The Weekly Thread: The magical kiwifruit, a short life well lived, and waking gradually to sleep better at night.

Sleep better, improve digestion, and boost immunity by eating kiwifruit.

The kiwifruit is a wildly underappreciated fruit, rich in micronutrients, antioxidants, and provides some unique benefits. 

Let’s get more of the inside scoop on this incredible fruit you may want to consider making a more regular part of your diet. 

Improved digestion and relieves gastrointestinal discomfort. Kiwifruit seems to be exceptionally effective at keeping you regular and keeping those bowels moving along smoothly. It’s also been researched clinically, and has been shown to be effective at relieving upper gastrointestinal symptoms such as discomfort and pain, indigestion, and reflux. 

Rich in micronutrients. Oranges get a lot of credit in being rich in immune boosting Vitamin C and the key electrolyte Potassium, however, kiwifruit by weight, has a significantly higher concentration of both Vitamin C and Potassium. 

Better sleep. In a study where participants consumed two kiwifruit one hour before bed, after four weeks of nightly consumption, their subjective sleep scores improved significantly. 

Key Highlights:

• Sleep onset latency (the time it took to fall asleep after lying down for bed) was decreased by 35.4%.
• Sleep efficiency was increased by 5.4%.
• Total sleep time was increased by 13.4%. 

In short, according to this study, eating a couple kiwifruit one hour before bed will help you fall asleep more quickly, help you sleep longer, and improve the overall quality of your sleep. 

That’s no joke. 

Combine that with improvements in overall digestion, and the micronutrient density of kiwifruit, having a kiwifruit or two in the evening could provide some pretty substantial health benefits, making it a worthy addition when possible.

Not Fade Away: A Short Life Well Lived by Laurence Shames & Peter Barton 

In this book, you will meet, and learn about the life of Peter Barton, a risk-taking, living life to the fullest, entrepreneur and family man. 

You will also get up close and personal with him as he copes with his oncoming mortality, dealing with terminal cancer. 

With the help of his co-author, who is with him every step of the way through his diagnosis and death, you get a rare perspective from Barton, complete with unflinching candor, and a wry humor. 

This book will touch your soul, make you hug your loved ones a bit tighter, and give you a greater appreciation for this incredible privilege, of simply being alive. 

I cannot recommend it enough, 

To check it out, and order a copy CLICK HERE.

Wake up gradually.

Probably the biggest key to a quality night’s sleep is a properly set circadian rhythm. This begins, or should begin, when you wake up. 

In a past edition of “The Weekly Thread”, I discussed the importance of controlling your artificial light exposure in the morning, and the proper timing of caffeine after waking. If you haven’t yet, or need a refresh, be sure to check it out.

The body was not meant to jolt out of bed, be exposed to artificial light upon waking, and experience any stress right away. 

When you wake, you still have melatonin (the hormone your body produces at night to help you sleep and recover) in your bloodstream. This melatonin needs some time to fully metabolize out of your bloodstream. 

Until this occurs, your body cannot go through its full array of morning hormone and endogenous chemical pulses and responses.

Ditch the alarm clock.

Yes, this is much easier said than done, however, I think this is a worthy goal. 

I can attest to the value of a properly set circadian rhythm, as I now begin gradually waking up, well, like clockwork, with no alarm clock, between 5:30 and 6:30am, depending on how “late” I can sleep in. 

To begin the path to no alarm clock, you want to wake gradually, avoid artificial light, and get natural light as soon as possible. 

I recommend getting an alarm clock that helps you gradually wake by playing native and natural sounds that start quietly and get a bit louder progressively. Many will also emit native light frequencies that mimic a rising sun. 

This gradual waking process, and exposure to native light frequencies will begin the process of metabolizing the remaining amounts of melatonin in your bloodstream, better helping you set your circadian rhythm more effectively. 

Soon enough, you’ll be waking with no alarm clock. 

To check out an assortment of alarm clocks that will help you gradually wake, CLICK HERE.

An alarm clock like this, along with using red light bulbs in the AM, can be an extremely useful tool in setting a circadian rhythm for everyone, but especially those who wake up so early that they don’t have natural light exposure, and in the winter months, when daylight begins a lot later. 

You can make the best of it, or you can make the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. 

In life, you cannot control much of what happens to you, you can only control how you respond. 

I hope the people you meet with different points of view inspire you. And you do the same for them. 

I hope you find awe in the things you see. 

When you feel things, that you feel things you’ve never felt before. 

That you live a life that you are proud of. 

And when it’s time for new beginnings, or to start over, that you have the courage to do so. It’s never too late. 

Whatever it is, I hope you make the best of it.