Good-quality sleep is one of the most important pillars of health that often gets pushed to the back burner. Letting sleep fall by the wayside can negatively affect nearly every facet of health, from cognition1 to hormones2, mood3, energy4, sex drive5, and so much more. I’ve spent decades helping patients optimize their sleep through diet, and I’ve compiled my experience into an extensive Sleep Masterclass. In it, you’ll find exactly how I use food as medicine (both what to enjoy as well as what to avoid) to support faster, deeper, and better sleep at night. Here’s a sneak peek: When you eat ingredients that are balanced in healthy fats, proteins, and carbs, you avoid blood sugar extremes that stress the body and derail sleep. Research is now showing that a variety of gut bacteria are responsible for synthesizing things like B vitamins6, GABA7, and 5-HTP8, which are all essential to sleep (as well as energy, mood, relaxation, and more). This means that eating whole foods that cultivate a healthy and thriving gut microbiome and keep blood sugar balanced will also support high-quality rest. With this in mind, my ideal daily meal plan for sleep support looks a little something like this: In addition to turning off the feeding prior to bed, also turn off your devices, smartphones, TVs, computers, etc., and turn down your lights. Your sleep drive is directly affected by light, so reducing light exposure at night (and getting bright light exposure in the morning) can significantly improve sleep. This is also a great time to take a warm shower or Epsom salt bath, wind down with a book, or engage in deep conversation with family or friends—all relaxing techniques that set the tone for deep, high-quality sleep. Beyond food, it dives into how everything from your lighting to your hormones can affect sleep and will leave you with the tips you need to optimize each one. Over the course of four-plus hours of instruction split into eight bite-size modules, I chat with a leading panel of sleep experts to share science-backed tips for sleeping through the night; the best sleep tools, gadgets, and supplements on the market today; and a 10-day sleep reset that you can try with the approval of your doctor. By the end of the course, you should have a good idea of what great sleep really feels like and know exactly how to get it. A cutting-edge nutrition deep dive taught by 20+ top health & wellness experts
