How are you sleeping? Annabel and I both feel anxiety about the conflict in Ukraine is really impacting our sleep. I’ve been having weirdly vivid dreams too. Quality sleep is a key pillar of our Age-Well Project so I’ve rounded up the latest research on the subject to share with you. I’ve included some practical…
ARE YOU GETTING ENOUGH LIGHT? ENOUGH DARK?
Have you noticed the longer, lighter days? Isn’t it lovely? But are you spending sufficient time outdoors? Or in a sunny spot? Are you turning off Netflix/your laptop/your phone when darkness falls? If you are, bravo! If not, you might want to read on. There’s a fair bit of science here, so scroll to the…
WHEN TO FALL ASLEEP – AND FOR HOW LONG?
I’ve been thinking about sleep recently. We all know it’s important. But how important? And what else should we know? Three years ago, when I met Professor Hornberger, an expert in dementia and ageing, he was adamant that the quality of sleep mattered most – not the quantity. He explained the importance of slow-wave sleep…
WHY THE TIMING OF OUR EATING AND MOVING MATTERS
No sooner have we mastered exercise and eating – by which I mean we’re eating the rainbow, walking daily and lifting a few weights – than those pesky scientists discover it’s timing that matters. OK I exaggerate. But recent studies suggest that when we move is almost as important as how we move, with new…
WHY WRITING BY HAND IS GOOD FOR YOUR BRAIN, A PRIZE DRAW TO SPUR YOU ON, AND SIMPLE STUFFED PEPPERS
Has anyone else noticed the surging number of people writing in public? In London, where I walk beside the River Thames every day, I’ve become increasingly aware of people sitting on benches, writing. Not playing with their phones or ipads, but writing by hand in note books and on paper. I began lamenting the loss…
SLEEP IN THE TIME OF CORONA
How are you sleeping in these days of Covid? A straw poll on a recent Zoom call with friends revealed everything from ‘sleeping like a baby’ to ‘I’m up at 3am every night sanitising door handles’. Much to my surprise, I’m sleeping better than I’ve done for years, with less traffic noise and work-related stress…
HOW I SOLVED MY SLEEP PROBLEMS
How do you sleep? Annabel and I compare our nightly tallies: obsessively texting each other, ‘I got seven hours!’, ‘I lay awake all night’, ‘I woke up at 5am’. You get the picture. Sleep has become a midlife obsession for us, and we’re not alone. 80% of Brits suffer from lack of sleep, which costs…
ENHANCING MEMORY, AND AN ICE CREAM TO HELP YOU SLEEP!
Why did nobody tell me that midlife would be a constant battle to get enough sleep?! I took sleep for granted until I had children, but since then it’s been a scarce commodity. The broken nights of early parenthood have given way to the broken nights of middle age, menopause and beyond. A steady stream…
WHY EVENING IS THE BEST TIME FOR EXERCISE: CELERIAC AND RADISH SALAD
Happy new year to all our readers! We love the beginning of a new year. It’s the perfect time for thinking about the future and for making adjustments to our lives. Naturally we want a long, healthy and happy future. So we’re taking the opportunity to make small lifestyle changes that promise big benefits. Just…
SLEEP: THE KEY TO A GOOD MEMORY, TIPS FROM AN EXPERT AND CARROT TOP PESTO
I forgot to go to an appointment yesterday. Embarrassing. I would never have forgotten something like this in my youth. But could it be the poor sleep I’d had the night before? A new study links memory and everyday errors to sleep deprivation. The study (which points out that many human-caused disasters from Chernobyl to…
