Sleep trackers are everywhere and depending on the voice you are listening to, they are either the secret to hacking your sleep or worthless pieces of plastic on your wrist. The world of consumer sleep trackers is vast and confusing. In this episode we will:

• Discuss the basics of monitoring sleep
• Understand the role of surrogates in the measurement of sleep
• Examine the history of research actigraphy devices and their evolution to become the first generation of sleep wearables
• Follow the development of second generation devices and the expansion of the parameters they measured
• Outline the uses for these devices
• Dive into the strengths and limitations of these devices
• Look at what current research has to say about these devices
• List the problems with this technology in the marketplace

Produced by: Maeve Winter

Music by: Dr. Abhinav Singh (@sleep_vigilante), all rights reserved

More

• Twitter: @drchriswinter
• IG: @drchriwinter
• Threads: @drchriswinter
• Bluesky: @drchriswinter
• The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child

Thanks for listening and sleep well!

Apple TV (not Max as stated in my episode) has a new show about two friends with Insomnia called Still Up. It is another example of the media portraying sleep disorders, but how accurate is the depiction, More to the point, is it a helpful perspective or does it simply perpetuate harmful ideas and stereotypes? In this episode we will:

• Consider the role media plays in illustrating, explaining, and sensationalizing insomnia
• Explore the use of sleep disorders like insomnia and narcolepsy for comedic effect
• Examine the role media plays in terms of disseminating good diagnostic and treatment information for sleep disorders
• Review research that evaluates trends in narcolepsy portrayal in the media
• Discuss Still Up in terms of accuracy and helpfulness in terms of a insomnia portrayal

Produced by: Maeve Winter

Music by: Dr. Abhinav Singh (@sleep_vigilante), all rights reserved

More

• Twitter: @drchriswinter
• IG: @drchriwinter
• Threads: @drchriswinter
• Bluesky: @drchriswinter
• The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child

Thanks for listening and sleep well!

Within the world of sleep disorders, there is often confusion surrounding disorders that feature nocturnal food consumption. These disorders share many similarities, but their distinctions are worth understanding. In this episode we will:

• Describe the disorders of nocturnal eating
• Characterize the incidence of these conditions
• List the comorbid diagnoses often seen with these disorders including eating disorders
• Define nocturnal sleep-related eating disorder (NSRED) and night eating syndrome (NES)
• Differentiate these disorders based upon consciousness/volitional eating and the characterizations of the eating
• Review the diagnostic criteria for each
• Touch upon theories behind these disorders
• List treatment options

Produced by: Maeve Winter

Music by: Dr. Abhinav Singh (@sleep_vigilante), all rights reserved

More

• Twitter: @drchriswinter
• IG: @drchriwinter
• Threads: @drchriswinter
• Bluesky: @drchriswinter
• The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child

Thanks for listening and sleep well!

The Sleep Unplugged podcast is here to ease your holiday shopping stress with some of my favorite sleep product companies. In this episode, we will explore a host of sleep-themed gift ideas and product recommendations. many with unique discount codes for their purchases. In this episode, we will feature the following products:

• Ayo circadian lighting
• Beadgear pillows and linens
• Bearaby weighted blankets
• Eberjey pajamas 
• Hest travel pillow
• Lumi cold water recovery tank
• Manta sleep mask
• QuietOn sleeping earbuds
• SaunaBox home wet/steam sauna
• Sleepys pillows and pillow inserts
• Swanwick blue-blocking glasses and lighting solutions
• The Sleep Solution/The Rested Child books
• Withings ScanWatch Horizon sleep/fitness watch
• zDen personal/pet sleep environment

*I have no financial relationship with the companies listed above but may have received products to trial/demo. I am a paid consultant for Mattress Firm which owns Sleepys.

Produced by: Maeve Winter

Music by: Dr. Abhinav Singh (@sleep_vigilante), all rights reserved

More

• Twitter: @drchriswinter
• IG: @drchriwinter
• Threads: @drchriswinter
• Bluesky: @drchriswinter
• The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child

Thanks for listening and sleep well!

It can be hard to wake up. For some people, it is almost impossible. Sleep inertia is the medical term of an inability to awaken in the morning. In this episode we will:

• Define sleep inertia
• Describe how sleep inertia interacts with our homeostatic and circadian drives
• Understand the occupational hazards of sleep inertia
• Postulate what function sleep inertia might serve
• Review the symptoms of sleep inertia
• List the causes of sleep inertia 
• Touch upon the Sleep Inertia Questionnaire
• Look at potential sleep inertia treatments

Produced by: Maeve Winter

Music by: Dr. Abhinav Singh (@sleep_vigilante), all rights reserved

More

• Twitter: @drchriswinter
• IG: @drchriwinter
• Threads: @drchriswinter
• Bluesky: @drchriswinter
• The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child

Thanks for listening and sleep well!

A relatively new frontier of medicine is the exploration of the gut microbiome and its relationship to our body's functioning, health, and susceptibility to disease. The gut-brain axis represents a relatively strong relationship between the gut microbiome and our body's ability to function properly, and it has been proposed that this relationship influences sleep and risk for insomnia. In this episode we will:

• Define the gut microbiome
• Explore the beginnings of its suspected role in neurological functioning and sleep
• List the three proposed pathways by which the gut microbiome interacts with the nervous system
• Evaluate the role that the gut microbiome plays in terms of regulating our circadian rhythm via gene expression of the gut biome's own circadian patterns
• Discuss metabolic linkages between the gut microbiome and why disruption can increase the chances of metabolic syndrome
• Look ahead toward gut biome-based therapies for insomnia

Produced by: Maeve Winter

Music by: Dr. Abhinav Singh (@sleep_vigilante), all rights reserved

More

• Twitter: @drchriswinter
• IG: @drchriwinter
• Threads: @drchriswinter
• Bluesky: @drchriswinter
• The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child

Thanks for listening and sleep well!

Saunas and cold-water tanks are everywhere in their personal fitness and recover space. These modalities have also been linked to improving sleep parameters, but is there any science behind the claims? In this episode, we will:

• Examine the use of sauna therapy and cold-water immersion (CWI) in elite athletics, and the relative adoption rate for both
• Discuss the literature linking sauna/heat therapy with improved health and longevity, particularly in the cardiovascular space, but also emerging in the cognitive health space
• Define hormesis and link it to these therapies
• Explore the role of sauna therapy as an exercise mimetic, and how that can act to explain the health benefits as well as the sleep benefits of sauna therapy
• Link sauna therapy to inflammatory and immune modulation
• Touch upon other potential pathways that sauna therapy could benefit sleep
• Clarify the confusion about cold water therapy timing and sleep
• Review evidence from research showing CWI therapy earlier in the day improving slow wave sleep and reducing sleep latency

Produced by: Maeve Winter

Music by: Dr. Abhinav Singh (@sleep_vigilante), all rights reserved

More

• Twitter: @drchriswinter
• IG: @drchriwinter
• Threads: @drchriswinter
• Bluesky: @drchriswinter
• The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child

Thanks for listening and sleep well!

One of the most common questions I am asked about sleep is, "What are the adverse health consequences of inadequate sleep?"  While I am quick to answer something related to cardiovascular or cognitive health, physical injury is not one that comes to mind immediately, but new evidence suggests it should. In this episode, we will:

• Discuss sleep mechanisms that might relate to increased injury
• Investigate how inadequate sleep may influence the immune system and inflammatory processes of the body
• Focus on cognitive changes, particularly in the prefrontal cortex, that might lend to an increased risk of injury
• Touch upon concentration and focus impairments as supplemental aspects leading to increased injury risk
• Review data within athlete, adult, high school, and juvenile populations that show increased injury risk in sleep deprived individuals
• Outline steps that can be taken to address sleep and injury risk factors

Produced by: Maeve Winter

Music by: Dr. Abhinav Singh (@sleep_vigilante), all rights reserved

More

• Twitter: @drchriswinter
• IG: @drchriwinter
• Threads: @drchriswinter
• Bluesky: @drchriswinter
• The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child

Thanks for listening and sleep well!

Perhaps the most common sleep disorder in the world is sleep talking. It most likely affects at least half of all individuals at some point in their life. With the condition being this common, there are still many misunderstandings about sleep talking. In this episode we will:

• Define sleep talking as a parasomnia
• Review the incidence of sleep talking, the hereditary nature, and how it changes over time
• Differentiate it from taking during REM sleep
• List the risk factors for somniloquy
• Categorize disorders that may lead to sleep talking
• Touch upon treatment for somniloquy

Produced by: Maeve Winter

Music by: Dr. Abhinav Singh (@sleep_vigilante), all rights reserved

More

• Twitter: @drchriswinter
• IG: @drchriwinter
• Threads: @drchriswinter
• Bluesky: @drchriswinter
• The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child

Thanks for listening and sleep well!

The perinatal sleep experience is often talked about in less than glowing terms. It's often a situation that is cannot be helped, it simply must be endured.  In this episode, we will:

• Look at the common changes that occur during the pregnancy period, trimester by trimester
• Review the incidence of sleep disturbances in all pregnant individuals
• Contrast the incidence of sleep disturbances in women with psychiatric diagnoses versus women without psychiatric disorders
• Examine how increased sleep as well as decreased sleep during pregnancy can be predictive of depression and psychotic episodes respectively
• Evaluate some common perinatal sleep myths

Episode Written by Maeve Winter

Produced by: Maeve Winter

Music by: Dr. Abhinav Singh (@sleep_vigilante), all rights reserved

More

• Twitter: @drchriswinter
• IG: @drchriwinter
• Threads: @drchriswinter
• Bluesky: @drchriswinter
• The Sleep Solution and The Rested Child

Thanks for listening and sleep well!