a couple reasons, not the least of which I want to minimize RF transmission/receipt on my body (esp. at night). Since you can only switch back after placing it on the charger, keeping in airplane mode also helps prevent you from checking to much. The worse thing you should do is look at your phone in the middle of a sleep session.

Apollo Neuro - This device is amazing. It taps you - i.e. vibrates - periodically, activating your parasympathetic nervous system. I put it in my jammies’ pocket and rock deep sleep with it. Having it buzz in my pocket occasionally during the day - e.g. during social settings - also seems to enhance sleep later that evening. I quit wearing it on my ankle, because apparently some people thought it looked like a tracking device. I also keep this in airplane mode in general. Dramatic improvement in battery life results when you do.

Blackout curtains - So critical! I can’t believe I suffered for years (over 20!) with morning light streaming in. Even with a mask, these blackout curtains are useful to help shut-out light and some noise.

Sleep mask - This baby is light weight and a solid light blocker. I have several sleep masks for different areas (e.g. with the below massage chair, their weighted one is a great inducer of nap time) and travel. MantaSleep really seems to have dialed-into comfort and effectiveness with their sleep masks.

Ear plugs - For those noisy nights and snoring partners. These have been huge travel companions, especially when sharing a wall with out of control hotel neighbors. Shout-out to Paulette Phillips who mentioned these to me and gave me a starter set.

[Updated March 3, 3035] Custom Ear plugs. For another game changing tool, go to an Audiologist and get molds for custom, ear-plugs for sleeping. I have custom swimming ear-plugs and in-ear music monitors, but was recently fitted for custom sleeping ear-plugs. Westone makes several types. I went with their style-40 sleep plug. Very soft and incredibly comfortable, perfect fitting (of course because they were made from a mold of my ear). I can wear them all night with absolutely no discomfort at all. You know you have a great ear-plug when you can hear/feel the rhythmic flow of your inner breath. It’s totally hypnotic.

[Updated July 20, 2024] Breathing strip - I recently changed to this system. It seems to work even better to open the nasal airways, especially now that I wear a retainer at night! The starter kit comes with several different size plastic bands which connect to the smaller adhesive patches via magnets on each side of the band. The patches allow for different placements, and the different size plastic bands allow of varying degree of “pull” to facilitate nasal opening. I started with the smaller size initially, but quickly graduated to one of the larger bands which really increases nose-breath flow.

[Updated March-2025] MAD (Mandibular Advancement Device) - Ever since a fairly recent Invisalign “minor adjustment” (actually SmileDirect now defunct) which I embarked on during the COVID closures to get back to those post teenage (and before!) straightened teeth, my bite changed just enough to affect nighttime breathing. I knew this to be true from my OuraRing and EightSleep data, but Daybreak’s “Apnea” test confirmed my suspicion. MAD’s have been useful to reduce snoring and have been quite effective for many Sleep Apnea sufferers - see Mandibular advancement device: What to know. Sure beats a CPAP machine! I recently replaced my SmileDirect nighttime retainers with one of these MAD boys. Wow! That slight adjustment on the lower jaw forward plus just enough of a physical nudge to close your mouth for maximal sleep time nose-breathing has been an absolute game-changer. All that extra nitric oxide (NO) with maximal nose breathing is absolutely amazing. I strongly recommend a MAD for anyone who might be snoring or has some level of (un)diagnosed sleep apnea. Especially powerful for those of us who are back sleepers. Daybreak is one of those firms that provides an at home sleep study test - a simple finger pulse-ox device you sleep with for a couple nights. Once scripted, you can get a legitimate MAD.

Foods

This could be several newsletters on its own, as indeed food is medicine. I tend to focus a lot on “organic” plant-based foods in the rainbow - i.e. vegetables (e.g. broccoli and broccoli sprouts in the morning, cauliflower, shiitake, lion’s mane and maitake mushrooms, carrots, etc.) and fruits (e.g. apples, oranges, blueberries, kiwis, etc). I always cringed at the industry adopting the word “organic,” though. As a PhD chemist, organic has a specific meaning - i.e. when a substance contains not only carbon, but also at least one other element. Technically, even insecticide-ridden foods are organic, but over time I have learned to squelch my grimacing and enjoy the benefits of organic-labeled foods.

Incidentally, if your diet and exercise regime has you losing fat - keep in mind the vast majority of the carbon lost as you lose fat is as CO2 - i.e. through your lungs as you exhale. That said, there is also a significant amount of water that results from fat burning (fun fact: the humps in camels are largely fat!) which is excreted in urine, faeces, sweat, breath, tears, and other bodily fluids. So if your vegetarian diet has you losing weight, expect to pee more during the day and night…

For me, I have noted powerful sleep and vivid dreams especially after consuming these below, which I try to get at least once a week:

Piedmontese Grass-fed, Grass-finished Beef This beef is incredibly good for you, especially when it is grass-fed and grass-finished. You will feel great the next day when exercising. Piedmontese cattle are “double-muscled” carrying a unique, naturally occuring gene mutation that causes hypertrophic muscle growth (for them!). The higher protein to fat ratio and all the other great nutrients grass fed cattle extract in their four compartment stomachs will do you good.

Japanese Purple Sweet Potato - I only eat starches on occasion, but when I do - I hope they are Purple Potatoes! I often have hollywood script - i.e. long and vivid dreams - after eating even small portions.

Whole Psyllium Husks Mixed with whole milk greek yogurt, cherry juice, and juicy fruit (e.g. oranges and blueberries), this powerhouse combination makes for a powerful late morning snack or meal. Not only does it help to detox (which you’ll notice the next day in the bathroom) - I have also noticed a significant lowering of LDL using this. Start small and build slow, otherwise you may feel crampy. Fun fact, Psyllium husks and Niacin were the medical Standard of Care for Cholesterol lowering prior to the introduction of Statins. I’ll take the Psyllium thank you very much. Important to drink lots of water.

Organic Tart Cherry Juice A tablespoon or so of this with the Psyllium Husks in the whole milk greek yogurt mix above is a great way to kick start the late morning erly afternoon. A good combination of protein, detoxifying Psyllium, and melatonin rich tart cherry juice does wonders.

Organic Turmeric Ginger Herbal Tea Turmeric and ginger - especially with black pepper - in a small cup of tea go a long way to help wind down and aid digestion a couple hours before bed. Not too close to bed and not too much water! I recommend shaking in additional freshly ground pepper and cut up some fresh ginger and turmeric. I tend to shake in the latter (esp. turmeric, otherwise the next day I wonder why my cuticles are orange!)

Spices

A few recent go-to spices have been wonderful. I recommend first mixing into virgin olive oil and adding a bit of apple cider vinegar and ground black pepper to help activate. A wonderful salad dressing each day. The ginger and turmeric are good with the tea as above. Always good to keep spices in plane sight, else you’ll often forget to use them!

Blend of Aromatic Savory, Thyme, Rosemary, Basil Tarragon & Lavender

Organic Ginger Root Powder

Organic Ground Turmeric Root

Ingested Supplements

I have been trying to detox from supplements, focusing on whole foods and spices (e.g. pepper, ginger, turmeric, rosemary, oregano, etc.) to get key nutrients lately, but reintroducing a few supps step-wise. I think it’s important to pulse supps - like interval training! Most supplements are technically processed, and there is always a profit motive involved, so important to be cautious. I try to always join native foods with the supplements when possible. For example, I try to eat sardines with a hit of omega-3. Pomegranate or blueberries with a hit of Urolithin-A. Oranges with vitamin-C crystals. Sunny days with vitamin, etc.

At the moment, I am only using these sparingly:

Omega-3 - This doesn’t taste too fishy and doesn’t give you those fish burps that fish-oil pills often deliver. Besides, I can’t swallow pills so it’s foods, oils, powders, or topicals for me. This baby brought my Omega-3 Index levels to the highest the company typically sees (over 13% according to OmegaQuant). In fact, they have previously retested my sample on their dime thinking their assay was in error. When I take this, esp. with a couple actual sardines, my fasting triglycerides typically fall into the mid-40’s. This is often coupled with a nice a HDL sitting in the upper 80’s and 90’s. Whoohoo.

Urolithin-A (Mitopure) - I really notice the difference in endurance and energy levels with this. Recently I have also noticed my vision has also become crisper, especially later in the day after earlier Infrared sessions. It’s all about the mitochondria baby. Lots to talk about there…

Vitamin D3 + K1/K2 - Despite living in Southern California and routinely spending time outside somewhere between 11:00 AM and 1:00 PM and having a skin-type that seems to facilitate Vitamin-D generation, I recently experimented with zero Vitamin D supplementation for a 3-month period prior to an Inside Tracker blood draw. To my surprise, while my Vitamin-D levels were still “adequate” (38 ng/mL), they were significantly lower than what I typically clock in at (~60 or higher). So I returned to Vitamin D supplementation. The first day or so did disrupt my sleep a bit, but I settled back to “normal” with continued use. Here, I always recommend taking Vitamin D before or around the time you might get maximum sun exposure, as in the past I have absolutely seen major disruption in sleep if Vitamin-D is taken in the late evening. This makes sense since Vitamin D helps the body produce melatonin.

Magnesium Glycinate and Magnesium Threonate Most people are deficient in Magnesium. Even if you eat a slew of plants, the soils have become depleted over the years, and even organic, sustainably farmed fruits and vegetables have lower levels of Magnesium than in years past. My recent 3-month supplement detox also involved removing Magnesium supplements. Similar to my Vitamin-D levels on the following Inside Tracker blood draw, my Magnesium was “fine” (2.2 mg/dL) but lower than I would like. Similarly, my Magnesium in my red blood cells was also “fine” (4.3 mg/dL), but lower than before. Since Mg is necessary for Vitamin-D absorption and metabolism, and involved in literally hundreds of biochemical reactions in the body - including blood glucose regulation - and generally accepted has helpful for sleep, I decided to return to Mg supplementation. Here, I utilize Mg-Glycinate (which has a bit of a sweet taste from the two mols of glycine for each Mg earlier in the day - e.g. with a hit of bone broth, and Mg-Threonate in the evening before bed - e.g. in a little ginger-turmeric tea. Mg-Threonate (which has two mols of threonine for each Magnesium), Since I can’t swallow pills, I open the capsules up in each. I seem to have more solid sleep when back on Magnesium.

Topical Supplements

Topical Magnesium After a hot sauna and shower at night, spray this on. Mg absorbs especially when vasodilated and assists with absorption of other topicals.

One Skin OS-01 Topical Body Lotion This lotion contains the OS-01 peptide One Skin claims to “reverse skin’s biological age.” Some of their research claims it also helps reduce systemic inflammation. I have noticed anti-inflammatory effects. People speak of inflammation and aging as being inter-twined (i.e. inflammaging), so this makes sense.

CBD Therapy Cream This does wonders to relax and ease minor aches and pains. I prefer the 2400 for nightly topical application. Their 10K version is also wonderful when you have an injury.

NAD Patches I usually apply one on each shoulder after a cold plunge and wear the rest of the day. Not clear how much of the active ingredients are truly present or absorb, but I notice positive effects on my sleep when having used them. Pre-dinner cold plunges with these are powerful combinations.

Bed Related

Weighted Blanket Several scientific studies have been zeroing in on the positive effect of weighted blankets on sleep (e.g. The effectiveness of weighted blankets on sleep and everyday activities), and I have noticed a significant positive impact on sleep when using one. I use a full-size, 20-lb version to enable partial swaddling - of course being careful to not separate me and the cooling effects of my eight-sleep (below). If you go for a weighted blanket, be sure to get a more easily washable cover. No point in destroying your washing machine.

Knee Pillow I am most effective starting on my back when falling asleep. Together with 4-7-8 breathing, I routinely fall asleep in a couple minutes, or after I stop the breathing cycles. Often 5 cycles are all I need. Our first sleep cycle(s) are typically dominated with a significant amount of “glymphatic“ purging associated with deep sleep, which for me seems to occur best on my back. We all awaken between sleep cycles, but many don’t remember the awakenings. I often do, however, and have learned to embrace and leverage them. For example, as I progress throughout the night and suspect (i.e. remember) that I have had a couple cycles dominated with deep sleep, I can often induce more REM sleep by sleeping on my side. This isn’t natural or always comfortable for me, but I do love to dream and know the critical importance of REM sleep. So when I turn to my side, I grab this near-by knee pillow. Thanks to all the pregnant women out there creating a market for this! It has had a significant impact in my side sleeping comfort.

Minimal “cooling” pillow Starting off as a back sleeper, I prefer a very minimal pillow. I also find a nice cool pillow is helpful to fall asleep faster. While this one does seem cooler initially, big picture it warms fairly quickly, especially since my bald pate. It sure would be nice if the EightSleep crew extended their cooling/warming strategy to the pillow. I am certain this would have additional positive impact on sleep.

Faraday Bag Keeping your phone close or on your nightstand is bad for you in so many ways. Having a Faraday bag to at least wrap your phone not only will help reduce additional RF exposure, but will help keep you from your phone if you need to keep it close, or if your dopamine addiction is too strong to allow you to place the phone in another room. Remember to use those TrueDark blue blockers if you do need to partake and “enjoy” a dopamine hit for some reason. Incidentally, one of the main reasons I’ve initiated an upgrade to the new Eight Sleep Pod 4 Ultra (below) is the “tap to adjust temperature” feature. Not having to grab the phone and switch to the app and navigate to the temperature screen will be a huge plus, especially after awakening between one of those 90-minute sleep cycles. My continuous goal is to achieve 6-per cycles night with no conscious awakenings - but as I said, good sleep is a journey not a destination.

NuCalm I have been experimenting with various sound to sleep strategies (e.g. Binaural Beats Sleep in shuffle mode on YouTube music). NuCalm has become my go-to, lately the Deep Sleep → Summer Rain (10h). Having a 10h session going certainly helps since I aim for 9-hour sleep windows. I use to use Sonic Essence (10h) - a sort of white/pink noise audio reel - but I noticed better sleep during a couple calming raining nights a couple months back. The audio sessions usually start at moderate levels and reduce over time so as to not wake you up. Having NuCalm running throughout the night is useful in many ways. Not only does it help induce rapid sleep for me, I always can tell if I have awakened (consciously) as my hearing kicks in and I hear the rain, or equivalent.

Bose Smart Speaker Good quality sound - which to me is by definition decent coverage of the lows, mediums and highs (often in that order) - is critical. Bose is my go-to for sound in general - from these portable speakers, to their headphones, to my F1 Model 812 Array‘s in my music studio. Having this google enabled really helps with audio commands. One of my favorite is “hey google, turn on the bedroom fan for 15 minutes”).

Eight Sleep Pod 3 with mattress (Just ordered the Pod 4 Ultra!) - Game changer! [Note: the Pod 4 Ultra finally arrived on July 17, 2024. The mattress arrived a couple weeks before, which presented a bit of a challenge, but I kept in my office. This gave a good opportunity for it to degass. Quite the setup once the platform and pod arrived. Took a about 1.5 hours…The first night was so so and the second night wasn’t cooling, until I noticed the connected cooling hose was kinked. After fixing this, the next nights were wonderfully cool and comfortable. I totally enjoy the slight head and tail elevations. Definitely worth the wait…] Technically a large wearable, the eight sleep bed is loaded with sensors which not only capture a bunch of information and deposits into your Apple Health (their CEO likens it to sleeping on a stethoscope), but also helps you cool or heat during sleep. It is an incredible, game-changing device! Of all, the Eight Sleep is probably the most impactful on sleep and well worth the investment - especially considering we spend (or should spend) a third of our lives sleeping. Since sleep cycles are about 90-minutes a piece, I have always found “actual” sleeping in these increments (i.e. 3.0, 4.5, 6.0, 7.5, and 9.0) are most enabling for me - with of course 7.5 and 9.0 being the ideal. Of course, I aggressively try to avoid 3.0 and 4.5, but those 6.0 bouts have occurred especially when business scheduling and travel are involved. It’s pretty amazing that the closer I fall onto these totals, the more productive I become. Those 9.0’s are rare, but when they happen - wow!

Red-light / Infrared

Red-light panel - I try to use this daily, while standing on the smaller powerplate. That said, I often will take at least one day off - that really miss the combination when traveling. If this and eight sleeps were commonly found in hotel rooms, I wouldn’t mind traveling at all. Of course it would be great if they also had cold plunges or minimally not balk at delivering buckets of ice each day.

Powerplate(s)

Smaller, more “mobile” powerplate.

More powerful powerplate, great for workouts.

Blue Blockers

Amber, blue-blocking glasses During wind-down after the sun has set.

TrueDark blue-blockers When about to go to bed and night time phone use is absolutely necessary. These “goggles” really reduce light levels.

Sauna

Infrasauna. Heats with Infrared OR Traditional heat. I usually use traditional mode as it gets hotter and adding water to the rocks creates a nice steamy hit. Because it plugs into a normal wall outlet (not 220!), it can only operate in infrared mode OR traditional heat mode, not simultaneously.

Cold Plunge

The plunge We replaced the master tub with this bad boy. Keeps cold continuously throughout day and night. I experimented with morning plunges, but prefer them later in the day. A very “cool” effect to use them instead of a mid-day nap or caffeine hit. So much more powerful and activating.

The Plunge Snorkel Important to submerge early in a plunge. Important to get head, face and hands cold at the beginning. Don’t forget to hum. All activate your Vagus nerve and the cold becomes more tolerable faster.

Ear plugs (custom, requires a quick audiology visit/mold) - Makes submersion so much easier!

Glucose Monitoring (CGMs and through finger sticks)

I periodically check blood glucose levels every few months, especially with dietary changes. This is so critical since the foods we eat and the order they are eaten affect us all differently. This is one of the many reasons that some diets work for some people and not others.

Nutrisense I have also tried Levels, but prefer the Abbott FreeStyle Libre 14-day sensor over the Dexcom G7 10-day sensor that Levels provides. The Dexcom also needs to be in constant communication with your phone. The Nutrisense software is also better. Each may require normalization from time-to-time (see below). I have noticed the best time you apply are after a bit of a small fast and after drying from a shower. Since they affix to the back of your arm for several days, best to have that area nice and clean before applying. I recommend using alcohol and thoroughly clean the area first.

CONTOUR NEXT Blood Glucose Monitoring System The Contour glucose monitor, which requires a finger stick, seems fairly accurate. Having a finger stick testing setup is useful to help normalize the CGM sensors above, as both the Libre and Dexcom seem to drift, especially at the end of their usage windows.. The strips are also easy to work with. I use to use the KETO-MOJO system since it utilizes a nice phone app which integrates with Nutrisense, and thus to some extent Apple Health, but their strips each come individually wrapped. A real pain to open and work with.

Blood Markers, etc.

Every few months, I do blood draws to follow a slew of blood markers. I primarily use InsideTracker, but Function(Health) has several additional tests that are very useful. I strongly recommend everyone run periodic blood panels and keep the records.

Inside Tracker - A nice set of blood panels for a reasonable cost and you can get in-home blood draws. I started with this after learning about it through co-founder David Sinclair.

Function Function has a broader list of blood panels. You might have to get on a waiting list. Even less expensive than Inside Tracker. I learned of this through co-founder Mark Hyman.

OmegaQuant Sets the standard for Omega measurement. A simple in-home blood stick you mail in for analysis.

CURO-L7 Professional Grade Blood Cholesterol and Lipid Testing Having a read on fasting lipids can be very useful. This is my go-to device for periodic at-home testing, and is a nice complement to the phlebotomist-drawn samples needed for Inside Tracker and Function analyses. The test strips come with these cool “Ezi tube+(s)” which have a capillary tube to load the necessary amount of blood from your finger stick. I wish I could find these by themselves, as getting enough blood from a finger-stick for me for other at-home tests is often a challenge (Kirsten often likens my self-draws to crime-scenes, but I’m getting better at cleaning up). When I check my lipids, I’ll also run a quick glucose strip with the above Contour monitor to get a read on my fasting glucose as well.

Back Traction

Nubax Therapeutic Back Stretch Machine Baby pose with traction! Amazing lumbar adjustment(s). I can typically gauge reduced inflammation levels by the ease with which my L4 adjusts with this. I use it multiple times a day. I keep it in a place that I pass a bit each day, so it’s easy to pop on it for a quick stretch.

Massage Chair

Medical Breakthrough Massage Chair This beast of massage chair is a nightly wind-down go-to. A fan-favorite when people visit. I have taken many a naps in this puppy. It lies nearly flat.

Drums

Roland V-Drums Drumming takes mental and physical dexterity. I am convinced drumming is good for the brain. I find drumming really enhances REM and dreaming, especially when playing along to music with solid timing (most music you find on Spotify or equivalent was likely recorded against click-tracks and/or with drummers / bassists with pristine timing). I appreciate not everyone is a drummer, but drum circles are incredibly therapeutic and you don’t need to be a percussionist to hit a drum when listing to music. And of course, you don’t need a drum set to tap your foot along with your favorite tunes. Wearing headphones so only you hear is even better!