The importance of sleep is not a new concept. Yet, despite the loads of research and increasingly pervasive narrative emphasizing sleep’s role in healing, brain health, performance, immune function, and just about every aspect of health, many of us still suffer from inadequate and poor sleep. For those of us in the northern hemisphere, our days are getting shorter and darker as we transition to Fall and Winter. This natural seasonal shift also changes our own internal circadian rhythms as our bodies and brains adjust to the evolving patterns of darkness and light. Our circadian rhythms play a crucial role in the quality of our sleep – and when our innate rhythms are disrupted, so our sleep may also be compromised. Though there’s no substitute for sleep itself, there are ways we can improve or “hack” our sleep quality in order to get the most “bang for our buck” out of our hours in bed.
Delta Sleep Inducing Peptide (DSIP)
Disruptions in circadian rhythm have a massive impact on our overall health and making sure you have a proper amount and quality of sleep can go a long way in setting your internal circadian clock to function correctly assisting your nearly every process in the body to work properly.
Delta Sleep Inducing Peptide (DSIP) is an interesting peptide (learn more about peptides in our online learning Human Optimization Academy) that has been shown to help reset our circadian clocks by increasing deep, delta-wave, restorative sleep.
DSIP is a delta sleep-inducing controller or deep sleep-inducing peptide. This means that during sleep, it helps move our brains towards a slower delta-wave state. Delta waves trigger the release of Growth Hormone (GH) making deep sleep essential for regeneration and healing. Furthermore, this has downstream effects in increasing testosterone levels. Not only does DSIP show promising benefits for regulating circadian rhythm, but it also shows some signs of anti-cancer benefits. It crosses the blood-brain barrier, allowing the glymphatic system in the brain to drain and detoxify the body while in deep sleep.
Supplements for Sleep
When people can’t sleep well, they often take a melatonin supplement to help them fall asleep. However, a common complaint is that melatonin leaves people feeling groggy or tired the next day. Interestingly, higher doses of melatonin (up to 20mg even) taken in the morning can actually help people increase deep sleep at night. Moreover, high-dose melatonin has been shown to help reduce arthritis symptoms as it gets into the cell and upregulates NLRP3 inflammasome.
As we age, our body’s production of melatonin naturally decreases, so most people can benefit from taking melatonin. By taking melatonin in cycles and giving the body some breaks we can stimulate healing in the body. In addition to melatonin, beta-blockers and EGCG can be helpful supplements as well.
Work With Us
Self-describe as a “bad sleeper” or starting to notice the impacts of chronic sleep deprivation and fatigue in your day-to-day? Here at Boulder Longevity Institute, we take a comprehensive look at why you may be struggling to catch Zz’s, including evaluating nutrition, hormones, and lifestyle factors that may be playing a role. Curious to learn more, reach out to us for more information on our Foundational Health and Peptide services!
Interested in learning more about your Circadian Rhythm?
Meet the educational arm of BLI, the Human Optimization Academy! Take control of your health with our What To Fix First Course.
