Unfortunately I have to announce that I am going to be switching back to monophasic sleep.
This morning I woke up at about 5:00am and was as awake as a zombie. But I thought it was 6:30am and time to get up then because I was hardly conscious at all. So I switched off my alarms even though they weren't going off and tried to go upstairs and have some breakfast. I managed to get a few things out but couldn't find what I was looking for even though I know where it is. I then noticed the time was 5:09am so I went back to bed. What I did not remember at the time was that I had not reset my alarm clocks. I woke up slightly after 10:00am.
I could recover from this and continue with polyphasic sleep because this would be a rare thing to happen but I knew eventually I would oversleep if I did not hurry up and adapt. I did adapt to being able to function better on 4.5 hours sleep than I usually would but that would be bad for my health if I kept it up for too long. This adaption to being awake almost all day while only sleeping 4.5 hours did not allow me enough sleep deprivation to adapt to having full sleep cycles during naps.
I think that is the main problem I have been having all along and the only way to fix it would have been to purposely sleep deprive myself by sleeping 3 hours one night. Although I can't guarantee that would have enough effect to allow me to sleep properly during my naps, and I'd have to keep it up for days. The other option would be to start over and this time focus on napping before it's too late. I am not going to try polyphasic sleeping again soon however, as I feel it will be easier to do in the future.
I am still happy that I made it so far so to me that is success enough. I know now that I have what it takes to push myself through sleep deprivation and be patient until it gets better and I know what to do next time. I think I learned a lot from the process and enjoyed the challenge and I am happy that I made it through to day 19 before I had any major serious oversleeps.
I do not intend on trying this same sleep schedule again. It is too hard to balance naps with core sleep because the core sleep is just too long. I know other people may have success with trying this so don't let my results stop you from giving it a try. Next time I try I will be older and in a better position to do it. I want to adapt to Uberman sleep, that is a 20 minute nap every 4 hours. That is simple and the adaption works easily if you can make it through all the sleep deprivation because you do not have a long core sleep keeping you awake. It takes no longer than 7 days to adapt if done without error which is unlike my schedule which could have taken me over a month.
So now I'll just return to monophasic sleep and I'll do my best not to get lazy and sleep in too late or stay up too late. I'll make the most of it and just return to polyphasic when I am better prepared in the future.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Polyphasic Sleep - Day 16 and 17
Probably the most significant thing that happened was that I somehow managed to go to sleep about 2 hours early for my core sleep this morning. So instead of going to bed at 2:00am I went to bed at midnight. I have no idea how I managed to do that but the last thing I remember is being very confused and tired lying down attempting to set my alarm clock for 6:30am. I woke up at 6:30am, but later realised my alarm clock never went off and in fact said 6:30pm. Somehow I managed to get myself up on time, which is the main thing, so that oversleep wasn't really that bad. I think I've been doing this long enough now that sleeping slightly early isn't going to make much difference.
Another mistake I made was trying to go back to 2 naps. It just did not work as well yet so I'll wait until I've adapted to do that. At the moment 11:00am, 4:30pm and 11:00pm sound like good times to keep for my naps. I'll have to try to keep this more consistent now because I think I've been exercising my flexibility too often at this stage.
Other than that, I'm continuing through without too much trouble only a little bit tired in the morning and at night. I think this is taking much longer than it should to adapt but I'll look past that because most people who sleep polyphasically prefer to sleep with less or no core sleep and more naps. So I've had to work out a few things, like sleeping 3 naps instead of 2, what times to sleep at, how to nap better, and I've been inconsistent with Christmas. Now that I've worked all that out, if I can just keep up the same thing exactly the same with quality naps for several days in a row I should be adapted.
Of course, I say I should be adapted in every post, but I'm definitely not slipping with this schedule. I don't think I'll have any major oversleeps because I am now adapted to waking up at 6:30am at least.
Being more positive, Christmas is over and the unhealthy food is nearly gone. Someone forgot to tell me that there was caffeine in chocolate so that could have explained my difficulty on Christmas when I decided I'd have a chocolate binge to see what effect it would have on my body. But that's okay because there is none of that left. I can now go through with the rest of it with nothing too important happening to interfere.
Another mistake I made was trying to go back to 2 naps. It just did not work as well yet so I'll wait until I've adapted to do that. At the moment 11:00am, 4:30pm and 11:00pm sound like good times to keep for my naps. I'll have to try to keep this more consistent now because I think I've been exercising my flexibility too often at this stage.
Other than that, I'm continuing through without too much trouble only a little bit tired in the morning and at night. I think this is taking much longer than it should to adapt but I'll look past that because most people who sleep polyphasically prefer to sleep with less or no core sleep and more naps. So I've had to work out a few things, like sleeping 3 naps instead of 2, what times to sleep at, how to nap better, and I've been inconsistent with Christmas. Now that I've worked all that out, if I can just keep up the same thing exactly the same with quality naps for several days in a row I should be adapted.
Of course, I say I should be adapted in every post, but I'm definitely not slipping with this schedule. I don't think I'll have any major oversleeps because I am now adapted to waking up at 6:30am at least.
Being more positive, Christmas is over and the unhealthy food is nearly gone. Someone forgot to tell me that there was caffeine in chocolate so that could have explained my difficulty on Christmas when I decided I'd have a chocolate binge to see what effect it would have on my body. But that's okay because there is none of that left. I can now go through with the rest of it with nothing too important happening to interfere.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Polyphasic Sleep - Day 13, 14 and 15
I held off writing for a few days because I wanted to build up and have more to write in one post. Each day itself did not offer much to write about so I left it three days to see what would happen in those days. It is actually day 16 right now because it is past midnight, but I'll write like it is still day 15 for convenience.
For the last three days I have napped three times a day like planned and I've started experiencing deeper naps. I am not quite at a dream stage, at least not memorably, but my naps have progressed beyond waking up and wondering if I was actually asleep. To prove this one nap on day 14 I suddenly woke up thinking I had accidentally fallen asleep but I quickly realised I had just taken a nap.
Today napping was slightly more difficult. I slept fine in the morning nap and slept well but the other two were more challenging. I did not end up sleeping for the last nap and in the second nap I only partially slept. This is probably because it was Christmas today and some people decided to give me chocolate so I decided I'd experiment to see what would happen if I ate about 250 grams of chocolate at once. Didn't go so well, but at least I don't have to deal with that anymore and can return to being healthy tomorrow.
I've been getting up quite easily at 6:30am except for one of the days which I think was day 13, where I managed to sleep in just a little bit, or I forgot what I was doing and didn't fully wake up until some time shortly after 7:00am. That didn't really matter, as the day went on like normal and I napped well. I think I made great progress that day despite having a minor issue getting up.
Day 14 was much easier to get up in the morning. I was tired for about one hour after getting up, which at the time was the best it has been, but after that I was fine for the rest of the day. Napping also went well this day and I think these two days made a significant improvement with the adaption process because today I woke up and I was awake straight away, and I am still awake now and it is almost 12:30am on day 16(remember I'm writing like it is still day 15).
From here on should be no challenge at all. The worst has passed and I made it through without too much difficulty. So in a few days after I've finalised my napping, I'll be able to call myself officially adapted and I should have 2-4 addition productive hours daily. Normally at this time of the year I'd be going to bed between midnight and 3:00am, and waking up late morning. This feels so much better and so much healthier, even though I am not having nearly as much sleep.
The blackness under my eyes has been retreating and should be gone after the transition process is complete. I might even feel better than I did sleeping monophasically and look better with less or no black under my eyes. Maybe my skin can improve while we are at it, but I don't know, I'll have to see.
At the moment, I'm look at day 18 to be the final adaption day. After that it will just be like normal sleeping to me.
For the last three days I have napped three times a day like planned and I've started experiencing deeper naps. I am not quite at a dream stage, at least not memorably, but my naps have progressed beyond waking up and wondering if I was actually asleep. To prove this one nap on day 14 I suddenly woke up thinking I had accidentally fallen asleep but I quickly realised I had just taken a nap.
Today napping was slightly more difficult. I slept fine in the morning nap and slept well but the other two were more challenging. I did not end up sleeping for the last nap and in the second nap I only partially slept. This is probably because it was Christmas today and some people decided to give me chocolate so I decided I'd experiment to see what would happen if I ate about 250 grams of chocolate at once. Didn't go so well, but at least I don't have to deal with that anymore and can return to being healthy tomorrow.
I've been getting up quite easily at 6:30am except for one of the days which I think was day 13, where I managed to sleep in just a little bit, or I forgot what I was doing and didn't fully wake up until some time shortly after 7:00am. That didn't really matter, as the day went on like normal and I napped well. I think I made great progress that day despite having a minor issue getting up.
Day 14 was much easier to get up in the morning. I was tired for about one hour after getting up, which at the time was the best it has been, but after that I was fine for the rest of the day. Napping also went well this day and I think these two days made a significant improvement with the adaption process because today I woke up and I was awake straight away, and I am still awake now and it is almost 12:30am on day 16(remember I'm writing like it is still day 15).
From here on should be no challenge at all. The worst has passed and I made it through without too much difficulty. So in a few days after I've finalised my napping, I'll be able to call myself officially adapted and I should have 2-4 addition productive hours daily. Normally at this time of the year I'd be going to bed between midnight and 3:00am, and waking up late morning. This feels so much better and so much healthier, even though I am not having nearly as much sleep.
The blackness under my eyes has been retreating and should be gone after the transition process is complete. I might even feel better than I did sleeping monophasically and look better with less or no black under my eyes. Maybe my skin can improve while we are at it, but I don't know, I'll have to see.
At the moment, I'm look at day 18 to be the final adaption day. After that it will just be like normal sleeping to me.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Polyphasic Sleep - Day 12
I wasn't going to post again today because I thought it would be better if I just start posting every few days. I was wrong though and now I have made some more progress worth it's own post.
I actually napped three times today instead of two. Once late in the morning, in the middle of the afternoon, and late at night. I've just been sleeping when it feels like I should sleep and at 2:00am instead of 3:00am. I liked getting up at 6:30am and I wasn't too tired so I'll continue to do that.
Napping was actually worthwhile today unlike previous days when I've pretty much had nap insomnia. I went to sleep all 3 times and they are starting to feel a bit deeper. Assuming I can keep this up, napping 2-3 times a day without oversleeping, I'll probably hit deep sleep soon.
I've always had some black under my eyes but if you saw me now you'd be able to see that I am sleep deprived. I'd expect that the black under my eyes will completely disappear when I have finished the adaption process. If not, there is something other than sleep deprivation causing it.
I also slept my core sleep with a sheet on. I had avoided sleeping with any covers because I thought it would make it more difficult for me to get up in the mornings, but since now I know I can get up without much issue it does not worry me so much. Actually, I think 12 days with only 4.5 hours sleep in the morning and still getting up fine each morning is my personal record. I've never done something like this successfully before, even the last times I tried polyphasic sleep, so if I do fail at adapting I have still grown from this experience. I know I have what it takes to make it through many sleep deprived days in a row and that's what gets most people with polyphasic sleep. So from now on during my core sleep I am covered as I usually would be, it just helps me sleep better.
I actually napped three times today instead of two. Once late in the morning, in the middle of the afternoon, and late at night. I've just been sleeping when it feels like I should sleep and at 2:00am instead of 3:00am. I liked getting up at 6:30am and I wasn't too tired so I'll continue to do that.
Napping was actually worthwhile today unlike previous days when I've pretty much had nap insomnia. I went to sleep all 3 times and they are starting to feel a bit deeper. Assuming I can keep this up, napping 2-3 times a day without oversleeping, I'll probably hit deep sleep soon.
I've always had some black under my eyes but if you saw me now you'd be able to see that I am sleep deprived. I'd expect that the black under my eyes will completely disappear when I have finished the adaption process. If not, there is something other than sleep deprivation causing it.
I also slept my core sleep with a sheet on. I had avoided sleeping with any covers because I thought it would make it more difficult for me to get up in the mornings, but since now I know I can get up without much issue it does not worry me so much. Actually, I think 12 days with only 4.5 hours sleep in the morning and still getting up fine each morning is my personal record. I've never done something like this successfully before, even the last times I tried polyphasic sleep, so if I do fail at adapting I have still grown from this experience. I know I have what it takes to make it through many sleep deprived days in a row and that's what gets most people with polyphasic sleep. So from now on during my core sleep I am covered as I usually would be, it just helps me sleep better.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Polyphasic Sleep - Day 11, New Napping Idea
Again today I had difficulty napping. I felt more awake than before so I assume my core sleep is just becoming strong and keeping me going. Staying up until 3:00am was even easier than it has been in the past and getting up was no issue. But I am still never significantly tired when it comes to napping. Sometimes I still have spots in the day where I feel tired so from now on, I'll just nap when I feel like I should, not when the clock thinks I should. Maybe tomorrow I won't nap at all and I'll see if it makes a difference. If it doesn't it means my naps are doing nothing.
When sleeping polyphasic, it is supposed to only take a few minutes to get to sleep once adapted and naps are meant to be deep and contain lucid dreams. Maybe 4.5 hours of core sleeping and 2 naps just does not have enough emphasis on the naps to achieve this. It is unfortunate that I can't nap because otherwise I have been going well and would have adapted by now.
I could just stick with this schedule until it exhausts me and I start napping or until long term sleep deprivation starts and I have to stop, whichever comes first, but I don't think I could keep this up for much longer than 2 more weeks if I don't adapt. So I'll just take it easy, sleep 4.5 hours, and nap when I feel like it like I said I would.
If that doesn't work, I'll have to adapt to an Everyman sleep schedule with 3 hours of core sleep and 3 naps. It will be harder, but after seeing what I've done the past 11 days I think I can manage a week of that. It is harder but quicker mostly because of the importance of naps while on this version of the sleep schedule, core sleep is more important. I would then attempt to bring this back to 4.5 hour core sleep with 2 naps, unless I can manage to make a 9 hour gap with no sleep for 4 days a week.
Another idea I am having while writing this is I could bring my core sleep back 1 hour and start at 2:00am and wake at 6:30am. It's earlier than I'd usually get up but it might have a more positive effect as I'd be spending an hour longer during the day instead of when it is dark.
So I think the plan is right now to sleep from 2:00am to 6:30am and nap when I have energy sinks. If that doesn't work I won't start taking 3 naps until after Christmas but until then I am going to hold where I am and try to take it further if that is possible.
When sleeping polyphasic, it is supposed to only take a few minutes to get to sleep once adapted and naps are meant to be deep and contain lucid dreams. Maybe 4.5 hours of core sleeping and 2 naps just does not have enough emphasis on the naps to achieve this. It is unfortunate that I can't nap because otherwise I have been going well and would have adapted by now.
I could just stick with this schedule until it exhausts me and I start napping or until long term sleep deprivation starts and I have to stop, whichever comes first, but I don't think I could keep this up for much longer than 2 more weeks if I don't adapt. So I'll just take it easy, sleep 4.5 hours, and nap when I feel like it like I said I would.
If that doesn't work, I'll have to adapt to an Everyman sleep schedule with 3 hours of core sleep and 3 naps. It will be harder, but after seeing what I've done the past 11 days I think I can manage a week of that. It is harder but quicker mostly because of the importance of naps while on this version of the sleep schedule, core sleep is more important. I would then attempt to bring this back to 4.5 hour core sleep with 2 naps, unless I can manage to make a 9 hour gap with no sleep for 4 days a week.
Another idea I am having while writing this is I could bring my core sleep back 1 hour and start at 2:00am and wake at 6:30am. It's earlier than I'd usually get up but it might have a more positive effect as I'd be spending an hour longer during the day instead of when it is dark.
So I think the plan is right now to sleep from 2:00am to 6:30am and nap when I have energy sinks. If that doesn't work I won't start taking 3 naps until after Christmas but until then I am going to hold where I am and try to take it further if that is possible.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Polyphasic Sleep - Day 10, Even Better
Most of the time today I felt great and was able to sit down and do things that don't require a lot of attention without falling asleep. Before my core sleep the tiredness that I get didn't start until 2:00am so I didn't have to force myself to stay awake for too long. It looks like it is getting closer to 3:00am before I get tired so soon I should have no difficulty staying up that late. I was also less tired in the morning and for a shorter duration, so most of the day was spent feeling good.
Naps today went the best they have gone so far. I slept through both of them even if only lightly. They should get better each day until I finally experience deep sleep in them. By then I should be fully awake all day so that day will be when the adaption process is complete. It shouldn't be too long now and I don't see myself failing to make it.
None of my family realises that I am sleeping 3 times a day even though I've had my door shut when napping and I don't usually have my door shut. I kept quiet about it this time because last time when I was younger I got some interference for doing it. Although I don't think that would have been an issue this time, I just preferred to keep to myself about it. I've been able to leave the house many times without any issues and this schedule does not have much social pressure on it because of the flexibility it has.
If I complete this adaption process, which I should, I have no reason to stop polyphasic sleeping that I can see in the future. When school starts again in about 5 weeks I should still be able to keep going only I'll have to have my core sleep from 2:30am to 7:00am and nap at around 3:30-4:00pm. It will be a longer stretch, but with the core sleeping being 4.5 hours I think I should manage. I will test this out a week before I need to do it though.
Also, feel free to contact me using the comments box below each post particularly if you are a polyphasic sleeper.
Naps today went the best they have gone so far. I slept through both of them even if only lightly. They should get better each day until I finally experience deep sleep in them. By then I should be fully awake all day so that day will be when the adaption process is complete. It shouldn't be too long now and I don't see myself failing to make it.
None of my family realises that I am sleeping 3 times a day even though I've had my door shut when napping and I don't usually have my door shut. I kept quiet about it this time because last time when I was younger I got some interference for doing it. Although I don't think that would have been an issue this time, I just preferred to keep to myself about it. I've been able to leave the house many times without any issues and this schedule does not have much social pressure on it because of the flexibility it has.
If I complete this adaption process, which I should, I have no reason to stop polyphasic sleeping that I can see in the future. When school starts again in about 5 weeks I should still be able to keep going only I'll have to have my core sleep from 2:30am to 7:00am and nap at around 3:30-4:00pm. It will be a longer stretch, but with the core sleeping being 4.5 hours I think I should manage. I will test this out a week before I need to do it though.
Also, feel free to contact me using the comments box below each post particularly if you are a polyphasic sleeper.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Polyphasic Sleep - Day 9, Getting There!
While last night could have gone better, this morning between 12:00am and 3:00am was not the worst it could have been. I just had to keep my mind active and I would not fall asleep too early. That wasn't too bad but I think it will be even easier tomorrow morning. Just to clear that up, I've been going by morning is from 12:00am to 12:00pm and I now call 1:00am morning not night. So when I say tomorrow morning that is in one hour from now even though you can still call it night time.
I'll admit that last night I was feeling a bit annoyed when I wrote my update so it was short and more negative than last ones but at the time it was how I felt. Now I feel more confident that I've gone further with the adaption even if I am going slowly so I am no longer going downhill.
So I went to bed at 3:00am like usual, and quickly fell asleep within a minute most likely. At 3:38am the cat woke up me so I could take him outside or bring him inside I don't remember but it's not important. That actually helped me because at that time I realised I just awoke from a long dream that felt really clear and memorable. Of course, I've forgotten now but that always seems to happen with dreams. The reason that is important is because I was only 38 minutes in to sleeping. Usually dreams like that only happen deeper in to the 90 minute sleep cycle so that means I am going through sleep cycles quicker in my core sleep. This probably means in my 4.5 hour sleep I have 4 cycles instead of the usual 3, but that's just an observation from what happened I don't know if it is exactly true.
After I woke up from my core sleep I was not quite as tired as previous days and I felt I was functioning pretty normal. Maybe my core sleep is getting better or I was just lucky today. I had my nap at 3:00pm without much issue and that went better than it has before even though I am still not exactly sleeping the whole way through. I don't know if I was asleep during my 10:00pm nap but I didn't have full consciousness during it so I guess that is improving too. I've also increased my nap time to 24 minutes up from 20 minutes to allow extra time to fall asleep.
So still all I need is those naps and I have finished adapting. I just have to get them sorted out before I oversleep but with the way things are going I don't think oversleeping is a problem. Since I'm usually awake it might take me some days from now before naps become like they should be. That's the only problem with a long core sleep, it's hard to nap and takes longer to adjust. At least it is relatively risk free and harder to oversleep.
I'll admit that last night I was feeling a bit annoyed when I wrote my update so it was short and more negative than last ones but at the time it was how I felt. Now I feel more confident that I've gone further with the adaption even if I am going slowly so I am no longer going downhill.
So I went to bed at 3:00am like usual, and quickly fell asleep within a minute most likely. At 3:38am the cat woke up me so I could take him outside or bring him inside I don't remember but it's not important. That actually helped me because at that time I realised I just awoke from a long dream that felt really clear and memorable. Of course, I've forgotten now but that always seems to happen with dreams. The reason that is important is because I was only 38 minutes in to sleeping. Usually dreams like that only happen deeper in to the 90 minute sleep cycle so that means I am going through sleep cycles quicker in my core sleep. This probably means in my 4.5 hour sleep I have 4 cycles instead of the usual 3, but that's just an observation from what happened I don't know if it is exactly true.
After I woke up from my core sleep I was not quite as tired as previous days and I felt I was functioning pretty normal. Maybe my core sleep is getting better or I was just lucky today. I had my nap at 3:00pm without much issue and that went better than it has before even though I am still not exactly sleeping the whole way through. I don't know if I was asleep during my 10:00pm nap but I didn't have full consciousness during it so I guess that is improving too. I've also increased my nap time to 24 minutes up from 20 minutes to allow extra time to fall asleep.
So still all I need is those naps and I have finished adapting. I just have to get them sorted out before I oversleep but with the way things are going I don't think oversleeping is a problem. Since I'm usually awake it might take me some days from now before naps become like they should be. That's the only problem with a long core sleep, it's hard to nap and takes longer to adjust. At least it is relatively risk free and harder to oversleep.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Polyphasic Sleep - Day 8
Not too much to report but the first nap was still in and out of light sleeping. That annoys me because 8 days of depriving myself of sleep surely I can take a nap now but no. I'm tired in the morning and I am wide awake in the afternoon and early night so I just lie there trying to go to sleep but nothing happens.
I am going to nap back on the floor again because my last nap today was strange. I was up at about 11:20pm using the computer and the only thing I remember before that is lying on my bed trying to go to sleep at about 10:20pm. So I don't know if I overslept half an hour or if I was just very confused for that long.
Napping slightly too long is not really a big deal I just have to make sure I don't do it again or I might wake up at 10:00am the next morning not half an hour late. I don't have a lot more to say right now and I've just become super tired conveniently after sleeping not before it.
I am going to nap back on the floor again because my last nap today was strange. I was up at about 11:20pm using the computer and the only thing I remember before that is lying on my bed trying to go to sleep at about 10:20pm. So I don't know if I overslept half an hour or if I was just very confused for that long.
Napping slightly too long is not really a big deal I just have to make sure I don't do it again or I might wake up at 10:00am the next morning not half an hour late. I don't have a lot more to say right now and I've just become super tired conveniently after sleeping not before it.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Polyphasic Sleep - Day 7
I haven't yet made a major break through with what I think is the final part of the adaption. Today was not very different from yesterday but I feel I have slightly progressed.
From 1:00am to 3:00am was somewhat hard but I still made it all the way without falling asleep, though I came close. I slept well with no distractions for once but when I woke up I almost went back to sleep. Lucky I had set my computer to start playing music 10 minutes after my primary alarm went off so I didn't manage to get back to sleep. This morning was still tired and sleep deprived for me but I eventually cured it and I have been fine ever since. I don't know how I am still going fine because my naps have not been solid sleep yet. I really don't see how I've gone a week on just 4 and a half hours sleep at night without napping properly.
My 3:00pm nap went okay. I think I dropped in and out of sleep but I woke up refreshed and well. In a few days that should be fine and I might even hit deep sleep. I'm just worried about my 10:00pm nap. I am considering changing it to 11:00pm if I don't feel tired at 10:00pm. With wooden floors upstairs it can be annoying trying to get to sleep with people walking around so it might be better to wait until they've gone to bed. I unsuccessfully had a nap at 10:00pm and tried again at 11:00pm. Neither worked and I don't see why not. I might try again at midnight.
Other than not being able to nap properly still I think I've come along way and I see no reason to stop any time soon. Also today I felt a little bit stronger than yesterday. If I hold my arm in the air and move my hand around at the wrist then it quickly becomes tired. Yesterday I quickly became exhausted doing this but today I've been able to go slightly longer.
I am also not sure if the floor is better than on my bed. I have been napping on my bed but I don't think the difference is really that significant. I can quite easily get up so sleeping on my bed is no problem now but I do not know how it affects my ability to sleep.
Well one week in without any oversleeping and I am still not adapted, but I kind of knew this would be slow because I only nap twice. Napping 6 times with no core sleep would have been a fast adaption but a painful one. I should be adapted within a week I hope.
From 1:00am to 3:00am was somewhat hard but I still made it all the way without falling asleep, though I came close. I slept well with no distractions for once but when I woke up I almost went back to sleep. Lucky I had set my computer to start playing music 10 minutes after my primary alarm went off so I didn't manage to get back to sleep. This morning was still tired and sleep deprived for me but I eventually cured it and I have been fine ever since. I don't know how I am still going fine because my naps have not been solid sleep yet. I really don't see how I've gone a week on just 4 and a half hours sleep at night without napping properly.
My 3:00pm nap went okay. I think I dropped in and out of sleep but I woke up refreshed and well. In a few days that should be fine and I might even hit deep sleep. I'm just worried about my 10:00pm nap. I am considering changing it to 11:00pm if I don't feel tired at 10:00pm. With wooden floors upstairs it can be annoying trying to get to sleep with people walking around so it might be better to wait until they've gone to bed. I unsuccessfully had a nap at 10:00pm and tried again at 11:00pm. Neither worked and I don't see why not. I might try again at midnight.
Other than not being able to nap properly still I think I've come along way and I see no reason to stop any time soon. Also today I felt a little bit stronger than yesterday. If I hold my arm in the air and move my hand around at the wrist then it quickly becomes tired. Yesterday I quickly became exhausted doing this but today I've been able to go slightly longer.
I am also not sure if the floor is better than on my bed. I have been napping on my bed but I don't think the difference is really that significant. I can quite easily get up so sleeping on my bed is no problem now but I do not know how it affects my ability to sleep.
Well one week in without any oversleeping and I am still not adapted, but I kind of knew this would be slow because I only nap twice. Napping 6 times with no core sleep would have been a fast adaption but a painful one. I should be adapted within a week I hope.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Polyphasic Sleep - Day 6
Today left me unsure about where I am up to. I am still quite confident that I am fairly adapted and will be in a few days, but today I was at no risk of falling asleep. I still didn't feel particularly strong and I was a little exhausted but for the most part not very tired. I actually had difficulty napping at 10:00pm and just laid there until the alarm went off. Nothing has gone wrong though, because I've still been lying down or sleeping when I am supposed to and awake when I am supposed to I just don't find it particularly easy to nap sometimes.
I thought today I must have been nearly adapted because of how awake I was but I don't think so now because I couldn't nap. Unless of course I just happened to be energetic when I was meant to nap. Still like I said nothing is going wrong and I was up at 7:30am just fine I am only finding it a little difficult to nap. I think over the next few days this will sort itself out but no way will I be adapted until I am asleep during naps. I just don't really understand why I was not falling asleep today and I was yesterday.
Things could get worse from here because I doubt my naps are giving me deep enough sleep to substitute proper sleep cycles. That's all I really need now, proper naps. As a soon as I get naps perfected, hopefully in the next day or two, I'll be finishing the adaption phase and I won't feel so weak.
Other than that before I slept at 3:00am I was quite awake and energetic probably because I was excited that it is actually coming together but now tonight I am not quite as energetic. This also supports that I have a few days to go on the adaption because I probably won't be super awake tomorrow. I'll see how I go but for now I am convinced I have more chance of success than failure.
I thought today I must have been nearly adapted because of how awake I was but I don't think so now because I couldn't nap. Unless of course I just happened to be energetic when I was meant to nap. Still like I said nothing is going wrong and I was up at 7:30am just fine I am only finding it a little difficult to nap. I think over the next few days this will sort itself out but no way will I be adapted until I am asleep during naps. I just don't really understand why I was not falling asleep today and I was yesterday.
Things could get worse from here because I doubt my naps are giving me deep enough sleep to substitute proper sleep cycles. That's all I really need now, proper naps. As a soon as I get naps perfected, hopefully in the next day or two, I'll be finishing the adaption phase and I won't feel so weak.
Other than that before I slept at 3:00am I was quite awake and energetic probably because I was excited that it is actually coming together but now tonight I am not quite as energetic. This also supports that I have a few days to go on the adaption because I probably won't be super awake tomorrow. I'll see how I go but for now I am convinced I have more chance of success than failure.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Polyphasic Sleep - Day 5
I am surprised that I have managed to get so far without failing yet. Today was challenging in the morning but now at the end of the day I am fine and have made it through.
I actually left the house this morning to go shopping for a little while and being out kept me awake and although I have been getting little sleep I felt quite conscious and aware of my surroundings and I didn't have to keep refocusing on what I was doing. By the time I got home I was quite awake and not at risk of falling asleep.
Before that, the 12:00am to 3:00am section was probably the most difficult. I got to about 1:00am fine but then sleep deprivation started hitting me hard but I exercised patience, listened to music and walked around my room until it was time to go to bed. I actually decided I would sleep on my bed to see how it affected the quality of my sleep. I still slept with no sheets on and I think sleeping on my bed was not a bad idea. It doesn't really matter either way if I sleep on my bed or the floor, but for my core sleep I think I'll stick to the bed. For my naps I'll stick to the floor.
To make sure I get up properly now that I am getting deep in to the adaption phase I downloaded an alarm clock program on my computer and set it to play a song at 7:40am in case I forget to wake up when my alarm clock goes off. This morning I used it but I turned it off before it went off. It gives me that extra security so I will continue to use it. I do not think I need to use it for my naps because it is not difficult to wake up after 20 minutes from a light sleep and when the naps get more deep I'll be adapted anyway, so I will get up easily.
It is still difficult to tell if I was properly asleep during my naps today but I feel that I was or as close as it is going to get until the adaption happens fully. Naps have been very restoring at least for a few hours(so I am still awake from my 10:00pm nap) and a lot better compared to last time I tried polyphasic sleep.
I think I've almost hit the point with the most sleep deprivation for this type of schedule but I am definitely not out of it yet. Tomorrow should be worse but it might start to get better after that. I expect that the quality of naps will improve so although I might be more tired in general after naps I should start feeling great. Then after a few more days I should feel great all the time. It's good to feel that I already have a decent amount of the day that I spend fairly awake. I've been able to sit down and do things most of the day without running too great of a risk of falling asleep. It's only in the morning and for a small part early in the afternoon that I was actually tired beyond normal.
It would be terrible if I overslept tomorrow and it put me back a few days, but I don't think that will happen because I am confident and have come so many days and I have so much motivation to get this done properly. While I don't have a lot of support behind what I am doing I have been telling people how far I've come and what it is. I think it helps to tell other people because they can show support or you might not feel alone knowing that other people know what you are doing.
Sleeping 4 and a half hours at 3:00am then 20 minutes at 3:00pm and 10:00pm seems to work fine for me but I guess that I am not quite used to only sleeping 4.5 hours in the morning so that is why I am still fairly tired after waking up. By the time I adapt I expect that the morning will be one of the best parts of the day. That's easy to work out because I'd have slept for 4.5 hours instead of 20 minutes the other two sessions have but polyphasic sleep is weird enough so I could be completely wrong.
For now I am excited to see where this goes and if I'll make it through(I should) but let's see if my 7:30am self agrees with my 11:30pm self. ;)
I actually left the house this morning to go shopping for a little while and being out kept me awake and although I have been getting little sleep I felt quite conscious and aware of my surroundings and I didn't have to keep refocusing on what I was doing. By the time I got home I was quite awake and not at risk of falling asleep.
Before that, the 12:00am to 3:00am section was probably the most difficult. I got to about 1:00am fine but then sleep deprivation started hitting me hard but I exercised patience, listened to music and walked around my room until it was time to go to bed. I actually decided I would sleep on my bed to see how it affected the quality of my sleep. I still slept with no sheets on and I think sleeping on my bed was not a bad idea. It doesn't really matter either way if I sleep on my bed or the floor, but for my core sleep I think I'll stick to the bed. For my naps I'll stick to the floor.
To make sure I get up properly now that I am getting deep in to the adaption phase I downloaded an alarm clock program on my computer and set it to play a song at 7:40am in case I forget to wake up when my alarm clock goes off. This morning I used it but I turned it off before it went off. It gives me that extra security so I will continue to use it. I do not think I need to use it for my naps because it is not difficult to wake up after 20 minutes from a light sleep and when the naps get more deep I'll be adapted anyway, so I will get up easily.
It is still difficult to tell if I was properly asleep during my naps today but I feel that I was or as close as it is going to get until the adaption happens fully. Naps have been very restoring at least for a few hours(so I am still awake from my 10:00pm nap) and a lot better compared to last time I tried polyphasic sleep.
I think I've almost hit the point with the most sleep deprivation for this type of schedule but I am definitely not out of it yet. Tomorrow should be worse but it might start to get better after that. I expect that the quality of naps will improve so although I might be more tired in general after naps I should start feeling great. Then after a few more days I should feel great all the time. It's good to feel that I already have a decent amount of the day that I spend fairly awake. I've been able to sit down and do things most of the day without running too great of a risk of falling asleep. It's only in the morning and for a small part early in the afternoon that I was actually tired beyond normal.
It would be terrible if I overslept tomorrow and it put me back a few days, but I don't think that will happen because I am confident and have come so many days and I have so much motivation to get this done properly. While I don't have a lot of support behind what I am doing I have been telling people how far I've come and what it is. I think it helps to tell other people because they can show support or you might not feel alone knowing that other people know what you are doing.
Sleeping 4 and a half hours at 3:00am then 20 minutes at 3:00pm and 10:00pm seems to work fine for me but I guess that I am not quite used to only sleeping 4.5 hours in the morning so that is why I am still fairly tired after waking up. By the time I adapt I expect that the morning will be one of the best parts of the day. That's easy to work out because I'd have slept for 4.5 hours instead of 20 minutes the other two sessions have but polyphasic sleep is weird enough so I could be completely wrong.
For now I am excited to see where this goes and if I'll make it through(I should) but let's see if my 7:30am self agrees with my 11:30pm self. ;)
Monday, December 14, 2009
Polyphasic Sleep - Day 4
Another day successfully completed. It is kind of relieving getting to the end of the day without failing. Today has been the most sleep deprived day so far. It wasn't that bad but some parts particularly early in the morning I was more tired than usual like I could not watch Lord of the Rings without becoming excessively drowsy. This could be because I did not sleep undisturbed this morning. I just have to hope the cat doesn't want to come inside or something else wakes me up but even so, it's not that big of a deal because sleep is easily resumed.
I still woke up at 7:30 without having too much of an issue but I have realised I have to get more serious if I want to make it through the next few days. Tonight before I go to bed I am going to take my mattress off my bed and stand it up next to the wall. This will mean if I am very tired and not very conscious and I make a stupid decision to lie down I will need to set up the mattress which should remind me of what I am doing. It is unlikely I'd over sleep on the floor but I can imagine now waking up mid afternoon in my bed with no memory of what happened. I just need to make sure that won't happen.
Napping went fine and although I was not exactly sleeping yet even today, I still woke up. I still lie down, lose awareness, and then at some point either with the alarm going off or a few minutes earlier I'll pull myself out of it. This has left me confused with how far I have adapted so far. Naps feel like they go for a long time but I don't feel asleep and they still feel restoring to some level. I could be quite adapted or I could just be slightly sleep deprived. I still think I am making good progress but the worst is yet to come.
I still woke up at 7:30 without having too much of an issue but I have realised I have to get more serious if I want to make it through the next few days. Tonight before I go to bed I am going to take my mattress off my bed and stand it up next to the wall. This will mean if I am very tired and not very conscious and I make a stupid decision to lie down I will need to set up the mattress which should remind me of what I am doing. It is unlikely I'd over sleep on the floor but I can imagine now waking up mid afternoon in my bed with no memory of what happened. I just need to make sure that won't happen.
Napping went fine and although I was not exactly sleeping yet even today, I still woke up. I still lie down, lose awareness, and then at some point either with the alarm going off or a few minutes earlier I'll pull myself out of it. This has left me confused with how far I have adapted so far. Naps feel like they go for a long time but I don't feel asleep and they still feel restoring to some level. I could be quite adapted or I could just be slightly sleep deprived. I still think I am making good progress but the worst is yet to come.
Polyphasic Sleep - Day 3
Today was a good day. I woke up in my warm comfortable bed at the blissful sound of my alarm clock as I got up to start the day. That's weird, because I went to sleep on the floor and somehow I woke up in my bed with the covers on. It does not really matter because I still got up fine and have only been slightly more tired than day 2.
The naps went down fine and it is easy for me to get comfortable now though I still haven't properly slept, only very lightly, and the first nap felt like an hour long. I notice after I get up from a nap I have this slightly sweet taste in my mouth like what you'd feel an hour after eating a packet of candy. Just some leftover taste maybe it is because I have been eating a lot of fruit.
I have also been eating more food than normal. Normally, shortly before bed I'd usually just eat something small but now I eat several things and then a banana again later after that. It's really an additional meal each day to make up for the extra time spent awake.
I have just been watching movies all day to keep myself occupied and it is quite effective particularly between the 12:00am to 3:00am section. Compared to the last times I tried polyphasic sleep I am not yet experiencing the same sleep deprivation so it is definitely going to get deeper and more intense until it gets better. The only thing that would make me fail is if I sleep in, so I have to do my best to prevent that from happening and I should make it through. I would be very annoyed if I woke up in my bed 12 hours late with little memory of what went wrong, but that can happen and does happen to people.
If I were to make a guess right now, I'd say day 7 will be the worst, and I should be adapted by day 12. I could be totally wrong, because it might take longer to adapt than that because of my long core sleep and because I only have 2 naps. I suppose I'll find out when it happens. I'd also like to say that right now I am pretty confident that I will make it through the adaption but we will find out soon.
The naps went down fine and it is easy for me to get comfortable now though I still haven't properly slept, only very lightly, and the first nap felt like an hour long. I notice after I get up from a nap I have this slightly sweet taste in my mouth like what you'd feel an hour after eating a packet of candy. Just some leftover taste maybe it is because I have been eating a lot of fruit.
I have also been eating more food than normal. Normally, shortly before bed I'd usually just eat something small but now I eat several things and then a banana again later after that. It's really an additional meal each day to make up for the extra time spent awake.
I have just been watching movies all day to keep myself occupied and it is quite effective particularly between the 12:00am to 3:00am section. Compared to the last times I tried polyphasic sleep I am not yet experiencing the same sleep deprivation so it is definitely going to get deeper and more intense until it gets better. The only thing that would make me fail is if I sleep in, so I have to do my best to prevent that from happening and I should make it through. I would be very annoyed if I woke up in my bed 12 hours late with little memory of what went wrong, but that can happen and does happen to people.
If I were to make a guess right now, I'd say day 7 will be the worst, and I should be adapted by day 12. I could be totally wrong, because it might take longer to adapt than that because of my long core sleep and because I only have 2 naps. I suppose I'll find out when it happens. I'd also like to say that right now I am pretty confident that I will make it through the adaption but we will find out soon.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Polyphasic Sleep - Day 2
I expected today that I would be more tired than yesterday, but for the most part this is has been a repeat of yesterday. I went to sleep at 3:00am and woke up before my alarm went off and turned it off. I don't know how I've managed to do that, but if I naturally only need less than 4 and a half hours of sleep, so be it. I doubt that though, it was probably just coincidence.
Well one thing that changed today was I had my naps later. There was almost an even gap between each block of sleep and I felt that was not necessarily the best option. That would be the best option if I was just napping without any core sleep, but it makes sense that after 4 and a half hours I'd be able to go the longest without napping. So I changed my nap times from 2:00pm to 3:00pm and 9:00pm to 10:00pm, but I don't mind starting 15 minutes early. I'd also rather sleep at the new times than the old ones. I guess if I manage to adapt I'll work out for sure what is best or if it even matters.
I did not sleep on either nap but I did lose physical perception. Eventually I forget that I am lying there and all my focus is on my thoughts, like I am dreaming but still awake. All it takes is a sudden noise to pull me out of this state. It's kind of like half asleep, half daydreaming, relaxed state. I expect tomorrow I will actually be asleep during my naps.
I actually had to walk around my room to keep myself awake from about 2:20am to 2:55am. My bed was calling me but I was ignoring it, and I ended up sleeping on the floor. I am finding it much easier to get comfortable while on the floor and I've read sleeping without the support of a mattress is good for your back. I'll look in to sleeping on the floor more often.
It will be interesting when I get deeper in to this. At the moment I am confident that I am in a position to get through with it and successfully adapt, but one failure will send me back and possibly reset me if I sleep in too long. I don't have anyone to come get me up if I don't manage to myself, so it's important for me to be able to wake up properly after each time I sleep. I am really only worried about after I sleep 4.5 hours, but so far no issues. More details will come when more major things happen.
Well one thing that changed today was I had my naps later. There was almost an even gap between each block of sleep and I felt that was not necessarily the best option. That would be the best option if I was just napping without any core sleep, but it makes sense that after 4 and a half hours I'd be able to go the longest without napping. So I changed my nap times from 2:00pm to 3:00pm and 9:00pm to 10:00pm, but I don't mind starting 15 minutes early. I'd also rather sleep at the new times than the old ones. I guess if I manage to adapt I'll work out for sure what is best or if it even matters.
I did not sleep on either nap but I did lose physical perception. Eventually I forget that I am lying there and all my focus is on my thoughts, like I am dreaming but still awake. All it takes is a sudden noise to pull me out of this state. It's kind of like half asleep, half daydreaming, relaxed state. I expect tomorrow I will actually be asleep during my naps.
I actually had to walk around my room to keep myself awake from about 2:20am to 2:55am. My bed was calling me but I was ignoring it, and I ended up sleeping on the floor. I am finding it much easier to get comfortable while on the floor and I've read sleeping without the support of a mattress is good for your back. I'll look in to sleeping on the floor more often.
It will be interesting when I get deeper in to this. At the moment I am confident that I am in a position to get through with it and successfully adapt, but one failure will send me back and possibly reset me if I sleep in too long. I don't have anyone to come get me up if I don't manage to myself, so it's important for me to be able to wake up properly after each time I sleep. I am really only worried about after I sleep 4.5 hours, but so far no issues. More details will come when more major things happen.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Polyphasic Sleep - Day 0 and 1
So far I've completed day 0 and 1 of my polyphasic sleep schedule detailed in my last post. I'll talk about what happened yesterday first.
Day 0
Day 0, yesterday, is probably going to be the second easiest day of the adaption. I didn't even sleep polyphasically which is why I called it day 0. It was a preparation day, all I did was practice napping at 2:00pm and 9:00pm to get the feel of having down time at those times. I still had my full regular sleep in the morning and the naps were merely spent lying there. It was quite simple and nothing significant to report there.
Day 1
Today was when I actually started, because I only slept 4 and a half hours this morning. I still did not get to sleep during the naps, but I was much closer than yesterday. The reason I said Day 0 is going to be the second easiest day is because today I was awake all day without being tired. Usually when I sleep regularly I have tired spots during the day but I guess 4.5 hours of undisturbed sleep left me feeling more awake than 9 hours of disturbed sleep.
So this morning(you could say last night, but technically it was today) I stayed up until 3:00am and went to bed for 4 and a half hours. I was going to sleep on the floor but I ended up on my bed. I did not sleep in my bed, just on it. I am not going to sleep under covers at all during this adaption phase. It is likely that would make me too comfortable and cause me to sleep in.
Now all I have to do is stay awake until 3:00am tomorrow morning (it is slightly past 10:30pm now), and repeat what I did today. Each day should get more challenging and sleep depriving until It starts going back to normal. I don't think this schedule gets to the point where I have to stand up and walk around to stay awake, like more difficult ones get, but I am still not going to take it lightly. I think the adaption phase should be pretty much over in 2 weeks so if I make it to then, I should successfully have adapted to polyphasic sleep.
Other than that, there is little I can go in to detail about today. When things start to get interesting I'll be able to post longer and more elaborately but for now, this is all.
Day 0
Day 0, yesterday, is probably going to be the second easiest day of the adaption. I didn't even sleep polyphasically which is why I called it day 0. It was a preparation day, all I did was practice napping at 2:00pm and 9:00pm to get the feel of having down time at those times. I still had my full regular sleep in the morning and the naps were merely spent lying there. It was quite simple and nothing significant to report there.
Day 1
Today was when I actually started, because I only slept 4 and a half hours this morning. I still did not get to sleep during the naps, but I was much closer than yesterday. The reason I said Day 0 is going to be the second easiest day is because today I was awake all day without being tired. Usually when I sleep regularly I have tired spots during the day but I guess 4.5 hours of undisturbed sleep left me feeling more awake than 9 hours of disturbed sleep.
So this morning(you could say last night, but technically it was today) I stayed up until 3:00am and went to bed for 4 and a half hours. I was going to sleep on the floor but I ended up on my bed. I did not sleep in my bed, just on it. I am not going to sleep under covers at all during this adaption phase. It is likely that would make me too comfortable and cause me to sleep in.
Now all I have to do is stay awake until 3:00am tomorrow morning (it is slightly past 10:30pm now), and repeat what I did today. Each day should get more challenging and sleep depriving until It starts going back to normal. I don't think this schedule gets to the point where I have to stand up and walk around to stay awake, like more difficult ones get, but I am still not going to take it lightly. I think the adaption phase should be pretty much over in 2 weeks so if I make it to then, I should successfully have adapted to polyphasic sleep.
Other than that, there is little I can go in to detail about today. When things start to get interesting I'll be able to post longer and more elaborately but for now, this is all.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Polyphasic Sleep
Recently I have been considering switching over to a polyphasic sleep schedule. Polyphasic sleep simply means to sleep more than once a day. That alone sounds pointless but the result is greatly reduced sleep time, the minimum being 2 hours daily sleep. This is done by shortening 90 minute sleep phases in to 20 minute naps, so you can get the full effect of a 90 minute sleep in just 20 minutes. It's not exactly clear as how this works, but I'd imagine it's because we are ineffective sleepers naturally. This could be because naturally humans wouldn't want to be up all night so sleeping passes time and if we didn't need to pass time, our sleep phases would only take 20 minutes. I don't think anyone really knows why polyphasic sleep works.
There are only a few schedules that have worked before. The most hardcore one is known as uberman sleep. This schedule involves a 20 minute nap every 4 hours. I have attempted to transition to this before but I was younger and not nearly as healthy as I am now. I will not be attempting this schedule this time, but I want to do it again in the future.
There are methods of polyphasic sleep that are generally easier to adapt to. Everyman sleep schedule is usually a 3 hour sleep at night with 3 20 minute naps during the day. I have also tried this at around the same time I tried uberman, so again, not healthy and too young, but I found the core 3 hour sleep the hardest to do properly. It sounds much easier but both methods are very difficult and most people fail, so if you try them, I recommend first becoming extremely healthy and mastering monophasic sleep, if you want a good chance at adapting.
There is another version of Everyman sleep, which is even easier and less rewarding. It will still take 2-4 hours of sleep less each day than regular monophasic sleep would require. This method works by a 4.5 hours core sleep at night with 2 naps of 20 minutes length each. This method gives the most versatility and length between naps while sacrificing more night time than other methods. This is the method I wish to try to adapt to this time.
There is also a thing called biphasic sleep. Some include it as a polyphasic sleep schedule but as poly means many and I don't consider 2 as many, I believe it is best to just call it biphasic sleep, and leave polyphasic to triphasic and more. I do not want to adapt to biphasic sleep as I don't currently feel that it is worth the time to adapt and the lost time early in the night doesn't really justify the gained time late at night. It just doesn't fit in unless you want to go to bed at 9:00pm or before. I'd rather go to bed at 3:00am.
So I came up with a schedule to try which will give me just 5 hours and 10 minutes of sleep a day. This is the schedule I want to follow:
3:00am - 7:30am
2:00pm - 2:20pm
9:00pm - 9:20pm
This should give me a total of 18 hours and 50 minutes of waking time each day. Currently I get 15-17 hours. I don't know when I will start to adapt, but it should be very soon. At the moment I am still in the planning part.
What I learnt last time
Last time I tried polyphasic sleep was about 1 year ago. Although I was certainly not deficient in nutrients I had little concept of health and did not give it much energy. There is a theory that only vegetarians can adapt to polyphasic sleep but that is only because, to make a generalisation, vegetarians are healthier. I don't necessarily agree with only vegetarians can adapt, but I am one now and wasn't last time. Still, it was definitely worthwhile trying because I learnt why I failed and how to change it next time. This time I have a far greater chance of success for several reasons including health.
My computer is now in my room so I won't have to go very far to occupy myself. Not that I am too lazy to go to a different room, it's just if you have tried polyphasic sleep before you know how difficult it can get, and having something to do helps a lot.
I am taking an easier method. It gets difficult waiting all night when tired. It's fine once you adapt if you ever get there, but if you only sleep 2 hours a day it is very difficult. This time I will only have to keep myself busy until 3:00am, and sleeping 4 and a half hours should get me through the day while adapting.
Last time I didn't eat or drink at all during the night. That could have been a big contribution to why I failed because if I remember back to the times I was most tired, eating a piece of fruit would have kept me going. I will make sure I have a banana and a glass of water to help me make it through.
I won't go on about anymore details as this has been a long post, but in general I know what to do this time and have learnt from my failures previously. I have just shared the main points. If I come across ways to help the adaption I will post them in the daily log I'll keep. The daily updates will be available when I started adapting soon. Maybe if I make it through I'll be able to share all my tips and tricks for getting through.
Anyway, I did most of the planning for it while writing this post, so I know what I am doing now. Take a look at future posts for my updates and if I make it or not.
There are only a few schedules that have worked before. The most hardcore one is known as uberman sleep. This schedule involves a 20 minute nap every 4 hours. I have attempted to transition to this before but I was younger and not nearly as healthy as I am now. I will not be attempting this schedule this time, but I want to do it again in the future.
There are methods of polyphasic sleep that are generally easier to adapt to. Everyman sleep schedule is usually a 3 hour sleep at night with 3 20 minute naps during the day. I have also tried this at around the same time I tried uberman, so again, not healthy and too young, but I found the core 3 hour sleep the hardest to do properly. It sounds much easier but both methods are very difficult and most people fail, so if you try them, I recommend first becoming extremely healthy and mastering monophasic sleep, if you want a good chance at adapting.
There is another version of Everyman sleep, which is even easier and less rewarding. It will still take 2-4 hours of sleep less each day than regular monophasic sleep would require. This method works by a 4.5 hours core sleep at night with 2 naps of 20 minutes length each. This method gives the most versatility and length between naps while sacrificing more night time than other methods. This is the method I wish to try to adapt to this time.
There is also a thing called biphasic sleep. Some include it as a polyphasic sleep schedule but as poly means many and I don't consider 2 as many, I believe it is best to just call it biphasic sleep, and leave polyphasic to triphasic and more. I do not want to adapt to biphasic sleep as I don't currently feel that it is worth the time to adapt and the lost time early in the night doesn't really justify the gained time late at night. It just doesn't fit in unless you want to go to bed at 9:00pm or before. I'd rather go to bed at 3:00am.
So I came up with a schedule to try which will give me just 5 hours and 10 minutes of sleep a day. This is the schedule I want to follow:
3:00am - 7:30am
2:00pm - 2:20pm
9:00pm - 9:20pm
This should give me a total of 18 hours and 50 minutes of waking time each day. Currently I get 15-17 hours. I don't know when I will start to adapt, but it should be very soon. At the moment I am still in the planning part.
What I learnt last time
Last time I tried polyphasic sleep was about 1 year ago. Although I was certainly not deficient in nutrients I had little concept of health and did not give it much energy. There is a theory that only vegetarians can adapt to polyphasic sleep but that is only because, to make a generalisation, vegetarians are healthier. I don't necessarily agree with only vegetarians can adapt, but I am one now and wasn't last time. Still, it was definitely worthwhile trying because I learnt why I failed and how to change it next time. This time I have a far greater chance of success for several reasons including health.
My computer is now in my room so I won't have to go very far to occupy myself. Not that I am too lazy to go to a different room, it's just if you have tried polyphasic sleep before you know how difficult it can get, and having something to do helps a lot.
I am taking an easier method. It gets difficult waiting all night when tired. It's fine once you adapt if you ever get there, but if you only sleep 2 hours a day it is very difficult. This time I will only have to keep myself busy until 3:00am, and sleeping 4 and a half hours should get me through the day while adapting.
Last time I didn't eat or drink at all during the night. That could have been a big contribution to why I failed because if I remember back to the times I was most tired, eating a piece of fruit would have kept me going. I will make sure I have a banana and a glass of water to help me make it through.
I won't go on about anymore details as this has been a long post, but in general I know what to do this time and have learnt from my failures previously. I have just shared the main points. If I come across ways to help the adaption I will post them in the daily log I'll keep. The daily updates will be available when I started adapting soon. Maybe if I make it through I'll be able to share all my tips and tricks for getting through.
Anyway, I did most of the planning for it while writing this post, so I know what I am doing now. Take a look at future posts for my updates and if I make it or not.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
How to Eat Healthier
Over the last year I have focused a lot of energy on learning about health topics particularly in the way of food. Consequently I have transitioned to a much healthier vegetarian diet. Sometimes it can be difficult to eat a diet that most people do not due to social pressures particularly if you are trying to go vegan in a family of meat eaters. But once you get through, it becomes normal and it is no longer a hassle. Transitioning can be difficult so I will share my tips and advice to those of you considering going healthy.
Focus on eating healthy not on not eating unhealthy
Why focus on the negative when you can focus on the positive? If you fill up on bananas you aren't going to want to eat any chocolate cake. Once you increase your healthy food intake, your unhealthy food intake will go down. You are simply replacing the foods you eat with healthier foods. If you were to focus on what is unhealthy you may get stuck on what to do. Which one sounds better?
"I have healthy replacements now so I don't need to eat chocolate bars anymore."
or
"I don't eat chocolate bars anymore so I have to find a replacement."
If you do not know exactly what to do, take it slowly
If you are just starting out eating healthier you probably aren't sure of exactly what you are going to eat all the time, particularly if you are going vegan or vegetarian. The best way to do this is to just start preparing meals that fit in with your new diet. For example, if you eat fried chicken for dinner, try replacing it with a meal of vegetables and beans. You do not have to do this every night just yet if you are taking a gradual approach. If you make the switch overnight you can run in to cravings for foods you aren't supposed to be eating anymore. It is easier to do it over time and take it slowly. It is not impossible to transition overnight so if you are feeling strong go for it.
Dealing with social pressure
It is very likely you will run in to social pressure when you attempt to change to a diet that does not include things that most people eat, such as meat, dairy, or even things like processed grains. If you are a vegetarian, people will start arguments with you to tell you things such as that you lack protein. Of course, most vegetarians know that these statements aren't true, but those who tell you so don't.
Try not to get annoyed about it and argue with them because that will only polarise them further and reduce from the quality of your relationship. The best way is to lead them by example. Don't tell other people that you are so healthy and they should eat this and should not eat this unless they are on that level. If they see that you always look very healthy and they see what you eat, they are more likely to understand your reasoning than if you argue with them. This will also keep a nicer relationship.
You can also make friends with people who have similar interests and with people who are open minded. Expanding your relationships with more people who share your beliefs about health will open up more opportunities for you and will create more positive relationships.
What If I am trying to go vegan/vegetarian/healthy in general but my family/the people I live with are meat eaters/cheese lovers/hate me?
Remember to not impose your will upon others. This will cause arguments and reduce from your relationship. Respect what they think and don't try to convince them otherwise by arguing with them. Instead, lead them by example and let them choose for themselves what to eat. Similarly, do not let them choose what you eat and do not let them impose their will on you.
You will also have to take a gradual approach if you are in a position where the people you live with are involved and they are not open minded and accepting, or willing to experiment with their diet with you. You can get people you live with to trial new foods with you but it is unlikely they will change their diet. It is common for a vegetarian to be living in a family of meat eaters.
It can be difficult to change in that situation but after you make gradual changes it sinks in. Organise the best way for you to eat what you want while they are still eating what they want. Maybe you can cook vegetables for lunch and just eat raw fruit at night so they can use the kitchen without having to worry about you needing to cook at the same time.
Research
Research foods you want to try to eat. There is a lot of information on the Internet such as lists of healthy food which can help you make informed decisions and increase your knowledge on the subject. I intend on sharing more specifics about what food to eat in the future as this article was more detailing how to actually apply being healthy.
Remember
Remember that it can get difficult I've said that a few times now but also remember why you are doing it. Once you become healthy you will have a wealth of knowledge that you can share with other people and you will also have the benefits of the food you eat, such as reduced need for sleep, more energy, longer life, clearer skin and so on.
Focus on eating healthy not on not eating unhealthy
Why focus on the negative when you can focus on the positive? If you fill up on bananas you aren't going to want to eat any chocolate cake. Once you increase your healthy food intake, your unhealthy food intake will go down. You are simply replacing the foods you eat with healthier foods. If you were to focus on what is unhealthy you may get stuck on what to do. Which one sounds better?
"I have healthy replacements now so I don't need to eat chocolate bars anymore."
or
"I don't eat chocolate bars anymore so I have to find a replacement."
If you do not know exactly what to do, take it slowly
If you are just starting out eating healthier you probably aren't sure of exactly what you are going to eat all the time, particularly if you are going vegan or vegetarian. The best way to do this is to just start preparing meals that fit in with your new diet. For example, if you eat fried chicken for dinner, try replacing it with a meal of vegetables and beans. You do not have to do this every night just yet if you are taking a gradual approach. If you make the switch overnight you can run in to cravings for foods you aren't supposed to be eating anymore. It is easier to do it over time and take it slowly. It is not impossible to transition overnight so if you are feeling strong go for it.
Dealing with social pressure
It is very likely you will run in to social pressure when you attempt to change to a diet that does not include things that most people eat, such as meat, dairy, or even things like processed grains. If you are a vegetarian, people will start arguments with you to tell you things such as that you lack protein. Of course, most vegetarians know that these statements aren't true, but those who tell you so don't.
Try not to get annoyed about it and argue with them because that will only polarise them further and reduce from the quality of your relationship. The best way is to lead them by example. Don't tell other people that you are so healthy and they should eat this and should not eat this unless they are on that level. If they see that you always look very healthy and they see what you eat, they are more likely to understand your reasoning than if you argue with them. This will also keep a nicer relationship.
You can also make friends with people who have similar interests and with people who are open minded. Expanding your relationships with more people who share your beliefs about health will open up more opportunities for you and will create more positive relationships.
What If I am trying to go vegan/vegetarian/healthy in general but my family/the people I live with are meat eaters/cheese lovers/hate me?
Remember to not impose your will upon others. This will cause arguments and reduce from your relationship. Respect what they think and don't try to convince them otherwise by arguing with them. Instead, lead them by example and let them choose for themselves what to eat. Similarly, do not let them choose what you eat and do not let them impose their will on you.
You will also have to take a gradual approach if you are in a position where the people you live with are involved and they are not open minded and accepting, or willing to experiment with their diet with you. You can get people you live with to trial new foods with you but it is unlikely they will change their diet. It is common for a vegetarian to be living in a family of meat eaters.
It can be difficult to change in that situation but after you make gradual changes it sinks in. Organise the best way for you to eat what you want while they are still eating what they want. Maybe you can cook vegetables for lunch and just eat raw fruit at night so they can use the kitchen without having to worry about you needing to cook at the same time.
Research
Research foods you want to try to eat. There is a lot of information on the Internet such as lists of healthy food which can help you make informed decisions and increase your knowledge on the subject. I intend on sharing more specifics about what food to eat in the future as this article was more detailing how to actually apply being healthy.
Remember
Remember that it can get difficult I've said that a few times now but also remember why you are doing it. Once you become healthy you will have a wealth of knowledge that you can share with other people and you will also have the benefits of the food you eat, such as reduced need for sleep, more energy, longer life, clearer skin and so on.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Shampoo is an Unnecessary Product
While also thinking about the evolution of humans and toothpaste, I came across the idea that shampoo was unnecessary. It makes sense - commercial shampoo is a recent invention and humans did not evolve with shampoo, so why would we need it? Being adventurous, I decided I'd stop using shampoo and see if it made any difference.
The theory is, if you stop using shampoo at first the hair will become greasy from excess production of oils because shampoo washes out your natural oils and at first the scalp over compensates. This is why if you stop using shampoo, your hair becomes greasy. This is also why people think you need shampoo or your hair will go greasy permanently, because it takes about two months for the greasiness to stop, and most people won't go that long without shampooing. Shampoo affects the scalps natural oils so it takes about two months to adapt to not using it.
Conditioner is only necessary if you use shampoo. It puts artificial oils back in your hair to replace the oils you lose when you use shampoo. This masks the damage shampoo does to your hair so there appears to be no link between the two, and it makes people assume they are both necessary products to use often.
I have not put shampoo or conditioner in my hair for over half a year. Shortly after stopping my hair returned to normal and it has stayed the same. It is not at all unhealthy, it is not greasy, and it is even softer than it was when I did use commercial shampoo products. There is no reason why I would want to start using them again, and I haven't even had to explore natural alternatives to using commercial shampoo.
It all comes down to that humans did not evolve to need the chemicals that are in commercial shampoo products to keep our hair clean. We do just fine with washing with only water and the natural oils produced in our scalp keeps the hair strong and healthy.
The Benefits of Not Using Shampoo and Conditioner
Aside from being natural and letting the hair take care of itself the way it's meant to, there are other benefits too. One of those is saving money. Using shampoo and conditioner is not particularly a big expense itself but it increases the time you need to spend in the shower. This means you spend more money on water particularly hot water if you have hot showers.
If you are one of those people that have hot showers and get dried out skin, the reason is probably spending too long in the shower with the temperature too high. This is easy to do on cold days. Without the need to use shampoo or conditioner, showers are much shorter which gives the skin less time to become dry. This means you also will not have to use moisturising lotion on your face to keep it appearing healthy, and you can save time and money on that too.
Try it yourself to see if it works. You can look past this article and never try it for yourself and continue using shampoo products but you will never know if it actually works. It won't hurt in the long run to not use shampoo for a while, and when you find you don't need it anymore, you will have to worry about one less thing, and you'll save a small amount of money and time.
The theory is, if you stop using shampoo at first the hair will become greasy from excess production of oils because shampoo washes out your natural oils and at first the scalp over compensates. This is why if you stop using shampoo, your hair becomes greasy. This is also why people think you need shampoo or your hair will go greasy permanently, because it takes about two months for the greasiness to stop, and most people won't go that long without shampooing. Shampoo affects the scalps natural oils so it takes about two months to adapt to not using it.
Conditioner is only necessary if you use shampoo. It puts artificial oils back in your hair to replace the oils you lose when you use shampoo. This masks the damage shampoo does to your hair so there appears to be no link between the two, and it makes people assume they are both necessary products to use often.
I have not put shampoo or conditioner in my hair for over half a year. Shortly after stopping my hair returned to normal and it has stayed the same. It is not at all unhealthy, it is not greasy, and it is even softer than it was when I did use commercial shampoo products. There is no reason why I would want to start using them again, and I haven't even had to explore natural alternatives to using commercial shampoo.
It all comes down to that humans did not evolve to need the chemicals that are in commercial shampoo products to keep our hair clean. We do just fine with washing with only water and the natural oils produced in our scalp keeps the hair strong and healthy.
The Benefits of Not Using Shampoo and Conditioner
Aside from being natural and letting the hair take care of itself the way it's meant to, there are other benefits too. One of those is saving money. Using shampoo and conditioner is not particularly a big expense itself but it increases the time you need to spend in the shower. This means you spend more money on water particularly hot water if you have hot showers.
If you are one of those people that have hot showers and get dried out skin, the reason is probably spending too long in the shower with the temperature too high. This is easy to do on cold days. Without the need to use shampoo or conditioner, showers are much shorter which gives the skin less time to become dry. This means you also will not have to use moisturising lotion on your face to keep it appearing healthy, and you can save time and money on that too.
Try it yourself to see if it works. You can look past this article and never try it for yourself and continue using shampoo products but you will never know if it actually works. It won't hurt in the long run to not use shampoo for a while, and when you find you don't need it anymore, you will have to worry about one less thing, and you'll save a small amount of money and time.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Keeping Teeth Healthy Naturally
After stopping the use of fluoridated toothpaste, I used a non-fluoride toothpaste to replace it. The main cleaning ingredient in toothpaste is not fluoride, so it was just as effective at maintaining clean teeth. But after a while I stopped using toothpaste completely. And no, I didn't replace it with something like baking soda.
For a while I became interested in the origins of humans particularly how our diet has evolved. I realised toothpaste was a more recent invention than humans, so there was a time when humans did not use toothpaste. Did their teeth rot? Did a caveman have rotted teeth by the time he was 30, and no teeth when he was 40? Some would argue that humans did not live very long back then, so there was no reason to have teeth last past 40 years. But that does not prove that they must have become diseased and unusable. You can dig up a skull of a 300000 year old human but you can't tell if the teeth were rotten 299960 years ago.
It is also difficult to say now that not using toothpaste will cause your teeth to become unhealthy. Sure, some people do not brush their teeth and when they get older they have bad teeth. That is more likely because common modern diets are not as healthy as what a human in the wild would eat. In the wild there are no chocolate bar trees.
So, how can I keep my teeth clean?
Saliva is good for your teeth. It is better for your teeth if you are a healthy person, and if you don't eat much animal protein because animal protein causes your body to become more acidic which leeches calcium to neutralise it, which is then urinated. Eating more plant foods with calcium will mean you always have a healthy supply of calcium in your saliva. Saliva fights tooth decay and remineralises teeth and can heal small holes in your teeth. Your mouth produces saliva all the time, so it's much better than the 2 minutes you brush your teeth for.
I still brush my teeth. I just don't use toothpaste. I do this after every time I eat. This removes any build up of food and is particularly necessary if you have braces like I do. Some also suggest brushing your teeth before you eat acidic food, such as oranges, to remove bacteria before the acid from the food reaches your teeth.
A human in the wild would not have had a toothbrush to clean his or her teeth. So you are a step ahead of a human in the wild if it worries you that their teeth did decay by the time they are 40. Also remember what a human in the wild would have ate. Plenty of plant food, no dairy, and meat only when an abundance of plant food was unavaiable. Don't expect to have healthy teeth while simply just brushing without toothpaste if your diet is not healthy and free from things such as soft drink.
Do not expect perfect white teeth if you follow this method. White teeth are usually caused by bleaching from toothpaste and coffee. Teeth without bleach that are healthy should be dull white and possibly with slight yellowness to them. Bright white teeth do not mean they are healthy or any healthier than dull white teeth.
For a while I became interested in the origins of humans particularly how our diet has evolved. I realised toothpaste was a more recent invention than humans, so there was a time when humans did not use toothpaste. Did their teeth rot? Did a caveman have rotted teeth by the time he was 30, and no teeth when he was 40? Some would argue that humans did not live very long back then, so there was no reason to have teeth last past 40 years. But that does not prove that they must have become diseased and unusable. You can dig up a skull of a 300000 year old human but you can't tell if the teeth were rotten 299960 years ago.
It is also difficult to say now that not using toothpaste will cause your teeth to become unhealthy. Sure, some people do not brush their teeth and when they get older they have bad teeth. That is more likely because common modern diets are not as healthy as what a human in the wild would eat. In the wild there are no chocolate bar trees.
So, how can I keep my teeth clean?
Saliva is good for your teeth. It is better for your teeth if you are a healthy person, and if you don't eat much animal protein because animal protein causes your body to become more acidic which leeches calcium to neutralise it, which is then urinated. Eating more plant foods with calcium will mean you always have a healthy supply of calcium in your saliva. Saliva fights tooth decay and remineralises teeth and can heal small holes in your teeth. Your mouth produces saliva all the time, so it's much better than the 2 minutes you brush your teeth for.
I still brush my teeth. I just don't use toothpaste. I do this after every time I eat. This removes any build up of food and is particularly necessary if you have braces like I do. Some also suggest brushing your teeth before you eat acidic food, such as oranges, to remove bacteria before the acid from the food reaches your teeth.
A human in the wild would not have had a toothbrush to clean his or her teeth. So you are a step ahead of a human in the wild if it worries you that their teeth did decay by the time they are 40. Also remember what a human in the wild would have ate. Plenty of plant food, no dairy, and meat only when an abundance of plant food was unavaiable. Don't expect to have healthy teeth while simply just brushing without toothpaste if your diet is not healthy and free from things such as soft drink.
Do not expect perfect white teeth if you follow this method. White teeth are usually caused by bleaching from toothpaste and coffee. Teeth without bleach that are healthy should be dull white and possibly with slight yellowness to them. Bright white teeth do not mean they are healthy or any healthier than dull white teeth.
Avoid Fluoride in Toothpaste and Water
Since I've spent a lot of time researching, I've come to the conclusion that fluoride in drinking water and toothpaste is completely unnecessary.
Generally promoters of water fluoridation will tell you that fluoride is a natural substance found in the Earth's crust and that people who live in areas where the water contains higher levels of natural fluoridation have less cavities in their teeth. The fluoride which they are referring to is called calcium fluoride. The fluoride which is added to drinking water and toothpaste is most commonly sodium fluoride. Calcium fluoride is far safer for human consumption than sodium fluoride is because calcium fluoride is almost insoluble, meaning the body can't absorb it anywhere near as quickly as sodium fluoride.
There are health risks associated with using sodium fluoride. Excess fluoride can be deadly if enough is ingested at the same time. A tube of toothpaste seems to contain about 2200ppm(parts per million) sodium fluoride. It is estimated that there is enough sodium fluoride in a tube of toothpaste to kill a child, and injure even an adult. At the level of fluoride added to water, 1ppm, it would be very difficult to get a fatal dose of fluoride, and you'd have to drink so much that ingesting too much water would be a far greater concern. Short term effects from drinking fluoridated water is definitely not an issue but long term effects can occur.
Promoters of water fluoridation who are reading this would instantly start thinking, “but 1ppm sodium fluoride in drinking water isn't proven to be harmful, even long term”. Drinking fluoridated water itself would not be too likely to cause more than a minor negative effect long term, but drinking fluoridated water and using fluoridated toothpaste(the worst of the two probably being the toothpaste, unless you rinse your mouth very carefully) together would give you much higher than a safe amount of fluoride.
Given this constant usage of fluoride, dental fluorosis and skeletal fluorosis can develop. Dental fluorosis is mostly found in young children and can cause a severe problem. In mild cases, teeth can get small white spots on them but in more advanced cases teeth get brown spots on them and start to get pitted. Skeletal fluorosis can develop over time and cause bones and joints to become sore. Fluoridated water alone will not be likely to give you these problems but, like mentioned earlier, combining water fluoridation with toothpaste that has fluoride in it, especially if you do what the dentist says and spit but don't rinse to leave toothpaste on your teeth, you are probably consuming more fluoride than what is safe.
Sodium fluoride added to water is also mass medicating the population. Most people don't even know what fluoride is, other than that the dentist tells them its good for them. So most people can't make the conscious decision about using fluoride, because the dentist has already told them it is okay so they aren't convinced they need to do any further research. It is just like if they decided a small amount of the population experiences headaches regularly so they dissolve headache tablets in to the drinking water in an effort to “reduce headaches by up to 30%”. Now clearly it's just public medication, and if you aren't experiencing headaches and you don't want to take medication for something you don't have, you have to go to the inconvenience of supplying yourself with your own water.
It is often believed that ingesting fluoride is good for your teeth. This has never been proven. The only proven benefit of fluoride is topical use(direct contact with teeth) which poisons bacteria(though it also poisons everything else, which is a negative) but that only works where 15% of tooth decay occurs. A slight reduction in 15% of your tooth cavities. I see that as being less than 1% overall reduction considering hardly any of the fluoride in the water you drink actually would stay on your teeth, most would end up down your throat.
Sodium fluoride comes from the waste product of producing superphosphate fertiliser. This was then dumped, but caused too much pollution and problems with the environment that it wasn't allowed to be dumped. That is no conspiracy theory, though I agree that it is a conspiracy theory that it was only dumped in the water as a means of disposal. Remember, labelling something “Conspiracy Theory” does not make it complete nonsense and the disposal of sodium fluoride may have influenced dumping it in the public water supplies in a way which people thought was beneficial.
If you are a supporter of water fluoridation, you may take a carefully picked statistic to prove that water fluoridation is indeed a positive. You might think that tooth decay rates have gone down since the addition of water fluoridation. They have. Not because of the fluoride of course, because countries and areas where there is no water fluoridation have the same decreased decay rate as countries which have water fluoridation, which directly conflicts with statistics that show fluoride as effective. Something like 98% of Europe has banned water fluoridation claiming it is neither safe or effective. Japan banned water fluoridation decades ago.
The number of non fluoride supporters is growing in number rapidly, and not long from now fluoride in water and toothpaste will be a thing of the past. Awareness is increasing as more people will turn against it. Make the decision and stop using fluoride in toothpaste, and avoid fluoridated water if possible.
Generally promoters of water fluoridation will tell you that fluoride is a natural substance found in the Earth's crust and that people who live in areas where the water contains higher levels of natural fluoridation have less cavities in their teeth. The fluoride which they are referring to is called calcium fluoride. The fluoride which is added to drinking water and toothpaste is most commonly sodium fluoride. Calcium fluoride is far safer for human consumption than sodium fluoride is because calcium fluoride is almost insoluble, meaning the body can't absorb it anywhere near as quickly as sodium fluoride.
There are health risks associated with using sodium fluoride. Excess fluoride can be deadly if enough is ingested at the same time. A tube of toothpaste seems to contain about 2200ppm(parts per million) sodium fluoride. It is estimated that there is enough sodium fluoride in a tube of toothpaste to kill a child, and injure even an adult. At the level of fluoride added to water, 1ppm, it would be very difficult to get a fatal dose of fluoride, and you'd have to drink so much that ingesting too much water would be a far greater concern. Short term effects from drinking fluoridated water is definitely not an issue but long term effects can occur.
Promoters of water fluoridation who are reading this would instantly start thinking, “but 1ppm sodium fluoride in drinking water isn't proven to be harmful, even long term”. Drinking fluoridated water itself would not be too likely to cause more than a minor negative effect long term, but drinking fluoridated water and using fluoridated toothpaste(the worst of the two probably being the toothpaste, unless you rinse your mouth very carefully) together would give you much higher than a safe amount of fluoride.
Given this constant usage of fluoride, dental fluorosis and skeletal fluorosis can develop. Dental fluorosis is mostly found in young children and can cause a severe problem. In mild cases, teeth can get small white spots on them but in more advanced cases teeth get brown spots on them and start to get pitted. Skeletal fluorosis can develop over time and cause bones and joints to become sore. Fluoridated water alone will not be likely to give you these problems but, like mentioned earlier, combining water fluoridation with toothpaste that has fluoride in it, especially if you do what the dentist says and spit but don't rinse to leave toothpaste on your teeth, you are probably consuming more fluoride than what is safe.
Sodium fluoride added to water is also mass medicating the population. Most people don't even know what fluoride is, other than that the dentist tells them its good for them. So most people can't make the conscious decision about using fluoride, because the dentist has already told them it is okay so they aren't convinced they need to do any further research. It is just like if they decided a small amount of the population experiences headaches regularly so they dissolve headache tablets in to the drinking water in an effort to “reduce headaches by up to 30%”. Now clearly it's just public medication, and if you aren't experiencing headaches and you don't want to take medication for something you don't have, you have to go to the inconvenience of supplying yourself with your own water.
It is often believed that ingesting fluoride is good for your teeth. This has never been proven. The only proven benefit of fluoride is topical use(direct contact with teeth) which poisons bacteria(though it also poisons everything else, which is a negative) but that only works where 15% of tooth decay occurs. A slight reduction in 15% of your tooth cavities. I see that as being less than 1% overall reduction considering hardly any of the fluoride in the water you drink actually would stay on your teeth, most would end up down your throat.
Sodium fluoride comes from the waste product of producing superphosphate fertiliser. This was then dumped, but caused too much pollution and problems with the environment that it wasn't allowed to be dumped. That is no conspiracy theory, though I agree that it is a conspiracy theory that it was only dumped in the water as a means of disposal. Remember, labelling something “Conspiracy Theory” does not make it complete nonsense and the disposal of sodium fluoride may have influenced dumping it in the public water supplies in a way which people thought was beneficial.
If you are a supporter of water fluoridation, you may take a carefully picked statistic to prove that water fluoridation is indeed a positive. You might think that tooth decay rates have gone down since the addition of water fluoridation. They have. Not because of the fluoride of course, because countries and areas where there is no water fluoridation have the same decreased decay rate as countries which have water fluoridation, which directly conflicts with statistics that show fluoride as effective. Something like 98% of Europe has banned water fluoridation claiming it is neither safe or effective. Japan banned water fluoridation decades ago.
The number of non fluoride supporters is growing in number rapidly, and not long from now fluoride in water and toothpaste will be a thing of the past. Awareness is increasing as more people will turn against it. Make the decision and stop using fluoride in toothpaste, and avoid fluoridated water if possible.
How to Prepare Healthy Rolled Oats
Oatmeal cooked from rolled oats is a great way to start the day because, being wholegrains, they contain plenty of complex carbohydrates. This means the energy is slow burning and will last a long time, giving you energy for much longer than a breakfast of a piece of white bread toast.
It is also simple to prepare. For one serving, place half a cup of rolled oats and 1 cup of water in to a stove pot with a lid. Put the stove on the maximum temperature until the water starts to bubble. After this, turn the temperature to low and slide the lid off slightly to let steam out. A few minutes later the oats should be cooked. The cooking time is no longer than 10 minutes.
Pour the contents of the pot in to a bowl and add milk. To be healthier, try an alternate to cow's milk such as ricemilk or nutmilk. To add extra flavor you can add other things to the cooked product. I usually add a banana and 4 teaspoons of flax seeds. This gives the meal more variety, nutrients, and health bonuses.
I eat this most mornings and I am never tired early in the day.
It is also simple to prepare. For one serving, place half a cup of rolled oats and 1 cup of water in to a stove pot with a lid. Put the stove on the maximum temperature until the water starts to bubble. After this, turn the temperature to low and slide the lid off slightly to let steam out. A few minutes later the oats should be cooked. The cooking time is no longer than 10 minutes.
Pour the contents of the pot in to a bowl and add milk. To be healthier, try an alternate to cow's milk such as ricemilk or nutmilk. To add extra flavor you can add other things to the cooked product. I usually add a banana and 4 teaspoons of flax seeds. This gives the meal more variety, nutrients, and health bonuses.
I eat this most mornings and I am never tired early in the day.
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