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Recently, a programmer guru on Chinese Twitter suddenly passed away, which not only saddened people but also made many people start paying attention to health issues. In light of this, I am preparing to share some articles in the hope that they will be helpful to everyone.

Sleeping Tips

If you want to achieve good health, improve your work and study performance, and enhance your physical health, such as immunity, metabolism, as well as mental health, such as better mood and focus, the most important prerequisite is to have a good sleep.
The most important control mechanism for sleep is our internal biological clock. With the influence of the biological clock, various chemicals in our body will undergo changes, and body temperature will also change, affecting our internal states and external behaviors. Professor Huberman vividly describes the specific functioning of this "biological clock": in the morning, the release of cortisol and adrenaline in our body wakes us up, while also setting a countdown clock for the pineal gland to release melatonin, which will make us feel sleepy again after more than ten hours.
The biggest factor affecting this biological clock is light. In addition to being able to see things, our eyes also play a major role in receiving light information through melanopsin ganglion cells to set our internal biological clock. That's why sometimes, even though we have been working all night without sleep for a long time, as the sun rises, the overall biological clock is set to a state similar to waking up, and the release of various chemicals suddenly makes us feel energetic again. This principle is also related to many best practices in the subsequent content. We need to control the timing, type, and duration of light exposure.
In addition, body temperature is also a means of controlling our biological clock. Generally, our body temperature gradually rises from a relatively low state during deep sleep to a higher state upon waking up. In the second half of the day, it will gradually decrease until we enter sleep again.

Methods to Improve Sleep:

1. The release of cortisol is related to exposure to sunlight. Therefore, if you want to wake up quickly and maintain a good mental state during the day, you should go outside and expose yourself to sunlight for 2-10 minutes after waking up. This has great benefits for blood pressure control, mental state, and setting the "countdown clock" for sleep. Outdoor sunlight has the best effect. If it is artificial light, blue light is more effective, and it is best to come from the upper part (the position of the sky). According to calculations based on light intensity, the intensity of receiving sunlight through a window will decrease by more than 50%, and the required duration of light exposure to achieve the same effect will need 50 to 100 times longer. Interestingly, this also applies to visually impaired individuals because the aforementioned melanopsin ganglion cells are not used for visual imaging.
2. Correspondingly, try to minimize exposure to light sources in the evening because this will disrupt our biological clock and make the body system mistakenly believe it is daytime. Especially between 11 pm and 4 am, exposure to light will inhibit the release of dopamine for the next few days, affecting mood, mental health, focus, learning ability, metabolism, and more. The role and mechanism of dopamine will be discussed separately later.
3. If it is unavoidable to be exposed to light sources at night, it is better to be in a lower position and use dim red light, candles, or similar sources. If you need to use a computer, it is recommended to use blue blockers glasses, which may have a similar effect to some computer software that automatically adjusts the screen color temperature.
4. Observing the sunset in the evening can also help with subsequent sleep and even alleviate the negative effects of light exposure at night, which is quite magical.
5. People generally experience a brief low point in their mental state during the middle of the day, so taking a nap may be helpful for some people. Other non-sleep deep rest methods can also be used as alternatives, such as meditation and self-hypnosis.

The Influence of Body Temperature on the Biological Clock Cycle:

1. Taking a cold shower in the morning will quickly raise body temperature, thereby advancing the sleep cycle (waking up early).
2. Exercising in the evening will keep body temperature high, thereby delaying the cycle (sleeping late).
3. You can purchase smart mattresses that automatically control body temperature to improve sleep quality.
4. Generally recommended exercise times: 30 minutes after waking up, and at 3 hours and 11 hours. However, overall, the impact seems to be relatively small.

Diet and Medication Factors:

1. Caffeine occupies the receptors of adenosine, blocking the signal for sleep. Many articles mention not drinking coffee after noon, but Huberman states that there is no scientific experiment indicating that caffeine has the same effect on everyone. It depends on individual test results. For example, he can still fall asleep normally even if he drinks coffee at 5 pm.
2. Magnesium is helpful for falling asleep.
3. Apigenin can also help with sleep, but attention should be paid to its impact on estrogen.
4. It is not recommended to consume too much taurine.
5. It is not recommended to use melatonin to aid sleep because the specifications of melatonin drugs are not strictly controlled, and melatonin can easily cause depressive moods.
6. You can eat low-calorie foods and foods containing tyrosine, such as nuts, soybeans, and some vegetables, at noon to increase dopamine and adrenaline levels and stay alert.
7. In the evening, you can eat some starchy foods and white meat that are rich in tryptophan, which will be converted into serotonin, making people calmer and easier to fall asleep.
8. For the majority of people, a sleep duration of 6-8 hours is considered healthy.